Lions' Andrew Harris 'too good to be true'
Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:43 am
Interesting article in the Province today about Andrew Harris. We just happen to have won 7 games in a row since we started Andrew Harris at tailback...so perhaps it was not the addition of Bruce that created the turnaround or maybe it was both..or maybe it was that we just started 'executing' and Buono's 'mentoring' of Chap finally started to show results 
...or really maybe it was because we started not only to commit to the run but also began to implement a much greater mix of running plays, off a variety of formations, after going 1-6.
Whatever, its a great thing to see Andrew Harris performing so well... a young guy out of junior football on Vancouver Island, as a starting tailback in the CFL. When you look at all the major university football programs in the U.S. and even the prominent football university programs in Canada..and all the players who would be eligible to play the tailback position and Andrew Harris is showing what a young Canadian tailback, without the experience of a major university program, can do.
Its a great story and so many Lionbackers last season were pulling for Andrew Harris to get a shot at tailback. He finally got that shot and he's more than showing us what he can do.
The article is below:
Lions' Andrew Harris 'too good to be true' -By Ed Willes, The Province October 13, 2011
It's a funny thing about plans.
If Andrew Harris's marks had been better coming out of Oak Park High School in Winnipeg, he would have gone right to Sir Wilfrid Laurier. As it was, the Vancouver Island Raiders were supposed to be a one-year stop for Harris on the way to the CIS, not a five-year stay that irrevocably changed his life.
Wally Buono, for his part, had no illusions when he began inviting junior players to the BC Lions camp.“Were we going to find a player? “ said the Lions' head coach and GM. “That was going to be difficult.”
And yet, here they are. At 24, Harris is emerging as most exciting young Canadian running back to enter the CFL in two decades and Buono has found a homemade solution to a problem in his backfield. Since Harris became a permanent fixture in the Lions' offence, the team has rattled off seven straight wins and the Winnipegger has been a consistent, sometimes spectacular, contributor on the ground and in the air.
Now it all seems like part of a purrfect plan. And maybe it's better to think of it that way because this could have ended so differently for all concerned. “You're seeing it and you're not necessarily believing it because it's too good to be true,” Buono said. “We were trying to find every other answer except the obvious one.”
He wasn't the first, of course, but Harris had to overcome a deeply rooted CFL prejudice on his way to securing a permanent spot in the Lions' backfield roto. That's because a.) he's Canadian, b.) he's a product of the Canadian Junior Football League and c.) he's a running back.
This is also interesting because, in his career with the Raiders, he amassed numbers which beggar belief. Among other things, he's the CJFL's all-time leading scorer, its all-time leader in touchdowns and second in all-time rushing yards. In 2009, his last year in Nanaimo, he carried 102 times for 1,476 yards which works out an average of 14.5 yards per carry.
Read that last sentence again slowly.
In junior, it seemed like he was operating the controls of his own Madden game. And if you think that's hyperbole, we invite you to follow the link to the YouTube highlights of Harris with the Raiders.“We saw him play every game,” Raiders owner Hadi Abassi said. “It was the best time of our lives. We'd used to look at each other and say, did we just see that?”
Apparently Abassi et al weren't the only ones who couldn't believe the young man's talents. While playing with the Raiders, Harris practiced with the Lions for two years before joining the CFL club full-time last season as a kick returner. This was after he was tried at safety and wide receiver.
This offseason, the plan – there's that word again – was to utilize an all-Canadian backfield with Harris, Jerome Messam and Jamall Lee, which seemed like a fine idea until Harris tore a pectoral muscle in March, Messam was booted off the team for off-field indiscretions in training camp and Lee was injured.
But the Lions also started the season 0-5 and veteran Jamal Robertson was unproductive. With few other options available, Harris stepped into the lineup for the Edmonton game on Aug. 19 and, four games later, accounted for 175 yards from scrimmage in another win over the Esks on opening night at BC Place.
Now, if that kind of artistry surprised Lions' followers, at least the Raiders and their faithful were used to it. Sources close to the situation said Abassi made Harris's trek to Nanaimo worth his while but the least you can say is Harris returned the investment.
“Let's face it,” Abassi said. “We're hated. Everybody talks about the money but it usually comes from losing teams. You can't buy championships with money. “You can't touch Andrew's work ethic. He's set the standard for the franchise.”
He also set down roots deep within the Raiders' community and still returns for games. While in Nanaimo. Harris underwent two tranforming experiences. The first came with the birth of his daughter Hazel when he was 20. The second came when his backfield mate Aaron Niedergesaess died in a car crash on Sept. 30, 2008.Harris wears the number 33 as a tribute to Niedergesaess. The Edmonton game at BC Place was the third anniversary of his death.
Two months ago, Harris also missed a practice returning from Winnipeg while visiting Hazel. That earned him some face time with Buono but the next week, he was in lineup when the Lions beat the Eskimos in Edmonton. They haven't lost since.
“The fact that I'm here now is amazing,” Harris said. “It's been quite a journey.”
And the best part? It's just getting started.
...or really maybe it was because we started not only to commit to the run but also began to implement a much greater mix of running plays, off a variety of formations, after going 1-6.Whatever, its a great thing to see Andrew Harris performing so well... a young guy out of junior football on Vancouver Island, as a starting tailback in the CFL. When you look at all the major university football programs in the U.S. and even the prominent football university programs in Canada..and all the players who would be eligible to play the tailback position and Andrew Harris is showing what a young Canadian tailback, without the experience of a major university program, can do.
Its a great story and so many Lionbackers last season were pulling for Andrew Harris to get a shot at tailback. He finally got that shot and he's more than showing us what he can do.
The article is below:
Lions' Andrew Harris 'too good to be true' -By Ed Willes, The Province October 13, 2011
It's a funny thing about plans.
If Andrew Harris's marks had been better coming out of Oak Park High School in Winnipeg, he would have gone right to Sir Wilfrid Laurier. As it was, the Vancouver Island Raiders were supposed to be a one-year stop for Harris on the way to the CIS, not a five-year stay that irrevocably changed his life.
Wally Buono, for his part, had no illusions when he began inviting junior players to the BC Lions camp.“Were we going to find a player? “ said the Lions' head coach and GM. “That was going to be difficult.”
And yet, here they are. At 24, Harris is emerging as most exciting young Canadian running back to enter the CFL in two decades and Buono has found a homemade solution to a problem in his backfield. Since Harris became a permanent fixture in the Lions' offence, the team has rattled off seven straight wins and the Winnipegger has been a consistent, sometimes spectacular, contributor on the ground and in the air.
Now it all seems like part of a purrfect plan. And maybe it's better to think of it that way because this could have ended so differently for all concerned. “You're seeing it and you're not necessarily believing it because it's too good to be true,” Buono said. “We were trying to find every other answer except the obvious one.”
He wasn't the first, of course, but Harris had to overcome a deeply rooted CFL prejudice on his way to securing a permanent spot in the Lions' backfield roto. That's because a.) he's Canadian, b.) he's a product of the Canadian Junior Football League and c.) he's a running back.
This is also interesting because, in his career with the Raiders, he amassed numbers which beggar belief. Among other things, he's the CJFL's all-time leading scorer, its all-time leader in touchdowns and second in all-time rushing yards. In 2009, his last year in Nanaimo, he carried 102 times for 1,476 yards which works out an average of 14.5 yards per carry.
Read that last sentence again slowly.
In junior, it seemed like he was operating the controls of his own Madden game. And if you think that's hyperbole, we invite you to follow the link to the YouTube highlights of Harris with the Raiders.“We saw him play every game,” Raiders owner Hadi Abassi said. “It was the best time of our lives. We'd used to look at each other and say, did we just see that?”
Apparently Abassi et al weren't the only ones who couldn't believe the young man's talents. While playing with the Raiders, Harris practiced with the Lions for two years before joining the CFL club full-time last season as a kick returner. This was after he was tried at safety and wide receiver.
This offseason, the plan – there's that word again – was to utilize an all-Canadian backfield with Harris, Jerome Messam and Jamall Lee, which seemed like a fine idea until Harris tore a pectoral muscle in March, Messam was booted off the team for off-field indiscretions in training camp and Lee was injured.
But the Lions also started the season 0-5 and veteran Jamal Robertson was unproductive. With few other options available, Harris stepped into the lineup for the Edmonton game on Aug. 19 and, four games later, accounted for 175 yards from scrimmage in another win over the Esks on opening night at BC Place.
Now, if that kind of artistry surprised Lions' followers, at least the Raiders and their faithful were used to it. Sources close to the situation said Abassi made Harris's trek to Nanaimo worth his while but the least you can say is Harris returned the investment.
“Let's face it,” Abassi said. “We're hated. Everybody talks about the money but it usually comes from losing teams. You can't buy championships with money. “You can't touch Andrew's work ethic. He's set the standard for the franchise.”
He also set down roots deep within the Raiders' community and still returns for games. While in Nanaimo. Harris underwent two tranforming experiences. The first came with the birth of his daughter Hazel when he was 20. The second came when his backfield mate Aaron Niedergesaess died in a car crash on Sept. 30, 2008.Harris wears the number 33 as a tribute to Niedergesaess. The Edmonton game at BC Place was the third anniversary of his death.
Two months ago, Harris also missed a practice returning from Winnipeg while visiting Hazel. That earned him some face time with Buono but the next week, he was in lineup when the Lions beat the Eskimos in Edmonton. They haven't lost since.
“The fact that I'm here now is amazing,” Harris said. “It's been quite a journey.”
And the best part? It's just getting started.
