TORONTO – Andrew Harris can admit it now: he didn’t quite feel right in the days leading up to last Saturday’s game in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions.
His body was still sore and still aching. And the nagging uncertainty that comes with the loss of that feeling of invincibility had spiked his levels of concern as he headed back to his old stomping grounds.

“I wouldn’t say I was hurt last game, but I wasn’t feeling 100 percent,” began Harris in a chat with bluebombers.com this week. “And I was really worried about it before the game. But… sometimes you just overcome.”

That – ‘Sometimes you just overcome’ – in many ways, could be the descriptor for Harris’ entire football career. As most know now, he came through the Canadian junior ranks, was undrafted and forced his way onto the B.C. Lions practice roster and then into their starting lineup almost 10 years ago now.

He’s not a power back along the lines of a Jerome Messam or James Wilder, Jr., nor is he considered a shifty scatback built in the mold of a Marcus Thigpen or Chris Rainey. Harris is a little bit of both, frankly, and comes with the bonus of having soft and reliable hands any receiver in the Canadian Football League would covet.

But he’s also 31 now and has reached an age where many backs in this league – save for legends like George Reed or Mike Pringle – begin to see a decline in whatever it is that makes them special, be it the ability to shuck would-be tacklers, or squeeze through a hole in the line of scrimmage before darting to open field. Yet, here is Harris continuing to author some of the best football of his career. Not only is he coming off consecutive 100-yard rushing games – he had 248 yards and a 9.92-yard average in those contests – but the reigning CFL rushing champ is again atop the league in that category.

And so for those waiting for some tread to look worn on his tires, well, the Harris radials still look brand, spanking new.

“There are times, especially during training camp or the beginning of the season, where I sometimes think, ‘Why the hell am I doing this again?’,” Harris said. “It’s because you really do put your body through hell. And then, all of a sudden, there’s like a switch and it’s like you go into auto-pilot.

“In that B.C. game I wasn’t really feeling that good and I was starting to freak out a little bit about it. And then you come out of that tunnel and it’s like a switch flips and you don’t feel anything. You just want to go out and ball. Honestly, some of the best games I’ve had in my career have been when I’ve been super-super nervous, sick or hurt.

“For me, it’s a mindset. You’ve really got to want to do this. To go through the 18-game season, all the practices and all the other stuff you go through… I just think over time guys just get tired of it and they don’t show up any more. There’s the physical side where guys get slower, they get fatter or they get beat up. The biggest thing for me is the will and the want to just be out there every day.”

Harris cites a number of reasons for his want-to levels still being so high. There is the simple desire to provide for his family. There is the goal of being a hometown guy on this Bombers side when the Grey Cup drought ends. He also points to the men around him in the offensive huddle – especially the big eaters on the O-line – and the environment in the locker room, courtesy the collection of men head coach Mike O’Shea and GM Kyle Walters have put together to make up this squad.
That’s the stuff many might see as cornball, but those in the room value so much.

There’s also this: over the years, Harris has also learned to train differently and to read his body. And those experiences off the field have only been augmented by what he’s learned on it.

“When I was younger I was focused on working out a lot and just getting stronger and putting the physical side above everything,” Harris explained. “Now, it’s more cerebral and understanding what we’re trying to do. And I can really tell you that as you get older, the game does slow down. LaPo (Offensive Coordinator Paul LaPolice) asked me the other day about what I have done differently as a running back and I just think that’s it: the game has slowed down a lot for me.

“My first couple of years the game was just going so fast for me, it was crazy. But as you get more experience and see so much more, the game does slow down. First year, you get the ball and it seems like everything is going a million miles an hour. It’s funny… I noticed it when I played junior. I’d be practicing with the Lions and everything was going a million miles an hour and then I’d go play junior and I could see things develop because the game was slower. As you go along, it happens at any position.

“But I’ve been playing in this league for 10 years now and I’ve seen a lot of (defensive) looks,” Harris added. “There’s nothing I haven’t seen in terms of a blitz. There’s nothing I haven’t seen in terms of a stunt or a twist. I’ve gone against the hardest-hitting guys and the guys that can cover well. I just have a bank of knowledge and experience that I can lean on.”

Some other numbers to drive home how solid Harris has been this year:

• Through five games last year he had 240 yards rushing – he’s at 449 now.
• He already has four rushes of 20+ yards and is on a pace – yes, yes, it’s early – that would see him rush for 1,616 yards or more than 500 more than his career high, set in 2012 with the Lions.
• His back-to-back 100-yard rushing games were the 17th and 18th of his career, and fifth and sixth in his three years as a member of the Bombers.
• He is into just his third year with Winnipeg, but with another 539 yards rushing would move past the iconic Ken Ploen into 10th place on the team’s all-time rushing list.

Those are all juicy stats, to be sure. But there’s also that raging fire in his belly that has separated him from so many others. None of this has come easily to Harris over the years and now that he’s at the top of his craft, he wants to enjoy the view for a while.

“There are lots of guys who are nicked up who won’t even step on the field to play,” said Harris. “But, for me, that’s when I have my better games, when I’m fighting something or not over-thinking things.

“You know, it’s funny… when I signed this last contract extension I thought, ‘Oh, man, I’ll be 33 at the end of it.’ But honestly, I feel great right now, better than I ever have.

“Knock on wood,” he added, reaching out to wrap on the edge of his locker, “I’ll keep carrying water and chopping wood and we’ll see how far this goes.”

BOMBERS REPORT | July 20, 2018

OUCH UPDATE:

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea confirmed that LB Chandler Fenner will not be available for Saturday afternoon’s game. Maurice Leggett will play in his spot.
“(Fenner) just wasn’t quite ready,” said O’Shea when meeting the media in Toronto. “It’s a long season. We’re in Game 6, so we know where we want to get to and in order to do that, we need Chandler Fenner playing strong and healthy through later games, not right now.”

The Bombers do get DB Brandon Alexander back after he missed three games.

“He’s going to be going and going at an Alexander pace, which is high all the time,” said O’Shea. “He’s got a great motor and he wants to use it. That’s the only way he knows how to play.”

MORE ON THE BMO TURF WOES:

It’s become a hot topic around the CFL since the Edmonton Eskimos Derel Walker slipped on a throw into the end zone a few weeks back and it’s not going to go away any time soon – the playing surface at BMO Field features mostly grass, but is turf in both end zones.

And footing has been an issue for both offensive and defensive players.

“I remember running around on it last year before the game… it’s pretty much carpet,” said Weston Dressler. “They call it turf, but it’s pretty much a carpet. There’s not really any shoe in the world you could wear on that and then on the grass that’s going to be good for both.”