April 13, 2023

Trevor Harris: ‘I feel like I have a lot to prove this year’

Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca

Trevor Harris is banking on less being more this season.

Harris is cut from the gunslinger mode. In 161 CFL games he’s thrown for 28,610 yards and 154 touchdowns. He’s tossed for over 4,000 yards in four of the last five seasons. He’s been part of two Grey Cup champion teams, was an East Division All-Star in 2016 and led the CFL with 33 touchdown passes in 2015.

All very impressive numbers, but in his first year as quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the 36-year-old from Waldo, Ohio, believes quality will be more important than quantity.

“Putting up numbers is just something I feel people look at to compare,” the former Montreal Alouette quarterback said from Hamilton recently while doing promotional work for the league. “Really, it’s about managing the game properly. There’s a way to throw for 220 yards and two or three touchdowns and play a much better game than if you throw for 400 yards.

“It’s about making sure that you’re keeping your team on the field, putting your team in the right situations. It’s not really about having the right numbers or the best numbers. It’s about playing the most efficient version of football that you can.”

RELATED
» BUY TICKETS: Touchdown Atlantic tickets on sale now
» 
Headed to TDA? Get all of the info you need here
» Vanstone: Alford finds his fit in Saskatchewan
» Riders, Schaffer-Baker agree to two-year extension
» CFL Newsletter: Subscribe for exclusive offers and league updates

 

The six-foot-three, 212-pound Harris walked his talk last year with the Alouettes. In 15 starts he threw for over 350 yards in just two games and had over 400 yards once. The most touchdowns he threw in a game was three.

Harris still finished the season third among quarterbacks with 4,157 yards and 20 touchdowns. His 71.6 per cent completion ratio was third in the league and his 331 completed passes second.

“I know I’m capable of more,” said Harris. “But that’s really not what’s important.

“It’s about being efficient with the football, taking what the defences give you, checking out of plays that aren’t there and understanding when it is the right time to take that shot down the field.”

Harris pointed to Zach Collaros who threw for over 300 yards just three times last year while leading the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a league-best 15-3 record and their third consecutive Grey Cup appearance. Collaros connected on four touchdowns in a game twice last year, throwing for 270 yards in one and 296 the other.

“He’s putting his team in a position to win each and every week,” said Harris. “They never got blown out, they always had a chance to win.

“As a quarterback, you want to provide hope for your team, putting your team in a position to win each and every week.”

With Cody Fajardo at quarterback last year the Riders began the season 4-1 but lost their final seven games to finish 6-12 and out of the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Harris had an opposite kind of season in Montreal.

The Als managed just two wins in their first eight games before turning  things around to finish second in the East Division with a 9-9 record. Montreal went on to win its first playoff game since 2014 in the Eastern Semi-Final before losing to Toronto in the Eastern Final.

When 2022 finished both Fajardo and the Riders knew it was time for a change. On the opening day of CFL Free Agency Fajardo agreed to a two-year deal with Montreal. That opened the door for Harris to sign with the Riders.

Not everyone would look forward to making the transition from strolling through Old Montreal to visiting Wascana Park, from wandering down Sainte-Catherine Street to ambling along Victoria Avenue. But Harris has told anyone listening how excited he is to be in Regina.

“In 2015, I remember telling my wife someday I’m going to be the quarterback for the Riders,” he said. “You can just feel how important football is, how professional the organization is.

“My wife and I are both small-town people. It has a small-town feel there, but football is super important and football is super important to me. It was something that I felt attracted to because I felt like it fits my personality.”

Harris has no illusions things will be all sunshine and rainbows in Saskatchewan. He understands the intense scrutiny he will be under from fans in the football-mad province.

“The criticism is coming,” he said. “I know what the fan base wants. I’m honoured to be there and to have the opportunity to be the quarterback there.

“I relish the pressure and the situation that presents itself here. I hear all the criticism, it just doesn’t bother me.”

 

Also making the move to Saskatchewan from Montreal as a free agent is wide receiver Jake Wieneke. The six-foot-four, 215-pound native of Maple Grove, Min., was a CFL All-Star in 2021 when he had 56 catches for 898 yards and 11 touchdowns and the East Division’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2021.

Besides being teammates in Montreal, Harris and Wieneke became close friends.

“He’s one of the best people I’ve ever come across,” said Harris. “I look up to Jake in a lot of ways. He’s one of the best football players I’ve been around.”

Even before free agency officially began, Wieneke was telling people he and Harris would end up in Saskatchewan.

“I was like, ‘what are you talking about,’” said Harris. “He was more or less just speaking it into existence.”

Harris knows playing in Saskatchewan can be high risk but high reward. Help the Riders win a Grey Cup and you will be remembered with quarterbacks like Ron Lancaster, Darian Durant and Kent Austin.

“I feel like I have a lot to prove this year,” he said. “I feel like it’s the most I’ve ever had to prove in my entire life. We’re going to be ready to put on a show as a team.

“With that responsibility you have to be ready for the praise and the criticism, keep your focus on what truly is at stake and what maters. What’s going to get us to those goals is focusing on relationships and making sure we’re doing the best we can for one another to put the best product on the field.”

The comment system on this website is now powered by the CFL.ca Forums. We'd love for you to be part of the conversation; click the Start Discussion button below to register an account and join the community!