Before he was a Roughriders star, Trevor Harris was a dancer

There are plenty of ways to describe Trevor Harris.

Saskatchewan Roughrider. Quarterback. Leader.

But here’s one you probably didn’t see coming: Dancer.

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“I danced for 14 years,” Harris said matter-of-factly.

“I’m not a great dancer, so don’t ask me to give you any moves,” he quickly added.

Sorry, Rider Nation. No post-touchdown recital is coming anytime soon. Still, it’s one of the more unexpected chapters in the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback’s story.

Three Grey Cups, more than a decade in the CFL after joining the league in 2012, and one surprising fun fact: before becoming a championship quarterback, Harris was a dancer. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

Long before Harris was escaping pass rushers and dissecting CFL defences, he was growing up inside his family’s dance studio in Waldo, Ohio, taking gymnastics, hip hop and jazz while his mom, Suzanne Harris, taught hundreds of kids every week.

As it turns out, those two worlds — dance and football — weren’t nearly as far apart as they seem.

Suzanne owns Douce Dance Studio, a family business that dates back more than 80 years. It all started in 1943 when her mother, at just 12 years old, began teaching neighbourhood children in her backyard.

“Pretty cool for a woman in the ’40s to become an entrepreneur,” Suzanne reflected.

Listen to the story on Behind the Headlines:

Today, she carries on her mother’s legacy, teaching dance classes while creating the kind of environment that leaves a lasting impression.

Just ask her son.

“My mom’s probably the best leader I know,” Harris said proudly.

“She’s got five to six hundred kids that dance. She’s the greatest leader I know, because she cares. She does a tremendous job of showing kids that she cares and loves them and pours into them. It’s just been really a great example for me to see my whole life.”

That’s a pretty glowing review from someone who’s played for a long list of coaches over a professional football career.

But before Trevor Harris ever had a quarterback coach, he had Suzanne Harris — a coach who carried a dance bag instead of a whistle.

“About three, he started gymnastics,” Suzanne recalled. “Probably when he was five, we started a little bit of hip hop classes.”

Harris began taking lessons in his mom’s dance studio when he was three years old. (Suzanne Harris/Submitted)

There was one memorable class that required a little… parental ingenuity.

“We put karate in with our gymnastics,” she laughed. “So they would do like a forward roll and stand up and go ‘Hiya!’ and hit the wood and break it. My husband would saw part of it through, so all the kids could break it.”

The whole time, team sports were also part of the equation.

“At our studio, we want the kids to be well rounded,” Suzanne explained. “We don’t want them to only just do dance. We want them to play volleyball, play football, play baseball, softball.”

And as it turns out, the dance floor had been preparing Harris for the pocket all along.

“When we were going to different camps, all the coaches… would always go, ‘Do you happen to take dance lessons?’ He’d say, ‘Yes, my mom’s a dance teacher,'” Suzanne said. “He was always asked that, because his footwork was really good.”

Harris remembers those conversations just as clearly.

“When I was getting recruited by some Division II schools, they told me that I had good footwork,” he said. “She was the quickest one to tell them, ‘Well, he does take dance, and so I’d like to take credit for that.'”

Suzanne insists dance offers more than quick feet.

“I think dance does help all kids with their memories… memorizing different choreography. Hand and eye co-ordination.”

Harris also brought something else into the studio: Competition.

“He wanted to be in the front row,” Suzanne recalled. “Our middle front-row person is the person that always memorizes stuff real well. The front row is always stronger. He was always competitive.”

Suzanne Harris says her son Trevor (left) has always had a competitive spark, even as a young dancer. (Suzanne Harris/Submitted)

Not just in dance, either. Suzanne still laughs remembering Harris and one of his best friends battling through school spelling competitions, determined to collect every sticker they could. The stakes were smaller back then, but the competitive fire was not.

As Harris got older, football started winning the battle for his attention. The dance studio was still home, but more and more hours were spent chasing a different kind of rhythm on the football field.

Suzanne was still involved — though her role as quarterback coach was a little unconventional.

“As he got older, the football was a little hard for me to catch, because he would throw it so hard,” she laughed. “So what I would do is take a plastic trash can and I’d hold it above my head and run across the yard, and he would just throw it into the garbage can.”

Years into Harris’ career as a CFL quarterback, dance unexpectedly made a comeback. The inspiration? Kobe Bryant.

Harris had been reading The Mamba Mentality when he came across Bryant’s offseason routine.

“He talked about how he did tap dancing one offseason… for footwork and ankle mobility,” he said. “So I was like, ‘You know what? If Kobe’s gonna do it, I might as well give it a whirl.'”

So he did.

Watch Harris’ fancy footwork:

During the 2019 offseason, Harris and his wife took tap classes at his mother’s studio. He learned the kick-ball changes, memorized choreography, and even performed in the recital.

“It was fun,” Harris said with a grin. “It was fun that her and I got to do that together.”

Suzanne wasn’t surprised by how he approached it.

“We had so much fun, and he did a great job,” she said. “Talk about focus. I mean, he did not play around. Every time we were scheduled, he came. He was on time. He always made it there early so that he could get his shoes on and get ready to go.”

For a moment, the CFL quarterback became her dance student again, and Suzanne loved every second of it.

“He is definitely a light in our life,” she said. “That’s for doggone sure.”

Suzanne has watched her son stand on some pretty big stages, but the thing she notices most isn’t how he handles the attention. It’s how quickly he gives it away.

“If I say, ‘Oh, Trevor, I’m so proud of you, he’ll text me back and say, ‘Well, I’ve had good role models to teach me. It’s because of you and dad, mom, I’m the way I am.’ Never ever does that boy boast himself,” she said.

Harris laughs when his mom jokingly takes credit for his footwork, but he’s much more serious when he talks about everything else she gave him.

Because long before Trevor Harris was leading a huddle, he watched his mom lead a room.

Before thousands of fans were watching him perform under the lights, he watched her create a place where hundreds of kids felt like they belonged.

The dance steps may have helped him become a better quarterback, but the lessons from that studio — showing up, working hard and making the people around you better — are the ones he carried with him.

And maybe that’s why, after all these years, Trevor Harris still gives his mom the credit.

Just don’t expect him to show you any moves.

Trevor Harris took a tap dance class alongside his wife Kalie in 2019. He was inspired by Kobe Bryant. “If Kobe’s gonna do it, I might as well give it a whirl,” he said with a laugh. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)