Losing is getting to QB Trevor Harris
Losing football games is weighing on Trevor Harris and it’s not easy to shrug off.
The Ottawa Redblacks quarterback takes it personally that his team has won just once in eight games.
“It’s cliché to say you’re your own worst critic, but I really am,” Harris said following the Redblacks’ final practice before getting on a Thursday morning train to Hamilton, where they’ll play the Ticats on Friday night. “I don’t think anybody’s criticizing my game more than myself.
“The other day, something wasn’t going right at the house and I was upset about it. When I get upset at (my wife Kalie), I just get quiet, I don’t say too much. She was like, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘Just ... nothing.’ I was like, ‘You know what, hang on, I’m not going to bring this stuff home with me. You’re really more important than this, (our son) T.J.’s more important, my family and my faith are more important.’ Football’s not the most important thing, but I sure do treat it like it is.”
Trying to push internal pressure aside is something Harris has become better at, but it’s still a work in progress, Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said.
“He’s got a personality that you like in that this means the world to him — he cares,” Campbell said. “We need to take some of that pressure off him. Pro football, sports, is a breeding ground for stress and anxiety. You need to make sure you don’t ratchet that up. You have to make sure you have the urgency and make sure you can function and keep going.”
Harris knows he has to take pressure off himself.
“It’s important to flush things,” Harris said. “I think that’s a mistake I’ve made (when I was younger) ... I’m growing and I’m learning. You can’t harp on them and be like, ‘Man, I have to make this throw, I have to do this, I have to that.’ You made the mistake, you learn from it, you move on and you believe in yourself. If I don’t believe I’m one of the elite quarterbacks in this league, I’m doing my team a disservice and I’m doing myself a disservice. I need to go out there, play like it, act like it, practise like it, prepare like it.”
Harris has thrown for 2,468 yards and 16 touchdowns through eight games. Yet the Redblacks have only beaten Montreal, with a tie against Calgary and a series of close calls that have resulted in losses. In the Redblacks’ favour, Montreal and Toronto are in a tie atop the East Division, each with only three wins. So a string of wins would put Ottawa in good shape.
“There’s not a game we can’t win” in the rest of the season, Harris said. “Our mindset is we have to win one before we win 10. We’re going to focus on winning this week, then we’ll focus on winning next week.”
Hamilton has yet to win in seven games; some of those have been close, a couple of them have been blowouts.
“It makes it a semi-playoff atmosphere,” Harris said. “Some people might laugh at that, ‘Oh, you’re (1-6-1), playoff atmosphere,’ but it’s the truth. You have two desperate teams, you have to go out and get a win.”
Campbell isn’t overlooking Hamilton
“We’re anticipating their best effort,” Campbell said. “They’ve shown they can do that. They’ve played some good teams tough — the best example is playing Edmonton twice and playing them tough. I’m going back to my statement that we know every team in this league is good, we just have to line up, do our thing and find a way to get it done.
“We’re getting to the halfway point of the season and the games keep getting bigger and bigger. Sometimes in life and in football, if you don’t make it too complicated and don’t think about too many things, a lot of times it works out better.”
While each game takes on its own importance, a loss to the Ticats would be disastrous for the Redblacks.
“I don’t like to use the word desperate, but yeah, we’ve got to get one (a win),” Harris said. “There comes a time in the season where you have to go. It’s sink or swim and we have to make sure we swim.”
Said Campbell: “We’ve dug ourselves a hole. This isn’t about playing for pride, this is about playing for the standings and finding a way to get into the playoffs.”
Is there added pressure facing a team that has yet to win?
“If we were 6-0 and they were 0-6, it’d be, ‘Oh, man, we don’t want to lose to them,’ ” Harris said. “We’re going out there with the mindset that we have to get a win. We’re kind of in the same boat as them. If we don’t get a win this week, it puts pressure on us. There’s still plenty of football left, but it’s one of those weeks where you have to get one.”
THE END AROUND
So much for talk of former Redblacks DB Mitchell White returning to Ottawa. White is back with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, who released him Sunday. ... Bodog has dropped the Redblacks to 3 ½-point favourites over the Ticats . ... With Guns N’ Roses playing the stadium at TD Place Monday, the Redblacks will practise at least a couple of days at Gee-Gees Field . ... Former Redblacks QB Thomas DeMarco has been hired as a development officer for the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, focused on bringing in major gifts.