Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback Trevor Harris had already cemented himself as an all-time CFL great by bringing the franchise’s fifth Grey Cup championship back to Regina, but he’s added another 40,000 reasons why his career may be worth an induction to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF). Playing in career CFL game 197 Friday against the Ottawa Redblacks, Harris threw his 40,352 passing yard – becoming just the 12th quarterback in league history to surpass 40,000 yards passing. “I’m really thankful I get to do this and to join the 40K club’s pretty cool,” the quarterback said after Friday’s win. “I think it just means maybe I’m getting a little older, though.” Fourteen years and 40,000 yards ago as a member of the Toronto Argonauts, Harris stepped onto the field for a CFL regular season game for the first time Oct. 8, 2012 against the same Roughriders he now plays for. He got his first playing time due to a Riders’ massive 36-10 win. That day, at 26 years old, Harris was 1/5 for three yards passing – the first of many more. Harris spent four years in Toronto – winning a Grey Cup behind Ricky Ray – but did not see significant time as a starter until 2015. In 2016, he signed in Ottawa to back-up Henry Burris. The Redblacks would go on to win the Grey Cup that season, too. Taking over the reins the following year, Harris threw his first – and only – 5,000-yard season in 2018. Then he went to Edmonton for two years, Montreal for another and landed in Saskatchewan in 2023. That first year in Rider green, Harris played just five games before sustaining a major knee injury which ended his season. Last year, he led Saskatchewan to the team’s fifth Grey Cup in franchise history – Harris’ first championship as a starter as he earned game MVP honours at 39 years old. “I honestly feel I’m just getting started in a way,” Harris said during the celebration Nov. 16. “I just couldn’t be more grateful.” The 40-year-old pivot from Waldo, Ohio needed just 49 yards to reach the career mark going into Friday’s game against the Ottawa Redblacks. A 22-yard pass to D’Sean Mimbs in the first quarter pushed Harris across the 40k milestone. “I had no idea till the end of the game,” the former University of Regina Ram told CTV News Wednesday. “My friends said they’re going to make it into a trivia question about who caught Trevor’s 40,000 yard pass.” Now at 40 and in his fourth year in Green and White, Harris continues to move up the CFL’s all-time passing leaders list. His 40,352 career passing yards rank 12th all-time in CFL history. He needs 182 more yards to catch former Alouette – and Canadian Football Hall of Famer – Tracy Ham, who had 40,534. “All the ups and downs and ebbs and flows and, to be able to do that, at the professional level is something that just blows my mind,” Harris said. “But again, I just trying to stay focused on the small things.” The Riders marked the milestone by giving Harris a game ball after Friday’s win. “It’s incredible; only 12 people have done that,” head coach Corey Mace explained Friday night. “And true Trevor fashion, he took that football and was looking to give away offensive player of the game ball. I said, ‘No, buddy, that’s your ball.” “I’m really thankful I get to be the quarterback of this organization. I never, ever, ever take it for granted,” Harris added. In four seasons with Saskatchewan, he has 11,341 passing yards – sixth in franchise history. He needs just 110 yards to pass Tom Burgess for fifth all-time. Harris also ranks second among active quarterbacks in career passing yards. Bo Levi Mitchell leads active quarterbacks with 45,426 yards, which ranks eighth all-time. Of non-active quarterbacks with 40,000 or more passing yards, nine of the 10 are in the CFHOF.
