Andrew Harris (Canadian football) facts for kids
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | |
Harris with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2025
|
|
| Date of birth: | April 24, 1987 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth: | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
|
Career information
|
|
| CFL status: | Non-import |
| Position(s): | Running backs coach |
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) |
| CJFL: | Vancouver Island Raiders (2006-2009) |
|
Organizations
|
|
|
Career highlights and awards
|
|
|
|
| CFL All-Star: | 2012, 2015–2018 |
| CFL West All-Star: | 2012, 2015–2019 |
| Awards: | Wally Buono Award (2009) CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian (2017) Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian (2011, 2019) Grey Cup Most Valuable Player (2019) CFL rushing yards leader (2017-2019) Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy (2017, 2018) Eddie James Memorial Trophy (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019) |
|
Career stats
|
|
| Rushing yds | 10,380 |
| Rushing TDs | 51 |
| Receiving yds | 5,489 |
| Receiving TDs | 32 |
| Playing stats at CFL.ca | |
|
Military service
|
|
| Awards: | Wally Buono Award (2009) CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian (2017) Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian (2011, 2019) Grey Cup Most Valuable Player (2019) CFL rushing yards leader (2017-2019) Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy (2017, 2018) Eddie James Memorial Trophy (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019) |
Andrew Harris, born on April 24, 1987, is a Canadian former professional football player. He was a talented running back and is now a running backs coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Harris is famous for winning the Grey Cup four times. He was also named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian twice and the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player once. He was chosen as a CFL All-Star five times.
Harris played for the BC Lions for six seasons. In 2016, he joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 2017, he was named the Most Outstanding Canadian after leading the league in rushing yards. He also set a record for the most catches by a running back in a single season. In 2022, while playing for the Toronto Argonauts, Harris reached over 10,000 career rushing yards. He also became the CFL's all-time leader in total yards from scrimmage by a Canadian player.
Contents
Early Life and Football Start
Andrew Harris was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He spent his early childhood in Steinbach, Manitoba. He started playing football when he was nine years old with the Eastman Raiders. His father's family is from Barbados. Harris played high school football at Grant Park High School in Winnipeg. He later moved to Oak Park High School for his final year.
Junior Football Success
After high school, Harris joined the Vancouver Island Raiders. This team is part of the Canadian Junior Football League. During his time in junior football, he helped the Raiders win three national championships. These wins were in 2006, 2008, and 2009. He also broke several records in British Columbia and the CJFL. These records included the most touchdowns and points scored in history. In 2009, he received the Wally Buono Award. This award is given to the most outstanding junior football player in Canada.
Professional Football Career
Andrew Harris's talent in junior football caught the eye of Wally Buono. Buono was the head coach and general manager of the BC Lions. The Lions signed Harris on December 15, 2008. He joined the Lions' practice team in 2009. He also played his last season of junior football for the Raiders that year.
Playing for the BC Lions
2010 Season
In 2010, Harris earned a spot on the Lions' main roster. He mostly played on special teams during his first season. He was recognized as the CFL's special teams player of the week on September 14, 2010.
2011 Season
Harris started the 2011 season as a backup running back. His role grew during the season, and he became the starting running back. He finished the year with 853 total yards and eight touchdowns. In the playoffs, Harris was named the Canadian player of the week. This was for his great performance in the Lions' win over the Edmonton Eskimos. A week later, Harris was named the Most Outstanding Canadian at the Grey Cup. He scored a touchdown and rushed for 65 yards. The Lions won the game 34–23 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. After this successful season, Harris signed a new contract with the Lions on December 29, 2011.
2012 Season
After a strong 2011 season, Harris became the main starting running back for the 2012 CFL season. He continued to play well. He became the ninth Canadian running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He was also the first Canadian BC Lion to rush for 1,000 yards since Sean Millington in 2000. Another Canadian running back, Jon Cornish, also rushed for 1,000 yards that year. This was the first time since 1956 that two Canadian running backs achieved this in the same season.
2013 Season
In the 2013 CFL season, Harris had more rushing attempts. However, his total rushing yards were just under 1,000, finishing with 998. He also caught 61 passes for 513 yards. Before the 2014 CFL season, Harris and the Lions agreed to extend his contract through the 2015 CFL season.
2014 Season
In Week 3 against Saskatchewan, Harris gained 203 yards from scrimmage. This included 138 rushing yards and 65 receiving yards. He also scored a 58-yard rushing touchdown. The Lions won that game 26-13, which was their first win of the season. Harris's season was cut short by a left ankle injury that needed surgery. He missed the last six regular season games and a playoff game. In 12 games, Harris had 652 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also had 529 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns.
2015 Season
Harris finished the 2015 CFL season with the second-most rushing yards in the league. He had 1,039 yards, just behind Montreal's Tyrell Sutton. He also set a personal best with 222 rushing attempts. After the playoffs, Harris expressed his unhappiness with the BC Lions. This made his future with the team uncertain.
Joining the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
_(cropped).jpg)
2016 Season
On February 9, 2016, Harris signed with his hometown team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as a free agent. During the 2016 season, Harris played in most of the regular season games. He missed some time due to an ankle injury. He finished the season third in the league for rushing yards, just 26 yards short of 1,000. The Blue Bombers made the playoffs for the first time since 2011. In the West Semi-Final, Winnipeg played against Harris's former team, the BC Lions, but lost 32-31.
2017 Season
In Week 6, Winnipeg hosted Montreal and was losing by 12 points with less than two minutes left. The Blue Bombers made an amazing comeback, scoring two touchdowns to win the game. Harris scored the winning touchdown from one yard out on the very last play. In a Week 9 game against the undefeated Edmonton Eskimos, Harris achieved a professional first. He gained over 100 yards in both rushing and receiving, totaling 225 yards. Winnipeg won that game 33-26.
Harris finished the season with 1,035 rushing yards, earning his first league rushing title. He also led all players with 105 receptions. This set a new record for running backs, breaking the previous record of 102. The Blue Bombers finished the season with a 12-6 record. They hosted their first playoff game since 2011 but were defeated by Edmonton 39-32.
2018 Season
Harris's strong performance led to a two-year contract extension with the Bombers in May 2018. In 2018, he set a new personal best for rushing yards. He led the league in rushing again with 1,390 yards. In the West Semi-Final in Saskatchewan, Harris rushed for 153 yards and scored a touchdown. This helped the Blue Bombers win 23-18, their first playoff win since 2011. In the West Final, the Calgary Stampeders defeated the Blue Bombers 22-14.
2019 Season
During the 2019 CFL season, Harris passed the 8,000 career rushing yard mark in a home game against the Toronto Argonauts. On August 15, 2019, Harris became the all-time leader in yards from scrimmage for a Canadian player. He passed Ben Cahoon's record of 13,368 yards. In the same game, he moved into the top ten all-time in rushing yards. Harris is the only player in CFL history to have over 4,000 rushing yards with two different teams. In Winnipeg's final regular season game, Harris broke the record for career rushing yards by a Canadian player in the CFL. This record was previously held by Normie Kwong. The play where he broke the record also set up Winnipeg's game-winning field goal against Calgary.
Harris helped the Blue Bombers, who were considered underdogs, win their first Grey Cup since 1990. They defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 107th Grey Cup game. He made history by becoming the first player ever to win both Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Canadian in Grey Cup history. He rushed for 134 yards on 18 carries and caught five passes for 35 yards. He also scored both a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. After the win, Harris said he was proud to be from Winnipeg and wanted to share the victory with everyone there.
2020 Season
Harris did not play in 2020 because the 2020 CFL season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 Season
On January 15, 2021, Harris signed a one-year contract extension with the Blue Bombers. He missed the first three games of the season due to a calf injury. He played in six games during the middle of the regular season. He carried the ball 116 times for 623 yards and scored three touchdowns. On October 22, 2021, the Bombers announced that Harris was placed on the six-game injured list. This was due to a knee injury he got while scoring a touchdown against the Edmonton Elks. Harris did not play for the rest of the season until the 2021 Western Division Finals. In the West Division Finals, Harris helped his team reach their second straight Grey Cup. He rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. The Blue Bombers defeated Hamilton again in the Grey Cup, this time in Hamilton's home stadium, winning 33-25 in overtime.
Harris became a free agent when his contract ended on February 8, 2022.
Playing for the Toronto Argonauts
2022 Season
On February 8, 2022, Harris agreed to join the Toronto Argonauts after playing six seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In his fifth game with the Argonauts, on July 24, 2022, he made history. He became the sixth player in CFL history to rush for over 10,000 yards. He is also the only Canadian player to achieve this milestone. On August 16, 2022, during the 2022 season, it was announced that Harris would miss the rest of the season. He needed surgery for a torn pectoral muscle. At the time of his injury, Harris had played in eight games for the Argos and was third in the league in rushing yards with 490. Harris returned to play in the East Division Final against the Montreal Alouettes. He scored his first touchdown with the Argonauts in that game. One week later, Harris helped Toronto win the 109th Grey Cup by defeating his former team, the Blue Bombers.
2023 Season
On March 2, 2023, it was announced that Harris had re-signed with the Argonauts. He started the season as a backup running back but still played a lot. On July 29, 2023, he passed Charles Roberts to become the CFL's fifth all-time leading rusher. He finished the regular season on the injured list. However, he still played in 12 regular season games. In those games, he had 49 carries for 229 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 10 receptions for 86 yards and one touchdown. He returned for the team's East Final playoff game, where he had two carries for four yards. The Argonauts were defeated by the Alouettes in that game.
Harris's contract with the Argonauts ended on February 13, 2024.
Retirement from Playing
On April 24, 2024, the Blue Bombers announced that Harris would sign a one-day contract. This allowed him to officially retire as a member of his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Harris signed his special contract with the Blue Bombers President and CEO, Wade Miller, on April 27. This happened before the premiere of a documentary about Harris's life called ‘Running Back Relentless’. Harris was also honored during halftime on June 21, 2024, when the Blue Bombers hosted the B.C. Lions.
Career Statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| * | Led the league |
| ≈ | Won the Grey Cup |
| ± | Grey Cup MVP |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular Season
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Long | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| 2010 | BC | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | BC≈ | 18 | 11 | 96 | 458 | 4.8 | 1 | 32 | 30 | 395 | 13.1 | 7 |
| 2012 | BC | 18 | 18 | 187 | 1112 | 6.0 | 7 | 61 | 75 | 718 | 9.6 | 5 |
| 2013 | BC | 18 | 18 | 198 | 998 | 5.0 | 7 | 25 | 61 | 513 | 8.4 | 4 |
| 2014 | BC | 12 | 12 | 122 | 652 | 5.3 | 2 | 58 | 46 | 529 | 11.5 | 4 |
| 2015 | BC | 18 | 18 | 222* | 1039 | 4.7 | 8* | 33 | 53 | 584 | 11.0 | 2 |
| 2016 | WPG | 15 | 15 | 195 | 974 | 5.0 | 4 | 29 | 67 | 631 | 9.4 | 1 |
| 2017 | WPG | 18 | 18 | 189 | 1035* | 5.5 | 6 | 26 | 105 | 857 | 8.2 | 1 |
| 2018 | WPG | 18 | 18 | 239 | 1390* | 5.8 | 8 | 43 | 64 | 451 | 7.8 | 3 |
| 2019 | WPG≈± | 16 | 16 | 225* | 1380* | 6.1 | 4 | 56 | 70 | 529 | 7.6 | 4 |
| 2020 | WPG | Season cancelled | ||||||||||
| 2021 | WPG≈ | 7 | 7 | 116 | 623 | 5.4 | 3 | 24 | 11 | 116 | 10.5 | 1 |
| 2022 | TOR≈ | 8 | 8 | 114 | 490 | 4.3 | 0 | 19 | 23 | 180 | 7.8 | 0 |
| 2023 | TOR | 12 | 0 | 49 | 229 | 4.7 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 86 | 8.6 | 1 |
| CFL totals | 196 | 159 | 1,952 | 10,380 | 5.3 | 51 | 611 | 5,489 | 9.1 | 32 | ||
Playoffs
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yards | TD | Rec | Yards | TD | ||
| 2010 West Semi-Final | BC | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
| 2011 West Final | BC | 1 | 1 | 7 | 41 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 1 |
| 2012 West Final | BC | 1 | 1 | 8 | 33 | 0 | 10 | 75 | 0 |
| 2013 West Semi-Final | BC | 1 | 1 | 10 | 93 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 0 |
| 2014 East Semi-Final* | BC | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2015 West Semi-Final | BC | 1 | 1 | 14 | 79 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 0 |
| 2016 West Semi-Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 11 | 61 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 0 |
| 2017 West Semi-Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 11 | 77 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 0 |
| 2018 West Semi-Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 19 | 153 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| 2018 West Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 13 | 71 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| 2019 West Semi-Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 14 | 57 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| 2019 West Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 10 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| 2021 West Final | WPG | 1 | 1 | 23 | 136 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 2022 East Final | TOR | 1 | 1 | 9 | 42 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 0 |
| 2023 East Final | TOR | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| CFL totals | 14 | 12 | 151 | 888 | 5 | 38 | 299 | 1 | |
*team qualified for playoff crossover
Grey Cup
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yards | TD | Rec | Yards | TD | ||
| 2011 | BC | 1 | 1 | 10 | 65 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 2019 | WPG | 1 | 1 | 18 | 134 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 1 |
| 2021 | WPG | 1 | 1 | 18 | 80 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | TOR | 1 | 1 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| CFL totals | 4 | 4 | 56 | 334 | 2 | 9 | 58 | 1 | |
Executive Role
On February 11, 2023, it was announced that Harris had taken on a new role. He became the head of football operations and head coach for the Vancouver Island Raiders for the 2024 season. This was after his playing career ended. However, on January 24, 2024, the Raiders announced a change. Harris accepted a position on the board of directors. He also remained the director of football operations. Shawn Arabsky, who was the team's interim head coach in 2023, was named the head coach for 2024 instead.
Coaching Career
On January 20, 2025, it was announced that Andrew Harris was hired as the running backs coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Personal Life
Andrew Harris looks up to former Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Charles Roberts. He also admires hockey player Steve Yzerman. Throughout his professional football career, Harris wore the number 33. This was a way to honor a Vancouver Island Raiders teammate who passed away in a car accident in September 2008. Harris has a daughter. He continues to live in Winnipeg during the off-season.
On July 5, 2024, Harris signed a contract to play hockey. He joined the Tillsonburg Thunder of the Western Ontario Super Hockey League. This is a Senior AA men’s hockey league in Ontario.
