Smith, Harris share a bond
Former backups to Ricky Ray meet in Roughriders- Argonauts match
TORONTO A year ago at this time, Trevor Harris and Brett Smith were quarterbacking hopefuls with the Toronto Argonauts.
Saturday the two pivots will guide opposing teams — Harris the Argos, Smith the Saskatchewan Roughriders — in a CFL contest at Rogers Centre.
“Trevor and I were close in my time there — I hung out with him quite a bit — so it’s kind of weird how things work out,” Smith said in advance of his second career start.
“We both were backups last year and now we’re kind of being thrown into this first- string position for the time being. It’s cool to see.
“Obviously, the circumstances are unfortunate ( with injuries to other quarterbacks), but that’s the way it goes. I’m happy for him. I know he’s doing a good job. It’ll be fun to compete against him.”
In 2014, Harris was in his third season as a backup with the Argos, who had signed him as a free agent in 2012.
The Edinboro University product played sparingly through his first two- plus seasons in Toronto — but then Argos starter Ricky Ray suffered a concussion late in the ’ 14 campaign.
Harris made his first career CFL start in the Argos’ final regular- season game and passed for 281 yards with two touchdowns in a 23- 5 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.
This season, with Ray on the shelf following shoulder surgery, Harris has run Toronto’s offence from the get- go — and he has done it well.
He entered Week 7 as the league leader in completions ( 133), completion percentage ( 74.3) and touchdown passes ( 12). He threw four of those TDs on July 5, when the Argos defeated the host Roughriders 4240 in overtime.
Saskatchewan’s offence in that contest was led by veteran Kevin Glenn. His backup was Smith, who had signed with the Roughriders in March.
Smith left the University of Wyoming after his junior year in 2013 with hopes of landing employment in the NFL. After he wasn’t selected in the 2014 draft, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent.
After being cut by the Bucs in May of last year, Smith signed with the Argos that July. He spent six weeks on their practice roster before being released in September.
“It was my first opportunity in the CFL, so I was able to get my first look at an offence and understand the defences,” Smith, 23, said of his time in Toronto.
“That was my first time being exposed to anything in the CFL, so that’s probably what I took away ( from the experience).”
Things have changed immeasurably for him since then.
On July 26, Glenn — who had been filling in for injured starter Darian Durant — suffered a torn right pectoral muscle in a game against the Hamilton Tiger- Cats. Smith replaced him in that contest and, a week later, was given the first start of his pro career.
The rookie completed 15 of 22 pass attempts for 132 yards with two interceptions and rushed three times for 21 yards in Saskatchewan’s 30- 5 loss to the host Edmonton Es- kimos on July 31.
Watching from afar, Harris saw a parallel to his own experiences as a young quarterback making his debut as a CFL starter.
“It’s difficult,” said Harris, 29. “He got thrown into the fire against a good defence and I thought he did a good job of running around making plays in the first half. The second half, he made some plays as well.
“The interceptions make the stat sheet look pretty bad, but if you look at his whole performance, I thought he did a great job managing the game and moving the sticks.”
Both Harris and Smith have benefited from working with Ray, who showed them what it takes to be a CFL quarterback. That said, both young guns said they picked up more by observing the soft- spoken Ray than by listening to him.
“You can probably learn a lot talking to him, but just watching him in terms of how he acts — his demeanour — he’s the same guy every day,” Harris said.
“It’s something you strive for as a quarterback, to be level- headed and stay on the same plane in terms of your attitude and effort.”
Harris and Smith have stayed in touch since Smith’s departure from Toronto and have created something of a mutual admiration society. As a result, they don’t plan to make a friendly wager on the result of today’s clash.
“He’s doing great,” Smith said of his opposite number. “It’ll be good to see him again.”
“When I saw he made the team in Saskatchewan this year, I shot him a text message and told him I was happy for him and proud of him,” Harris added. “He has done a great job progressing. I think ( Roughriders fans) are going to see some great things ahead from him.”