Andrew Harris

Fellow Canadian running back Jon Cornish also ran for 1,000 yards, marking the first time since 1956 that two Canadian running backs ran for 1,000 yards in the same season.

Andrew Harris (born April 24, 1987) is the Director of Football Operations for the Vancouver Island Raiders of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).

He is a former professional Canadian football running back who played for 14 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Harris is a four-time Grey Cup champion, two-time winner of the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian and one-time Grey Cup Most Valuable Player, as well as a five-time CFL All-Star and a six-time CFL West All-Star.

Harris continued his strong play and became the ninth Canadian running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the first Canadian BC Lion to rush for a 1,000 yards since Sean Millington in 2000.

During his junior career, he led the Raiders to three national championships (2006, 2008, and 2009) and broke a number of British Columbia conference and CJFL records, including all-time touchdowns and scoring.

The head coach and general manager of the BC Lions, Wally Buono, took notice of Harris' talents in junior football and claimed him as a territorial exemption on May 22, 2008.

On December 15, 2008, the Lions announced that they had signed Harris.

In 2009, he was awarded the Wally Buono Award for most outstanding junior football player in Canada.

He joined the Lions' practice roster in 2009, while continuing to play his final season of junior for the Raiders.

In 2010, Harris earned a spot on the Lions active roster and was primarily used on special teams in his first season.

He was named the CFL's special teams player of the week on September 14, 2010.

Harris began the 2011 season as the Lions' backup running back.

Harris saw his role expand and he took over as the starting running back in mid-season, finishing with 853 total yards and eight touchdowns.

In the playoffs, Harris was named the Canadian player of the week for his performance in the Lions' win over the Edmonton Eskimos in the West Division Final.

A week later, Harris was named the Most Outstanding Canadian at the Grey Cup, scoring a touchdown and rushing for 65 yards over 10 carries in the Lions 34–23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

On December 29, 2011, Harris and the Lions agreed to a two-year contract extension, with an option for year three.

Following a strong 2011 campaign, Harris became the starting running back for the 2012 CFL season.

Despite seeing increased rushing attempts in the 2013 CFL season, his total yards fell short of 1000, finishing with 998.

Harris added 61 pass receptions for 513 yards.

Prior to the 2014 CFL season Harris and the Lions agreed to a contract extension through the 2015 CFL season.

Harris's 2014 campaign was cut short by injuries, missing the final six games of the season due to injury.

He finished the season with 652 yards on 122 carries (5.3 average) with two rushing touchdowns.

He added 529 receiving yards on 46 catches with four touchdowns.

Harris finished the 2015 CFL season with the second most rushing yards, trailing Montreal's Tyrell Sutton by 20 yards (1,059 to 1,039).

He set a career-high in rushing attempts with 222, while simultaneously posting a career worst 4.7 yards per carry.

Immediately following playoff elimination as a pending free-agent, Harris expressed his displeasure with the BC Lions organization, putting his future with the club in doubt.

He played for the BC Lions for six seasons before joining the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2016 as a free agent, where he was named the 2017 Most Outstanding Canadian after leading the league in rushing and setting the record for single-season receptions by a running back.

In 2022, while a member of the Toronto Argonauts, Harris passed 10,000 career rushing yards and became the CFL leader in career yards from scrimmage by a Canadian.

Harris was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and spent his early years in Steinbach, Manitoba, where he started playing football at age 9 with the Eastman Raiders.

He is of Barbadian descent through his father.

He played high school football at Grant Park High School in Winnipeg through his junior year and transferred to Oak Park High School before his senior year.

After high school in Winnipeg, Harris joined the Vancouver Island Raiders of the Canadian Junior Football League.

Harris signed with his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a free agent on February 9, 2016.

During the 2016 season Harris played in all but 3 of the regular season games for the Blue Bombers, missing some time with an ankle injury.

He finished the season third in the league in rushing yards, falling short of the 1,000 yard plateau by only 26 yards.

In a game against the Edmonton Eskimos in 2017, Harris set a professional first by surpassing 100 yards in both rushing and receiving, netting a total of 225 yards in the game.

He finished the season with 1,035 rushing yards, winning his first league rushing title.

He also led all players with the most receptions, with 105, which was also a record for running backs, with the previous record of 102 held by Craig Ellis.

Harris's strong play was rewarded in May 2018 when he and the Bombers agreed to a two-year contract extension.