CFL BOMBERS ROUGHRIDERS Canadian, Canada, football, colour, color, sports, play, physical, field, competitive, competition, compete, athlete, action, CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders QB Trevor Harris throws during first quarter CFL Western Final action against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (CFL PHOTO - JASON HALSTEAD)
The excitement is apparent as Trevor Harris discusses the season ahead and an especially joyous past two months for his family.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ starting quarterback became a father of four in early March when Livian Anne-Marie Harris was born.
Trevor and his wife, Kalie, are also the proud parents of three sons — T.J., Trace and Tripp.
“The first three, four, six months of a baby’s life, there’s really not much a dad can do other than be like, ‘Hey, honey, can I do anything for you?’ ” Harris said on Wednesday. “That’s kind of what my job is in the middle of the day: ‘Hey, can I get the diaper? Can I get the wipes for you? Does she need a change of clothes?’
“Or, when I wake up in the morning I make sure I always have breakfast and coffee made, and the boys’ breakfast already made. That way, at least Kalie can wake up and have something already done for her. I’ve made it a point to not let her unload the dishwasher — just certain things like that so I can take stuff off her plate and really step my game up with the boys.
“Having three boys while also preparing for a season as a franchise quarterback, along with training other quarterbacks and dealing with life with four kids, it’s quite a task — but it’s so much fun. It’s a blessing.
“Adding Livian to the family has just been so awesome because, secretly, we were kind of hoping for a healthy baby girl, and here she is.
“We’re just excited that the Harris family of six is coming up to Saskatchewan soon. Hopefully all four of the kids can hold on to that Grey Cup on the third Sunday of November.”
With so much going on, Harris was jokingly asked if a 39-hour day is required to handle all the logistics.
“I think it’s just time management,” he replied. “What are you doing with your time? Everybody is given the same 24 hours in a day. The difference is, what are people doing with it?
“It’s about eliminating distractions and eliminating things that you don’t need to do or you don’t want to consume your time. It’s all about being efficient with it.
“That’s really what it has been. I’m continuing to get my workouts in every day — whether that’s getting up earlier and going to the YMCA and throwing and getting my agility work in and trying to have two workouts done by 9 a.m.
“That’s kind of what my focus has been. That way, I can watch a little bit of film, do some brain training, and have things set up for the rest of the day, where I can be a dad and I can help out.”
In barely a month, Harris will again don No. 7 for the Roughriders. Coors Light Training Camp is to begin on May 11 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon. But he is already in a full-throttle mindset.
“I think a lot of times, you’ll say, ‘Pace yourself. It’s a long off-season,’ ” he said, “but the thing I’ve told myself this off-season is, ‘Don’t pace yourself.’ The foot’s on the gas the whole time. If that causes a little bit of burnout, then it’s time to re-assess and make sure, at that point, I take my foot off the accelerator.
“No matter what the situation is right now, from watching film to whatever it may be, I’m just leaving my foot on the gas and not pacing myself and trying my best to make sure that I’m doing my absolute best each and every day.”
Those are the words of someone who in 2024 helped the Roughriders finish second in the division, win a home playoff game and advance to the Western Final. Having made so much progress last season, “continuity” has been a buzzword throughout the organization.
“The fact that we have this (stability) does change your mindset a little bit, because you go into a season thinking there’s not a lot of things you have to overcome at this point,” said Harris, who resides in the Columbus, Ohio area during the off-season.
“There’s going to be hurdles that happen and come in front of you, but I don’t have to overcome a hurdle of learning a new offence right now. I don’t have to overcome a hurdle of not having good personnel. I don’t have to overcome a hurdle of not seeing eye-to-eye with an offensive co-ordinator or having teammates that I don’t enjoy being around. I’ve got all those boxes checked.
“We’ve got a great chance to do some really special things. To me, we’re just raising the bar of expectations and I think, throughout the season, it will be like, ‘Don’t pace yourself. Let’s sprint every week. It’s a one-week sprint.’ Let’s get after people one week at a time and see where we are toward the end of the season.”
