He played college soccer at Fullerton State, but left it after his sophomore season, becoming one of the early Project-40 signings in MLS history.
He was allocated to the Rapids in 1997, but did not see any time with the team that year, instead playing on loan with the Colorado Foxes of the A-League.
That year, he also played for the U.S. U-20 national team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.
He left MLS after the year, signing with the Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.
But various injuries and the quality of the Leverkusen squad led to Joey not seeing any playing time in Germany.