Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
You could see Trevor Harris taking in the moment.
Overlooking the hundreds of fans gathered to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Grey Cup championship on Tuesday, the Roughriders’ quarterback smirked and paused for a moment on the second deck of the Saskatchewan legislative building before lifting the trophy above his head, resulting in a thunderous ovation.
“I just kind of wanted to take a look at all the people here,” Harris said after Tuesday’s Grey Cup parade had concluded. “Just for a second you kind of see what it means to this city.
“Just soaking in this moment was really truly something that I’ll be able to remember.”
After the Roughriders — on the back of armoury trucks driven by the Royal Canadian Armed Forces — paraded down Albert St. to the steps of the legislative building, hundreds lined the streets before gathering to hear from the Roughriders, including Harris, who was named the Grey Cup MVP less than 48 hours earlier.
As Harris approached the microphone, fans chanted “one more year” to the 39-year-old quarterback who is a pending free agent.
“I appreciate you guys,” Harris told the crowd. “Thank you so much for making this moment special. This is your guys’ moment as well.
“We’ve always had the best fans in the league and now we’ve got the best dang team in the league to match you guys.”
After the crowd erupted, Harris continued.
“This is our fifth title but something we’ve never done is go back-to-back so let’s go ahead and start talking about that,” he said. “We’ve got the best coach in the league and we’re going to have the best team in the league next year.”
Does that mean Harris is planning on coming back in 2026 to run it back?
Well, that formal announcement of whether he’s coming back or not will be made in the coming days after he has official talks with general manager Jeremy O’Day, head coach Corey Mace and the rest of the football operations staff.
“I just think any time you’ve got Corey Mace here and the leadership that we do with J.O. and Kyle Carson and Larry Dean, you’re always going to have a chance at that,” Harris clarified his “back-to-back” statement to reporters after the parade was over. “And so we’ll kind of see. I’ll sit down with J.O. at some point, probably this week, and then I’ll talk to my wife and kind of just go from there.
“But it’s not a physical deterioration thing. I’ve always said for a long time, it won’t be because of physical reason, but we’ll kind of see how it goes.
“But this sure is awesome. And, you know, it’s kind of been really, really breathtaking to kind of see what this means to the city.”
Harris, a Roughrider since 2023, continued on about the support that the team has received since the team hoisted the Grey Cup on Sunday in Winnipeg.
“It’s truly incredible,” said Harris. “What really kind of mesmerized me is how much this means to the city and the people here, and even just all the MLAs and the people that we talked to, and everybody, all the fans you see, and just the tears of joy, even from the fans.
“This is their Grey Cup and it couldn’t mean any more than it possibly does. We’re truly, truly grateful to bring the city the championship.”
Has he had his “pinch me” moment yet?
“To be honest with you, I still feel like I’m dreaming,” said Harris. “There’s been times where I’ll sit back and say, ‘Wait, have I woke up yet?’ And I kind of like flick myself to make sure I do have pain receptors.
“This is not a dream. It’s truly remarkable.”
