Veteran Harris appreciates big game more now

Time has given Andrew Harris a deeper appreciation about what it takes to win the Grey Cup.

The veteran running back will look to win a third Grey Cup in his 11-year Canadian Football League career Sunday when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field. Harris captured his first championship in 2011 with the B.C. Lions then had to wait eight years before securing a second with the Bombers in 2019.

“I didn’t really appreciate it (in 2011),” Harris told reporters Wednesday. “It was a really big, big game and it was amazing but it felt kind of easy at the time.

“I didn’t realize how tough it is. It’s very tough to get to this game and very tough to win it. There’s a much greater appreciation for it now than I had in 2011.”

The five-foot-10, 216-pound Harris was a one-man show in 2019 when the Bombers upset Hamilton 33-12. The 34-year-old Winnipeg native was named the game MVP and top Canadian after rushing for 134 yards and a TD on 18 carries while adding five catches for 35 yards and a touchdown.

It was regarded as an upset win as Hamilton had posted a CFL-best 15-3 record while Winnipeg (11-7) finished third in the West. The tables have turned in 2021 as the Bombers registered a league-leading 11-3 mark while the Ticats (8-6) were third in the East standings.

However, Hamilton will have home-field advantage Sunday, something Harris enjoyed in 2011 when the Lions beat Winnipeg 3423 at BC Place Stadium. The Ticats have the benefit of practising at their facility, sleeping in their own beds and having the overwhelming support of the game-day crowd Sunday.

“A lot of people look at those as big advantages,” Harris said.

“But I think, at the end of the day, professionally you prepare the right way,” he added.

“Once you get on that field, the crowd shouldn’t really be a factor because you’re locked in and focused. You just have to tune out and get the job done.”

Harris was also the top Canadian in the 2011 Grey Cup game.