While he denies feeling any pressure ahead of this weekend's Gray Cup game in Winnipeg, there is no player who could benefit more from a win than Trevor Harris.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders' starting defenseman, who turns 40 in May, is one of three defensemen who entered the CFL in 2012 and have had very productive careers.
Bo Levi Mitchell is perhaps the most successful of the three, with a three-time All-CFL selection, two Gray Cup wins as a starter and five division Most Outstanding Player nominations. While it appears that Nathan Rourke is the favorite to win the award this year, it is possible that Mitchell will win a third MOP later this week.
Zach Collaros, who was Harris' teammate for two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, was probably a close second. He was a two-time All-CFL selection, won an MOP, was named to the division both times, and won two Gray Cups as a starter.
Then there's Harris.
There is no doubt about the veteran's work – he ranks 13th all-time in passing yards, 15th all-time in passing touchdowns and 2nd all-time in passer rating.
the rest of his resume, however, is relatively sparse.
Harris started only once in the Gray Cup and struggled in the game, throwing one touchdown and three interceptions in his loss to the Ottawa Redblacks. to the Calgary Stampeders in 2018. He was never named All-CFL or MOP Division finalist.
Fair or not, these are the key criteria by which defenders are judged. Harris now lacks many accolades from his contemporaries.
There is no doubt that Mitchell and Collaros will be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, perhaps even as inductees on the first ballot. Despite his strong performance, the same cannot be said for Harris.
The Waldo, Ohio native also had the most nomadic career of the three walkers.
Mitchell remains the only defensive back in Stampeders history to win multiple Gray Cups as a starter, which is quite remarkable considering how many great passers played for the team. Although his tenure in Hamilton had a rocky start, he performed admirably the last two seasons, leading the team to first place in the East Division this year.
Collaros was a member of four different teams, but will forever be remembered as the Blue Bombers defenseman who won five straight Gray Cups. His performances in Toronto, Hamilton and Saskatchewan are little more than footnotes at this point in his career. His legacy will be colored blue and gold.
Harris has no such legacy yet. He's dressed for 189 CFL regular season games, which are split relatively evenly between the Argonauts, Redblacks, Edmonton Elks, Montreal Alouettes and Roughriders. When someone introduces Harris, it's hard to picture him wearing a certain T-shirt. He's dressed in almost every color of the CFL rainbow.
If he retired today, Harris would likely be remembered in the same breath as someone like Kevin Glenn, a competent, likeable defenseman who played for a lot of different teams over a long period of time but never won anything. big.
The six-foot-three, 212-pound passer has the opportunity to make a difference this week in Winnipeg. Winning the Gray Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders will cement his legacy not only in Readerville, but throughout the CFL.
One would expect Harris to be under significant pressure given how much money is at stake this week, but he said he was never bothered by the weight of the high stakes.
“I've never really felt the pressure. I kind of just go with the moment, play football, do what I have to do. I don't feel like I've ever had a moment that became too big for me,” Harris told the media on Monday. “Pressure is what you put on the tires, I guess. I just go out there and play ball. Honestly, I'm grateful to my teammates.”
Despite a relatively poor performance in the Gray Cup seven years ago, Harris otherwise excelled in the playoffs, throwing for 3,400 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 10 games. His best performance came in the Eastern Finals in 2018, when he threw six touchdowns to upset the first-place Tiger-Cats in one of the greatest playoff performances in CFL history.
When asked what it meant to win his first Gray Cup as a starter, the league's fifth-youngest player decided to put the focus back on his teammates.
“It would be great, sure, but I think I'd be more interested in doing it with my teammates than something like getting that proverbial monkey off your back or whatever,” he said.
“I don't feel like any moment has ever been too big for me, and I feel like I've performed at important moments throughout my career. I'm not too worried about the narrative of it.”
Playing for his teammates is an honor, but there's a lot more at stake for Harris on Sunday, whether he's focused on it or not.
If he wins, he will become only the fifth defenseman to ever lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Gray Cup victory.
If he loses, it will just be another missed opportunity on his resume.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Gray Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16, with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 pm EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern final by a score of 19-16.Bye The Roughriders came back to defeat the BC Lions in the Western final, 24-21.. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, although Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games with a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast for Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees, sun and clouds. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the US and CFL+ worldwide.
This is the fifth time the Gray Cup will be held in Winnipeg and the second time it will be held at Princess Auto Stadium. The stadium's first Gray Cup was held in 2015, when the Edmonton football team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 26–20 and Michael Reilly was named the game's MVP.
