Understanding The Differences Between CFL Canadian Football And The NFL
Its that time of the year again–Americans are getting ready for football. In a few months NFL teams will be opening training camp and college football teams starting practice. Up north, however, the footballs are already flying as pro football is in full swing up in Canada with the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Most Americans dont realize that the CFL has a lengthy and storied history. The league itself has been around since’30, and the Canadian Football championship–known as the Grey Cup–has been contended since’09. More recently, American fans are aware that a number of NFL stars got their start in the CFL including Doug Flutie, Jim Kelly, and Jeff Garcia.
The CFL is a very professional and highly competitive league, but its important to understand some important differences between it and the NFL:
At the most basic level, the football itself is bigger than the NFL ball. It is longer and fatter than the NFL ball. The CFL goal posts are on the goal line, while the NFLs are on the end line at the back of the endzone. The CFL field is also longer (110 yards) and wider (65 yards vs. the NFLs 53.5 yards), and the CFL end zones are 20 yards deep as opposed to 10 yards in the NFL.
Teams have 12 players on the field at once as opposed to 11 in the NFL. On offense, the extra player is a receiver, on defense a defensive back. And unlike the American game, where teams have 4 downs to move the ball ten yards the CFL has only 3. Maybe the hardest thing to get used to when listening to CFL broadcasts is the frequently references to teams going two and out. There are a few other subtle differences as well”teams only have 1 time out per half, only 20 seconds between plays, and all backfield players can be in motion prior to the snap (as opposed to only one in the NFL).
A major difference in the scoring is the ’single’ which awards CFL teams one point for a kick–usually a punt or missed field goal–that lands in the end zone. This will frequently produce partial game scores of 1-0 or 1-1 that are impossible in the US game.
Of all the rule differences between the NFL and CFL the one that has the most significance on the game isnt enforced on the field; its enforced in the GMs office. Canadians are big on laws and rules to protect their national identity–thats why their TV and radio stations are required to devote a certain percentage of their airplay to Canadian content. That has led to a number of Canadian-only media stars both good (The Tragically Hip, Sloan) and bad (Avril Lavigne, early 90s white rapper Snow). The CFL has a similar rule which requires that’ of the 40 players on a roster must be Canadian born. This keeps the CFL from becoming a de facto NFL developmental league, and helps maintain its unique identity.
Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding is that the average NFL fan looks at the rules of the Canadian game with more players, a wider field, and fewer downs and concludes that the game is a wide open shootout similar to Arena Football. Thats not really the case–you’ll see some offensive battles but most games end up with final score totals in the mid to high 40s. In Arena Football, youll frequently see teams with potent offenses enforcing their will over and over again against teams with porous defenses. You don’t see that too often in the CFL. The rules may be different, but as is the case in American pro football you need a solid rushing game and a stout defense to win games and championships.
There’s also more parity in the CFL than even the NFL, which is famous for the competitive equality of their teams. The reason is fairly simple–football at the high school and college level in Canada simply isn’t as competitive as in the US. That means the mandated ratio of native players also serves to facilitate parity within the CFL.
Among the ‘non-Canadians’ on the team, its also important to note that the CFL doesn’t get the highest level US college players. Most with NFL ability are in the NFL, or on a NFL team’s practice or developmental squad. There’s definitely some American players that are uniquely suited to the CFL game, but the general level of talent is similar to that seen in the Arena Football League.
Despite the differences between the CFL and American football, at the end of the day its still high level, professional football. Once you understand the unique aspects of the CFL, it’ll become second nature much as NFL viewers quickly assimilate rule changes there.
You wont see CFL news on ESPN, since theyre more interested in featuring spelling bees and lumberjack competitions and letting their personalities like Stuart Scott show how clever they are than covering sports. The good news is that the CFL receives extensive coverage in the Canadian press and all you need to do is visit a couple of websites to stay up to date. Each CFL city has their own sports media, and most have pretty good websites. The best one stop shopping can be found at the leagues own and Slam! Sports, which is roughly the Canadian equivalent of ESPNs website and has extensive CFL news, opinions and statistics.
Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.
