A big piece of Oregon Football History will help fund scholarships for students at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business, thanks to Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington. Harrington, a Lundquist College alumnus, plans to create a limited edition offering of sports memorabilia from a 10-story tall banner that hung in New York City during the 2001 football season. The banner, developed to promote Harrington and the Oregon football program on a national stage, hung across from Madison Square Garden throughout the season. The banner thrust UO athletics and Harrington into the national spotlight.

Pieces of the banner, donated to the campaign by the UO Athletic Department, will be incorporated into memorabilia and sold to a limited number of collectors. The campaign goal is to raise $250,000. All net proceeds will go to the Joey Harrington Foundation which will work with the UO Foundation to establish a scholarship fund for business students at the university. “This is a great opportunity for me to give back to the University of Oregon,” says Harrington, who led the Oregon football program in 2001 to an 11-1 season and a victory in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. “I think the banner did a lot for Oregon athletics in 2001 and now it can do a lot for Oregon academics in 2003.”

Harrington, an academic All-American and Heisman trophy finalist, graduated from the Lundquist College of Business in 2001 with an undergraduate degree in business administration concentrating in sports marketing. The scholarship program will target incoming students with similar academic interests. The Lundquist College expects to award the first scholarships in the 2004-2005 academic year.