The Interesting Family Tree of Joey Harrington

The Interesting Family Tree of Joey Harrington

Joey Harrington had a storied career; playing for team such as Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. However, although Joey got to live out his dreams – something most of us only dream about – there is a more interesting detail to his life. Joey is in fact part of a very successful sports-related family.

Joey was born in Portland, Oregon where he lived throughout his entire childhood. He attended Universities Portland and Oregon before being drafted as third pick in the NFL 2002 draft. After representing the aforementioned teams he then had spells in broadcasting and established the Harrington Family Foundation in 2003. The foundation in a non-profit organization, which aids the development of unprivileged children and is still in operation today.

However, as aforementioned this isn’t the most interesting facet of Joey’s achievements in the sporting landscape. Joey has two very famous relations. Firstly, Padraig Harrington the successful Irish golfer who has achieved major honors throughout his career. He has also represented Europe many times at Ryder Cups, being on the winning side on more than one occasion.

And then there’s another one of his other cousins, poker legend Dan Harrington. A winner of two World Series bracelets, Dan has played in all of the most illustrious poker tournaments across the world. He has also written 7 poker books across a 10-year period. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010 along with Erik Seidel – an honor befitting his many achievements in the sport to date.

As Dan continues to be one of the biggest names on the circuit, he is also credited as being one of the pioneers of the sport. During the early 90s when poker was struggling with its identity and viewing figures were dismal compared to today’s numbers, poker needed prominent characters to boost its appeal. The likes of Dan, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth and the innovative addition of the hole cam invigorated the way people looked at poker and a boom in participation and watching followed. Casino participation went up along with the launch of the first online platform InterCasino in the late 90s saw the world become gripped by the poker bug. The glamorization of poker across an array of films also saw poker being showcased to a much wider audience. And although Dan never featured in any major movie he was at the center of this poker boom.

Dan still plays tournaments across the world now, and with his many books aims to usher in a new generation of poker players under the tutelage of his experiences.

What’s very interesting concerning the three cousins is that apart from all of them representing their sports at the elite level, they are polar opposites.

Have you read about any interesting ex-football player’s family trees? If so, by all means leave comments below and we’ll aim to bring you an article on their interesting backstory.