ONE-DAY CONTRACT WITH HOMETOWN BOMBERS PERFECT WAY FOR ANDREW HARRIS TO END CFL CAREER
For Andrew Harris, being a Winnipeg Blue Bomber was a dream come true — a dream from childhood that lasted into his young adult years.
“I remember talking to Charles Roberts, seeing him at the Palomino Club and saying, ‘I’m coming to take your job’,” Harris said with a laugh Friday at Princess Auto Stadium.
Having grown up in the city rooting for Roberts before joining him on the team’s Mount Rushmore of running backs, Harris wanted to be remembered in his hometown team’s colours.
Wearing a blue shirt with the team’s golden ‘W’ logo, Harris addressed Winnipeg media, marking his signing of a one-day contract with the team to finish his football career.
Harris rounded out his career with the Toronto Argonauts after a well-documented and messy situation with his hometown Bombers.
The team was displeased with Harris’s physical condition entering the 2021 campaign after he underwent a chaotic couple years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris’ struggles are captured in the documentary Running Back Relentless, which premieres Saturday at The Met. The film discusses Harris’s battle with mental health.
“It’s a story about a football player, but I think this is gonna be more relatable to a lot of people,” he said, adding that the process of making the film has been therapeutic.
After winning his fourth and final Grey Cup with the Argos in 2022 against the blue and gold, Harris was behind A.J. Ouellette on the Toronto depth chart last season, before making the decision to hang up the cleats.
He then reached out to the Bombers about signing the one-day contract so he could retire as a member of his hometown team.
Originally a member of the team in the 2016 season as it made its first playoff appearance in five years, Harris said the evolution of the team was special to watch.
“The memories while I was here, the growth of the team from 2016 to 2021 and, where the team is at now, they’re the top of the league,” he said. “And from a culture standpoint, from all-stars, players on the team, coaching, it’s the standard.”
Harris had kind words for former teammate and fellow Winnipegger Nic Demski, who is a slotback with the Bombers.
“I think with Nic for sure, we have similar kinds of lifestyles and upbringings, and we have a similar story and we just work,” he said. “We’re really great friends off the field.”
He also addressed fellow Winnipegger Brady Oliveira, his successor in his position.
“I remember his first year or two, how raw he was,” Harris said. “And just being like ‘Man, if I can just give this guy some nuggets and help him out, how much better he would be hopefully becoming.’ And he hasn’t even reached the tip of the iceberg yet.”
Despite winning a championship in Toronto, Harris noticed a difference between the locker-room culture in his new home and what he was used to in Winnipeg.
“Honestly, when I got to Toronto, we had all the talent in the world,” Harris said. But everyone was playing for themselves and it was a complete different culture than what I was used to and what I thought was ultimate to being a championship calibre team and being successful.”
Asked if he’d ever contemplate coming back to the league, Harris, now working in sales with an Ontario construction company, was coy.
“I’m not gonna pull a Tom Brady … but you never know,” he said with a grin.
2024-04-26T23:49:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd