Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback legend Darian Durant understands full well what it means for Trevor Harris to surpass the 40,000-yard mark for career yards, something the managed last Friday.
Durant, who finished his CFL career with 31,740 yards, knows the numbers.
“It’s huge. There’s only 12 guys in the history of the league to ever accomplish something like that,” he said on his weekly Monday segment on the SportsCage. “It’s a testament to his longevity, first and foremost. The ability to stay healthy, the ability to be consistent no matter what locker room you’re in or what city you’re playing in, you come with your same hard-hat and lunch-pale mentality to get the work done. He’s done that every place he’s been.
“It’s always amazed me how he’s been able to be so consistently accurate each and every time he touches the field. It’s just amazing to watch. Kudos to Trevor.”
The 40-year-old pivot is up to 40,352 yards in his long and distinguished CFL career after throwing for 401 yards in a 42-20 win over the Ottawa Redblacks last Friday.
Harris got over the threshold late in the first quarter.
“For a guy like Trevor, I think records don’t really mean much to him. I think it’s all about winning Grey Cups and being the best teammate possible,” Durant said. “Me knowing him, I don’t think it’s something that he’s thinking about. I don’t think he’s going out on the field saying, ‘I need to get 20 more yards to accomplish this goal.’ It’s all about completion after completion after completion for Trevor. It’s all about winning.”
Even with Harris’ major feat, the Riders weren’t exactly an offensive force early against the Redblacks. It’s easy to forget now that the Redblacks scored the first two touchdowns of the game and even led in the third quarter.
Missing star receivers Kian Schaffer-Baker and Sam Emilus due to injuries, the Riders opted to go with no-huddle approaches under offensive coordinator Marc Mueller several times during the game.
Durant felt Harris leading the way in such a manner was pivotal to them eventually moving the ball and winning the game.
“Sometimes when you have a group of young guys, it’s better to go faster,” Durant said. “It’s better for them not to have to go out there and overthink things. Then you can oversimplify it with one-word plays.
“You want to make it easy. You want these guys to just go out and let their athletic abilities take over. In this case, I think it was a brilliant idea.
“Another thing you do when you go no-huddle is you limit the complex defensive calls that Ottawa can make against the offensive as well. Now they have to get their signals in quickly. They have to run some vanilla coverages. You can dictate what they’re doing defensively by speeding up the pace as well. I thought it was a great switch-up by coach Mueller.”
Watch the full interview below.
