April 30, 2023

O’Leary: Andrew Harris readies for his last dance

Matt Smith/CFL.ca

Andrew Harris knows the tradition well.

Every year, the team that wins the Grey Cup will reach out to its players, its coaches and extended staff through the off-season, offering them a day to have the trophy to themselves.

On his fourth go-around in this process, having won with the BC Lions in 2011, twice with his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021, then for a third straight year with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022, Harris knew the call was coming this winter. He passed.

“I didn’t request to get it,” Harris said. “I’m enjoying it and it’s great but for me, it’s more about the guys you accomplish these things with. The moments with them, the time with them. It’s not about the money, it’s not about the ring. You’re going to spend the Grey Cup bonus, really quickly. You’ll get the ring and wear it a couple of times and put it away, but the blood sweat and tears that you put in with the guys to get to that moment is the important thing. I really realize that now, more than anything.”

There are very few players in CFL history that get to have this depth of knowledge on the subject. There’s Canadian Football Hall of Fame kicker Hank Illesic, Jack Wedley and Bill Stevenson, who amassed seven championships each through their careers. Harris joins Ricky Ray and Norman Kwong, to name a couple of players while spanning several decades, as four-time Grey Cup winners.

With that wealth of championship experience comes a specific type of wisdom.

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Harris will have a chance to win his fourth consecutive Grey Cup this year, after he signed on for what he announced in early March will be his final season. For a player whose hard work has led to an excess of champagne and confetti showers, cigar-smelling locker rooms and late November Grey Cup rallies in front of fans, Harris is being mindful to appreciate the little things through the journey of the coming months.

“Every year I get to a point where I’m like…I’m sick of this you know?” Harris said. “It gets kind of like Groundhog Day throughout the season. There’s always a point in time in the season where I’m tired of the routine and I just get kind of cranky.

“I just want to appreciate every moment. I want to appreciate every every road trip. After playing as long as I have it’s kind of been a blur at times. I’m just going to take it all in and at least appreciate every moment, every guy in the locker room, every coach, every staff member, all the fans, everything.”

Declaring the 2023 season his last was intentional. The freshly-turned 36-year-old said that he’d considered retirement the last two or three seasons, but has been pulled back in by the lure of competition and that camaraderie with teammates — even jumping over to a new locker room in 2022 — had been too much for him to walk away from.

“Ultimately I need to move on with my life and get ready for that next phase,” he said. “With me coming out and saying this is it, it gets my mind, gets my body, gets everything in that next phase mentality.”

Harris will walk into an Argos’ locker room that will look different in a key area as the team prepares for its Grey Cup defence. Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson ventured to the USFL this winter, setting the stage for his backup, Chad Kelly, to be slotted in as the team’s starter.

Kelly played a key role in the Argos’ win over the Blue Bombers in the 109th Grey Cup five months ago, stepping into the game in the fourth quarter after Bethel-Thompson had dislocated his thumb. He fared very well on the league’s biggest stage, but overall hasn’t had much of a chance to show what he can do. The 29-year-old made 26-45 passes for 297 yards in 2022, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He rushed 25 times for 137 yards and six touchdowns.

Harris claimed his third consecutive Grey Cup last year and the fourth of his career (Andrew Lahodynskyj/CFL.ca)

Knowing that Bethel-Thompson wouldn’t be back this season helped nudge Harris back to the field this year.

“Any time a guy like Mac is leaving your team it’s going to be tough, not only just because he’s a quarterback, but Mac is a very intelligent leader, a very important piece to any team. He just brings a certain confidence, brings a certain kind of leadership that no matter what position he plays, it’s going to be tough (to lose). For it to be a quarterback, it’s even tougher. That’s a big void to fill.

“That’s honestly another reason why I was maybe more in tune to coming back because that’s going to be a bigger leadership role to fill. I’ve gotten pretty close to Chad Kelly on a personal level and I have full confidence in him that he’s going to be able to get the job done.

“He’s got all the physical attributes. The biggest hurdle for him is going to be mentally, which, with any quarterback or any player coming in, they’re going to have failures, they’re going to have tough games. That mental side of things is going to be the hardest hurdle for him, I think. But he’s going to be great. He’s going to be a solid guy for us and I think he’s going to shock a lot of people and surprise a lot of people.”

Harris will go into this season with a laser focus on every step of a championship journey that he’s come to know very well over the last three years. He also has the perfect post-playing segue waiting for him when the season ends. In February, he joined the Vancouver Island Raiders in the Canadian Junior Football League as the team’s head of football operations. Next season, he’ll be the team’s head coach as well, circling back to the franchise that put him in position as a player to become a territorial selection of the BC Lions back in 2008.

“I had some opportunities to potentially coach in the CFL,” Harris said, “and those will still be around, I’m sure, after the fact. My junior team is something that’s really close to me. When I played in Nanaimo, it was the team that made me become a man, first off and gave me the confidence and energy to pursue a professional career and ultimately got me to where I am today.

“I want to come full circle now and revamp that culture and be that same springboard and leader for other young men in their careers, whether it’s in football or their lives.

“That opportunity is great for my mental side of things and keeping my passion for football alive. Ultimately I have a really good career opportunity out there, taking over a financial services book. That’s been the key for me. (There’s opportunity for) my career off the field and for my family but also just the passion side of things as far as keeping in football and staying a part of the game.”

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