REGINA – You can usually count on Andrew Harris to help sell the sizzle.
Being a hype man and a showman has always been part of the package for the Winnipegger, and he’s been answering questions all week about what it’s like to be facing his hometown team in the 109th Grey Cup.
Here’s the thing: the Toronto Argonauts running back didn’t become one of the best to ever play the position by being an entertainer and an eloquent quote.
He’s made a habit of backing up his words with strong play on the field.
On the day before facing those Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Harris was quick to downplay any lingering emotion from his offseason departure in free agency, though he caught himself mid-sentence, allowing that indeed this is more than just another game.
“Honestly, it doesn’t really matter at this point. I’m excited for a big game, the highest stage, the national stage and it’s no different – maybe a little bit,” said Harris, who helped the Blue Bombers win consecutive Grey Cups before signing with the Argonauts in free agency back in February. “Not crazy. I can’t get too excited. One thing you have to (do) as a pro, you have to hone in your excitement and channel it in a focus where you’re dialled in and you’re not trying to do too much.
“I’ve been in those situations before when I’ve been too excited or too emotional and (then) you’re not playing your best brand of football. It’s all about focusing yourself and just setting your sights on what you have to get done. Once I get out there for my first offensive play, all I’ll even worry about is executing. I’m not worried about anything else.”
Harris has made a habit of getting things done and coming through in big moments over the course of his 12-year CFL career.
“I don’t know. It’s just like another person comes out and another gear comes out of me,” said Harris, a three-time Grey Cup champion (2011, 2019, 2021), two-time winner of the Most Valuable Canadian award in the Grey Cup (2011, 2019) and the 2019 Grey Cup MVP. “I just excel in these big-stakes games and in big moments. At this point now in my career, that may be the case (Sunday), or maybe I might have to come out and show myself in a different way, as a leader and keeping guys focused. You never know.
“I’m ready for whatever comes my way. I’m just going to seize the opportunity.”
Harris, 35, is an outstanding competitor to go along with his natural ability and his will to return from a torn pectoral muscle in time for the East Division final was truly something to behold.
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“It’s incredible what he’s done and what he’s gone through. You kind of saw it in pieces. You didn’t see all of the time he put in behind closed doors, all of the work he put in on a daily basis,” Argonauts quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson said after Saturday’s walkthrough. “But you saw him in a sling, hurting to move after the surgery and then you saw his progress. Three weeks later, the sling was off and he was moving well. You see him in the weight room and you’re like ‘how is he pushing weight? How is he doing bench press? Wasn’t that thing just torn?’”
Suffering an injury like that can be just as taxing mentally as it is physically. But Harris simply wouldn’t let this get him down or define his season.
“I can’t imagine what he’s gone through. The range of emotions from the game being taken from him, from his career potentially being done and to be in that darkest moment, people can spend years there,” said Bethel-Thompson. “They can spend the rest of their life in that moment, feeling sorry for (themselves) or woe is me. I’m sure he had those moments, but he instantly snapped out of it and thought about, What is the work ahead of me, and what can I do to make this better, and what can I do to make this place a better place for people to play football, regardless of whether I’m coming back or not. It’s a testament to his humanity, his ability as a leader. He’s an old soul and has that championship DNA. I can’t say it any other way.
“To fight back physically and get back to a place where he can play and play at a high level is one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in football.”
Harris took a reflective tone at the podium, and you can tell that going into Sunday’s game, he’s taken time to think about his remarkable journey from Canadian Junior Football League star with the Victoria Island Raiders, to B.C. Lions rookie to surefire Hall of Famer.
Between his unceremonious departure from the Blue Bombers to the career-threatening injury and the grueling rehabiliation and eventual recovery, Harris wouldn’t be in position to have an impact in the biggest game of the season if it wasn’t for a quality that by his own admission, required plenty of work over the course of the past 12 months.
“The biggest thing for myself is patience – and I’m not a very patient person,” said Harris, who became the first Canadian to eclipse 10,000 career rushing yards in July and is sixth on the all-time rushing list. “Going through the injury was definitely a tough thing. Just being patient with it, but also being persistent. For me, I had no idea that coming back was even an option. But I had faith and just trusted the process.
“Even with the decision to go to Toronto. It was definitely life-changing for me. It made me a better man, honestly. Meeting new people, (being in) a different environment. I grew from the change and grew from the injury, finding another angle, that player/coach kind of an angle and getting to know my teammates from a different perspective. There’s lots of different ways that I’ve grown this year. I’m a better player, better man and better leader for it.”
Although he was limited to eight regular season games with the Argos this season, Harris's impact stretched beyond the field itself.
“He’s a champion. He brought that champion mentality,” said Bethel-Thompson. “A great locker-room leader, a great runner of the football, a great guy out of the backfield. He’s got all of the attributes, but what really makes him special is that he’s got the championship DNA. He knows what it takes to get there. He has a vision of what that looks like and he brought those expectations with him here.
“He epitomizes the word 'champion' and I think that’s a big reason why we’re in this position, because we added that piece of the recipe to the pot. He kind of mixed in and got us to that next level. He’s going to make some really big plays (Sunday) to get us over the hump.”
The Blue Bombers know what to expect from Harris on Sunday as they face him for the second time this season.
“Guys use different things to motivate themselves and Andrew is certainly no different,” said Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros. “He’s going to be excited, for sure, and he’s going to bring his best.”
Harris had a touchdown on his first touch in the East Division final in what was his first game since Aug. 12 and his ability to thrive under pressure is something that the Argos could lean on as they try to end the Blue Bombers' reign at the top of the CFL mountain.
“He looks like he’s 25 years old again,” said Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. “If you look at our practice field, you can tell he’s excited. He doesn’t know what the future holds for him. Maybe this is his last one, maybe not. I would love to have him back. I still think he’s got a little gas in the tank.
“He’s got his own motivation. (The Harris-versus-the Blue Bombers storyline) is more for the media. We’re playing Winnipeg, but it didn’t matter if we were playing (the Saskatchewan Roughriders) in this game. He isn’t going to change his approach. Now, is he a little bit more excited for it, playing against the hometown team that didn’t bring him back? Probably. We don’t make that storyline and he hasn’t brought it up, either. He looks like anybody coming to play in the Grey Cup. That’s what you’ve been dreaming about for a long time. Now, it’s right in front of us.”
During a session with reporters on Saturday, Harris revealed that one of the biggest sacrifices he made in signing with the Argos was having to spend a lot of time away from his 14-year-old daughter, Hazel.
Ultimately, Harris decided he didn’t want to end his career after being limited to just seven games during the regular season with the Blue Bombers in 2021 before returning for the West Division final and Grey Cup.
Having the support of his daughter was critical in making the decision.
“I didn’t feel like I went out the right way. The way that 2021 ended, I wanted to do something more,” said Harris, whose newborn son Axton will also be at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday. “I wanted to continue to play. Making a sacrifice like that with my family and my daughter especially, she understood it. She actually hit me up, (saying) 'I want to come to the Grey Cup' and I was shocked because she hates being cold.
“She’s making a sacrifice for me now because she knows how important this is for me. We’ve both grown from this. We miss each other like crazy, but it’s just telling that she wants to freeze outside and watch her dad play because she hasn’t been like this in the last few years. The sacrifice was well-warranted and she appreciates what I’ve done and where I’m at now and wants to come be a part of it, which is great.”
