The first day of training camp at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium couldn’t arrive fast enough for Eskimos quarterback Trevor Harris.
He’s had “a knot in his stomach” the last few days, but it’s been more of “a giddy feeling” than nervous tension.
“That knot in my stomach is more for I want to put everything I have forward so I don’t let my teammates down,” he said. “Obviously, very excited. It’s sort of like Christmas morning in terms of (getting to know) the new teammates and getting everything kicked off again.
“We’re all really excited,” he added. “I think we have a great group of guys. I can’t say I’ve been more excited about a training camp in my career.”
Harris, 32, is entering his eighth CFL season, so he’s been to a few training camps. But this one feels special after signing a two-year contract as a free agent with the Eskimos on Feb. 12.
“It’s one of those deals where you get really excited to lead guys and see how quickly we can gel together and bond together as teammates and brothers and get this thing going in the right direction,” he said.
“It’s not something last November/early December I would have ever put money on happening – me leaving Ottawa,” Harris continued. “But it being a new situation and with me being in what I feel is the prime of my career, the next four or five years is a great time to be here in Edmonton.”
He’s reunited with head coach Jason Maas and Brock Sunderland, the Eskimos’ General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations, whom he first met in Ottawa, and looking forward to working with Edmonton’s new offensive co-ordinator Jordan Maksymic.
He’s also excited to play with former RedBlacks teammates and “to develop a culture with everybody here and the tremendous roster that Brock has put together. It’s going to be a good training camp and a fun training camp for us. If we can get everybody pulling in the same direction, this could be a really, really amazing team.”
Wide receiver Greg Ellingson, a former CFL all-star and 1,000-yard receiver each of the last four seasons, and left offensive tackle SirVincent Rogers (a CFL all-star and former winner of the league’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award) also decided to sign with the Eskimos as free agents after Harris came aboard.
“It’s a nice familiarity to have guys who know how I like to operate and I know how they operate and we can gel together,” Harris said. “They’re tremendous guys. Aside from SirVincent and Greg and former teammate Danny O’Brien (an Eskimos backup QB the last two years) being great football players, they’re also tremendous guys so I know they’re going to be here for the right reasons. They’re going to work hard and football means a lot to them. They’re guys I love being around.”
Harris will celebrate his 33rd birthday when the Eskimos play their second pre-season game against the Blue Bombers at Winnipeg on May 31st.