Trevor Harris will respectfully leave the coronations to King Charles III.
Harris views himself as a quarterback with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — not THE quarterback — even though receipt of the Number 1 designation would seem to be automatic to even the most casual observer.
“In any fashion, the day that you feel like you should be given things, then you become entitled,” said Harris, who signed with the Green and White on Feb. 14 — the opening day of the Canadian Football League’s free-agency period.
“This is not a position where I want to come in being entitled, being a franchise quarterback, let alone the franchise quarterback in Saskatchewan. Even before that, I’m coming here to earn my roster spot.”
Considering all the fanfare that accompanied his arrival in Saskatchewan, along with his expansive resume, one could hardly blame him — or anyone in his situation — for at least presuming that he is a mortal lock for the No. 1 job.
But Harris is wired differently than, say, a fan or a pundit.
A veteran of 11 CFL seasons, with 28,610 passing yards and 154 aerial TDs to his credit, he is approaching training camp as if he is an extreme longshot to make the team.
“I want to earn my roster spot and I want to earn the QB1 position,” Harris continued. “Before I’ve earned that, I don’t want to be called that.
“I want to go out and earn that every day leading up to Week 1 and earn that for Week 2 during Week 1.
“Because of this town and this organization and Christ, I feel like I owe it every day to push that pedal to the metal to ensure that I’m squeezing all the juice out of this orange.”
While proudly wearing a green Roughriders jersey for the first time — not unlike any of the newcomers who will soon be put through their paces at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
“Each year, you’re still a rookie trying to make the team,” said Harris, who turns 37 on May 31. “I think the day that you lose that is the time that you relax a little bit. Then the gain starts happening from the people behind you.
“I don’t want to ever feel like I’ve come into a season thinking, ‘I’m the guy. I’m good.’ Never.”
That isn’t just talk.
“I have an agreement in place for my place, but I’m not moving into my place that I’m living until after training camp, because I want to earn that,’ said Harris, who is to be joined in the quarterbacks’ room by Mason Fine, Jake Dolegala, Levi Lewis, Zerrick Cooper and Shea Patterson when main camp begins on May 14.
“You always have to be mentally ready for anything and everything. We’re in Saskatoon, anyway, but I’d be staying in the dorms if we were here, because that’s something that is earned. You want to earn everything.”
That philosophy has been instilled by his parents — Tom and Suzanne Harris of Waldo, Ohio — and reinforced by his faith.
It doesn’t hurt, either, that the surroundings are optimal. In fact, they even seem familiar in a sense, despite the fact he is still getting to know Regina and Saskatchewan.
“I feel like this city and this organization sort of fits me,” said Harris, who has previously played in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa REDBLACKS, Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes.
“Regina is a small town compared to Toronto or Montreal or Ottawa. I came from a town of 338 people and the town that I live in now is a small town, so I’m a small-town kid at heart.”
You certainly get that impression while spending any time with Harris, who has immersed himself in all things Roughriders since arriving in Regina.
On Wednesday, for example, head coach Craig Dickenson invited many of the team’s employees to Mosaic Stadium’s football auditorium to discuss culture and core values.
Nobody was more engaged than the starting quarterback — I mean, the person who aspires to be the starting quarterback — who took notes and asked questions and was every bit the exemplary teammate and consummate pro.
Harris sat in the back row, alongside some of his teammates, and looked like he was studying for a bar exam or preparing for a Grey Cup game.
“You’re all in or not in at all,” Harris explained. “If I’m committing to something, I’m committing to all of it.
“I still feel like I have a lot to prove. I know that people will say that every year, but if you don’t feel that every year, then what are you doing here?
“People will say, ‘Well, he says that every year.’ Of course, I do. I’m going to say it next year, too, because if you don’t have anything to prove, then you need to hang ’em up.”
Most athletes have retired, or at least plateaued, by the time they are well into their 30s.
Harris? His training regimen is not dissimilar to that of Tom Brady, who played until he was a spry 45. One of the off-season priorities was to work on arm strength and perhaps add a yard or two or three, or an extra mile per hour to the fastball, as it were.
“For you to surpass the level you’re at, you have to find things that you haven’t done before and you have to continue pressing, because you don’t know where that one per cent lies where you’re going to get better,” Harris said.
“If you’re at 98 or 99 per cent of who you are and you want to get to 99 or 100 and grow by that one per cent, it’s somewhere. You’ve got to keep finding it.
“A lot of times, it’s in those details. You don’t want to miss an opportunity to write those down and review those and make sure that you’re implementing what this culture stands for.
“I think Craig was talking about what this culture is and what we’re trying to build towards. If you miss that, you’re going to miss everything.”
This from someone who doesn’t miss anything.
As someone who is still becoming accustomed to Regina, Saskatchewan and Riderville, he nonetheless knows everyone’s name. He is sincerely interested in the lives and families of not only his teammates and coaches, but also of those of us who work in the business office.
Outside our environs, Harris has made a concerted effort to interact and thank Roughriders fans while meeting with them. The other day, for example, there was a lengthy lineup of Rider Priders who met Harris, receiver Jake Wieneke and centre Peter Godber at Saskatoon’s Midtown Plaza.
Harris approached that session in a manner that was reminiscent of Wednesday’s staff session. Listening to him, you wonder how he stopped short of asking the fans for their autographs.
All of this is in adherence to a key word in Coach Dickenson’s lexicon: Gratitude.
“I love the game of football for many reasons, but mostly because it challenges us mentally, physically and emotionally, and mostly because it asks us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves,” Harris said during an interview at Mosaic Stadium. “I feel like this town just embodies and loves football. It’s so behind the team.
“It’s really good to get out in the community, in my opinion, because the community owns the team and everything that we have — this amazing locker room and this amazing facility.
“First and foremost, there’s the opportunity to play this game and glorify Christ and what we do is because of this community.
“They’ve allowed us that with their hard-earned money. For me to be able to get out there and show my appreciation back to them is a blessing.
“Them being so excited to meet me, it’s like, ‘No, no. I’m excited to meet you guys.’ It has been really, really fun.”
The same applies to his informal on-field sessions with Wieneke — who has also made the move from the Alouettes to the Roughriders — and other pass-catchers, such as Mitch Picton and Brayden Lenius.
As the opening day of main training camp draws closer, there will be more sessions with more people and a greater degree of complexity.
“I’m bringing the receivers in early, mainly to get to know the guys,” Harris said. I’ve got a couple of surprises for them about what we’re doing around the city, but it’s really about building relationships.
“It’s important for us to get in the meeting room — just us players — to talk about the plays and hitting all the details of the plays and the whys of what they can do and the freedom within the routes.
“It’s important to hear one another’s voice and get an understanding of all the details, because those are ultimately what separates the teams. The teams that are really close and the teams that understand the details are the ones that will go further for one another.
“If you can really cultivate those relationships, I think that’s when the true magic can start happening.”
It has already started happening, actually.
You can see that every time Harris interacts with anyone.
He is the antithesis of someone who craves attention, but it is nonetheless something that he enjoys and handles with humility.
“It has been cool to have people recognize you,” Harris said. “I’m not much of a public guy. I don’t post a lot on social media or anything of that nature, but it’s fun in town.
“I’m not looking to be noticed, but it’s really cool when people notice you because, when you’re done playing, even if it does annoy you, you’ll look back on it and think, ‘That was pretty cool.’ Not everybody is noticed everywhere they are their whole life, so it’s cool.
“It’s such a cool platform, but I understand the responsibility and the expectations and what comes with this position that I’m hoping to earn when we break camp.
“I get it and I look forward to it. It’s one of those situations that I feel like I’ve been trained for and that I’ve longed for. You have to hear the noise and understand it — understand that it’s passion — but you can’t let it bother you or it’ll tear you down pretty quick.”
Harris isn’t a tear-things-down type of person. He is all about building something from the ground up — and it helps to be as grounded as he is.
“That’s the thing about being here,” Harris concluded. “It’s such a cool thing to get to meet everybody here in the community in Saskatoon and Regina.
“Everybody is saying ‘it’s so great to meet you’ and ‘good luck this year’ and ‘I hope you’re ready for this.’ You understand how important it is to these people and how excited they are to meet you.
“Like I said a little bit earlier, I’m excited to meet them. They’re the owners of the team, so it’s really cool to get an opportunity to get to know these people and what makes them tick and why the Saskatchewan football team means so much to them.
“Just looking at stuff when you come in here and seeing the Grey Cups and whatnot, it makes you want to put some numbers on these walls.”
But first, he has to ensure that Number 1 precedes quarterback. And that is something to be earned.
