Harrington may be different, but teammates have tried to adjust to his quirky mannerisms.
"He can be real dorky, but when it comes down to it, he's a very mature guy and he just wants to play football and be the best quarterback he can be," said left tackle Jeff Backus. "That's what it comes down to. As far as people thinking he's quirky, whatever. He's not a dumb person, he knows what's going on. I think he's as real as a person can be and if people are turned off, too bad."
Most NFL quarterbacks would take offense to their teammates calling them dorky. Not Harrington.
"I am a dork. I'm not going to deny it," Harrington said. "You can put that in the headline, I don't care. That's who I am.
"I haven't changed a bit. If anything, I've become more goofy, more of a dork. Honestly. That's me, I'm comfortable with who I am. The one thing that really bothered me when I came in was people saying 'You need to be this' and 'You need to be that.' And 'You need to be this guy for the team. The city of Detroit wants a leader.'
"You know what? You got me. I'm not going to change for anybody. This is who I am and how I'm going to be because this is what I'm comfortable with. When I start trying to be somebody different for everybody, I lose who I am."
While Harrington maintains that he hasn't -- and won't -- change as a person, there's definitely been a change in how he handles himself around the team and how he leads.
"It goes back to being completely overwhelmed (as a rookie)," Harrington said. "I was being pushed and pulled in every direction. Now, I have more control."
