Comparison of Canadian and American footballThe rules of the Canadian football are very similar to American football, and the NFL has established a formal relationship with the CFL. In some regions along the Canada-USA border, especially western areas, some high schools from opposite sides of the border will regularly play games against one another (typically one or two per team per season). By agreement between the governing bodies involved, the field of the home team is considered a legal field, although it is a different size from one school's normal field. Rules agreements appear to vary; some have asserted that the rules switch depending on which team possesses the football, but most Internet-accessible newspaper reports on cross-border games seem to indicate that the rules of the home team are followed throughout the game. Due to the similarities to the game, many outside of Canada today consider Canadian football a minor variation of the American game and the CFL to be a minor league and not a major professional league. However, the game is relatively popular in Canada, and the CFL is considered a major league in the country, arguably being the second most popular professional sports league, the NHL being first. Indeed, many Canadian football players are also American football players.
Important differencesSummaryWith the larger field, greater number of players, deeper end zones, more frequent plays, clock stoppages after every play in the last three minutes of the game, returns of every punt and kick, liberalized motion rules, a yard between offensive and defensive lines at the scrimmage, and three downs instead of four, the Canadian game often features more wide-open play than is seen in the American game. Specifically, these differences diminish the value of the conservative "three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust" tactic that American teams sometimes employ and encourage forward passing and scoring. There are several important specific differences between the Canadian and American versions of the game of football: Playing areathe Canadian football field is larger, similar in size to American fields prior to 1912. Team sizeCanadian teams have twelve men per side. American teams use eleven men. The ballhe ball used in Canadian football has a different shape (the Canadian ball being rounded rather then pointed at the ends due to its spheroid shape) and has slightly different dimensions then the ball used in the American game. The ball is also painted with 1-inch white stripes, similar to the way it was formerly done in American football. Number of downsTen yards must be made in three downs in Canadian football, contrasted with four in the American version. 'One-yard' ruleThe Canadian defensive line must stay a yard away from the ball at the scrimmage, because of this rule, a play can never start inside the defending team's one-yard line; if an offensive play results in the ball being advanced between the one-yard line and goal line, the ball is moved back to the 1-yard line. In the American version this rule does not apply. Fair catchThere is no fair catch rule in Canadian football: instead no players from the kicking team except the kicker and any player who was behind him when he kicked the ball may approach within five yards of the ball until it is or has been in the opponents' possession.
Backfield in motionin Canadian football all offensive backfield players, except the quarterback, may be in motion at the snap -- players in motion may move in any direction as long as they are behind the line of scrimmage at the snap. In American football, only one backfield player is allowed to be in motion, and he cannot move toward the line of scrimmage until after the ball is snapped. Time rulesCanadian football allows each team only one thirty-second time-out in each half (however, during the last three minutes of each half the clock is stopped after every play and a final play is allowed if time expires between plays, therefore additional time-outs would be of little value) The offensive team must run a play every 20 seconds, while in American football a 45-second interval between plays is allowed. Kicker advancing the ballThe Canadian kicker, or a player behind the kicker when he kicks the ball, may recover his own kick and advance with the ball. American kickers are not allowed to do so. Defensive lineThe defensive line can only hold up a receiver within 1 yard of the scrimmage lines in the CFL, as opposed to 5 yards in the NFL, allowing for more open plays. FumblesIn Canadian play, if the ball is fumbled, the last team to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds gets possession -- rather than the last team to possess the ball as in American Football. Field goalsMissed field goals which do not hit the uprights are live in Canadian football – if the ball is not returned out of the end zone, the kicking team receives a single point, but the returner has the possibility of returning the missed kick for a touchdown; failing this, his team will receive possession at the point to which he returns the ball. Following a successful field goal, in Canadian rules, the team scored upon has the option of receiving a kickoff or scrimmaging at its own 35 yard line – as opposed to there being a kickoff after every score in American football. Extra pointsExtra points are from the 5-yard line (rather than the 2- or 3-yard line). However, the offence can score a single for kicking a convert or 2 points for running or passing the ball into the end zone exactly as in American football. During a conversion the ball is live on a turnover, allowing the defensive team to score 2 points on an interception or fumble return. (In American football, the ball is dead on a turnover during a conversion in the NFL and in high school, but is live in college football.) Other differencesThere is no single-point score in American football, the same events that result in a single in Canadian football, result only in the award of a touchback in American play. Canadian receivers only need to have one foot in bounds for a catch to count as a reception, as in American high school and college football. NFL play requires two feet in bounds. The goal posts are at the front of the end zone (goal line) rather than the back (end line) CFL roster sizes are 40 players (rather than 53 as in the NFL), comprised of 19 non-imports (essentially, Canadians), 18 imports, and 3 quarterbacks. It should be noted that while the traditional American football season runs from September or late August until December with the NFL playoffs occurring in January, the CFL regular season begins in July so that the playoffs can be completed by mid-November, an important consideration for a sport played in outdoor venues in locations such as Edmonton, Alberta and Regina, Saskatchewan.
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Categories: Canadian football |
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