Comparison of Canadian and American football

The rules of American football are very similar to those of Canadian football, which both have their origins in rugby football, usually known in North America simply as "rugby".

History

Football was introduced to North America in Canada, by the British Army garrison in Montreal, which played a series of games with McGill University. In 1874, McGill invited Harvard to Montreal to play their new game derived from Rugby football in a home and home series. Many of the similarities and differences between the Canadian and American games indeed came out of this original home and home series where each home team set the rules. For instance, Harvard due to lack of campus space did not have a full-sized rugby pitch. Their pitch was only 100 yards long x 50 yards wide with undersized endzones (still the regulation size for American Football). Because of the reduced field, the Harvard team opted for 11 players per side, one less than the regulation 12 of Rugby. The number of downs was also increased by Harvard to 4 from 3 set by McGill to generate more offence. Both the Canadian and American games still have some things in common with the two varieties of rugby, especially rugby league, and, because of the similarities, the National Football League has established a formal relationship with the Canadian Football League.

Many, perhaps most, of the rules differences have arisen because of rules changes in American football in the early twentieth Century which have not been copied by Canadian football. The major Canadian codes never abolished the onside scrimmage kick (see Kicker advancing the ball below), restricted backfield motion, while the NCAA (from whose code all American codes derive) did. Canadian football was late in adopting the hand snap and the forward pass, although one would not suspect the latter from play today. Additionally, Canadian football was slower in removing restrictions on blocking, but caught up by the 1970s so that no significant differences remain today. Similarly, differences in scoring (the Canadian game valuing touchdowns less) opened up from the late 19th Century but were erased by the 1950s. For these reasons, this article would have been considerably longer during about 1910-50. An area in which American football has been more conservative is the retention of a fair catch.

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. In all but a few cases, the rules of the home team are followed throughout the game.

Because of the similarities between the two games, 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. Indeed, many Canadian Football League players are Americans who grew up playing American football. CFL games are even broadcast in the United States on regional cable sports networks covering large portions of the US, though media coverage is generally of a much lower level than that of the NFL.

However, the CFL is popular in Canada per an Association for Canadian Studies survey (PDF file). Another survey found that the CFL was the second most popular league in Canada, after the NHL, and before the NFL.^*

For these players who played both Canadian and American styles, a player's professional football statistics is considered to be their combined totals from the player's CFL and NFL careers. Warren Moon, for example, is the all-time professional football leader in QB passing yards after an illustrious career in both leagues.

Important differences

There are several important specific differences between the Canadian and American versions of the game of football:

Playing area

The playing field in Canadian football field is generally larger, similar to those of American fields prior to 1912. The Canadian field of play is 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide, rather than 100 yards by 53 1/3 yards (91 m by 49 m) as in American football. The end zones in Canadian football are anywhere between ten to fifteen yards deeper, although the Canadian Football League uses 20 yard (18 m) end zones. Frequently, however, the Canadian field will have its end zone truncated at the corners so that the field fits in the infield of a track. The goalposts for kicking are placed at the goal line in Canadian football and the end line in the American game. The distance between the sideline and hash marks is 24 yards (22 m) in the Canadian game and 53 feet, 4 inches (16 m) in the American amateur game at the high school level, yielding roughly the same distance between the hash marks. The hash marks are closer together at the American college level, where they are 60 feet (18 m) from the sideline, and in the NFL, where they are 70 feet, 9 inches (22 m) from the sideline--same width between them as the goalposts.

Because of the larger field, many American football venues are generally unfit for the Canadian game. In many American venues, the sidelines and endlines would be several rows into the stands. During the CFL's failed expansion to American cities, Canadian football was either played on converted baseball grounds, or in some cases, on a field designed for American football (most famously, the Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL, playing out of the Liberty Bowl, played the Canadian game on an American field due to the inability of the stadium to adapt to the larger field). The Alamodome is the only American venue built with Canadian football (the CFL's San Antonio Texans) in mind, although it is now no longer used for this purpose.

Team size

Canadian teams have twelve players per side, while American teams use eleven players. Both games have the same number of players required at the line of scrimmage, hence the twelfth player in the Canadian game plays a backfield position.

Because of this, position designations of the various offensive and defensive lines vary. For example, there is no tight end in most formations in Canadian football. The typical offensive arrangement in Canadian football is for there to be two slotbacks instead of the American tight end, while on the defensive end of the ball, two defensive halfbacks and one safety are employed instead of two safeties.

The ball

While the tolerances of Canadian and American footballs are slightly different, the same ball can fall within the tolerances of each. Canadian Football League rules specify that the long circumference of the ball should be not less than 27¾ inches (705 mm) nor greater than 28¼ inches (718 mm), while the short axis should be no less than 20⅞ inches (530 mm) nor greater than 21⅛ inches (537 mm). The dimensions of the official National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association football are specified by its manufacturer as: short circumference: 20¾ to 21¼ inches (527 to 540 mm), long circumference 27¾ to 28½ inches (705 to 724 mm).

However, since most official Canadian and American footballs are made by the same company (the exception is Arena Football League balls, which are made by Spalding, but the dimensions are the same), it is likely that their dimensions are identical. The chief difference between a CFL, NFL, NCAA, and AFL balls is the type of stripe applied (or not). Canadian balls have a complete white stripe around the football 1 inch (25 mm) from each end, NCAA balls have broken stripes, NFL balls have no stripes, and AFL balls are tan with two blue s-shaped stripes.

Number of downs

In both games, a team will have a limited number of downs to advance the ball ten yards. In American football, there are four downs, while in Canadian football, there are three.

Scrimmage

In both games, the ball is placed at a line of scrimmage, in which a player known as the center (centre in Canada) performs a snap to start a football play. In Canadian football the snap is required to go between the centre's legs; there is no such requirement in American football, but it is common practice. The defensive team must stay a distance away on their side of the line of scrimmage. If an offensive play results in the goal line being inside such a distance, the ball is moved back so that the defense is positioned at the goal line.

In Canadian football, this distance is a full yard (914 mm). That is, a play can never start inside the defending team's one-yard line. Because of this one-yard distance, teams will tend to gamble on third and one. In American football, the distance is eleven inches (279 mm) - the length of the ball, creating the illusion of the teams being "nose-to-nose" against each other.

Fair catches and punt returns

In American football, if a punt returner sees that, in his judgment, he will be unable to advance the ball after catching it, he may signal for a fair catch by waving his right hand in the air, and forgo the attempt to advance. If he makes this signal, the opposing team must allow him to attempt to catch the ball cleanly; if he is interfered with, the team covering the kick will be penalized fifteen yards. In contrast, there 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 ever approach within five yards of the ball until it is or has been touched by an opponent.

Furthermore, in American football the receiving team may elect not to play the ball if the prospects for a return are not good and the returner is not certain he can successfully catch the ball on the fly; American players are generally taught not to attempt to touch a bouncing football. If any member of the kicking team touches the ball after the kick is made, without an intervening touch by the member of the receiving team, the receiving team may elect to next scrimmage the ball from that spot of first touching, regardless of anything else (other than a penalty) that happens during the rest of the play. If the kicking team gains possession of the ball during the kick before it is touched by the receiving team, the ball is then dead. Often, the ball hits the ground and is surrounded by players from the kicking team, who allow it to roll as far as possible downfield—without going into the end zone—before grasping or holding the ball against the ground. (If a punt bounces into the receiving team's end zone, it is dead, and a touchback is awarded.) On the other hand, if the ball touches a member of the receiving team (even if he doesn't ever have possession), then the ball can be recovered by either team, and if the kicking team recovers the ball, they retain possession.

In Canadian football, the ball must be played by the receiving team, as the kicker (and anyone behind him) can attempt to retrieve and advance the ball. This is further explained in the kicker advancing the ball section.

Motion at the snap

In 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. The two players on the end of the line of scrimmage may also be in motion along the line.

In American football, only one player is allowed to be in motion, and he cannot be moving toward the line of scrimmage while the ball is snapped. Additionally, if he was on the line of scrimmage before he went in motion, he must be five yards behind the line at the time of the snap.

Time rules

In Canadian football, the offensive team must run a play within 20 seconds of the referee whistling the play in; in American football, teams have 25 seconds – except in the NFL where teams have 40 seconds from the end of the previous play.

American football rules allow each team to have three timeouts in each half, and the National Football League stops play for a two-minute warning. In the Canadian Football League, each team has only one time-out per half, while at lower levels of Canadian football each team has two. However, at all levels of Canadian football, the clock is stopped after every play during the last three minutes of each half.

Timing rules change drastically after the N-minute warning in both leagues. In American football, the clock continues to run after any tackle in bounds, but stops after an incomplete pass, or a tackle out of bounds. If the clock stops, it is restarted at the snap of the ball. In Canadian football, the clock stops after every play, but the starting time differs depending on the result of the previous play: after a tackle in bounds, the clock restarts when the referee whistles the ball in; after an incomplete pass or a tackle out of bounds, the clock restarts when the ball is snapped. NCAA football has no two-minute warning. It does, however, stop the clock after every first down to move and set the down markers.

In American football, a period generally ends when time expires (though any play which is in progress when the clock reaches 0:00 is allowed to finish); in Canadian football, the period must end with a final play. Consequently, a play is often started in Canadian football with no time (0:00) showing on the game clock. American football typically only sees a play start with no time on the clock when a defensive penalty occurs during the last play of the period, and the penalty is not declined

These timing differences make for spectacularly different end-games if the team leading the game has the ball. In American football, if the other team is out of time-outs, it is possible to run slightly more than 120 seconds off the clock (two minutes) without gaining a first down. In Canadian football, just over 40 seconds can be run off.

Kicker advancing the ball

Canadian football retains much more liberal rules regarding recovery of the ball by members of the kicking team. On any kick, the kicker and any member of the kicker's team behind the kicker at the time of the kick may recover and advance the ball. On a kickoff, since every member of the kicking team must be behind the ball when it is kicked, this effectively makes all twelve players "onside" and eligible to recover the kick, once it has gone ten yards downfield. On a punt or missed field goal, usually only the kicker is onside, as no one is behind the kicker.

The American rules are similar for the recovery of kickoffs. Any member of the kicking team may recover the ball once it has gone ten yards downfield (and touched the ground in high school) or once it has touched an opponent. The ball is dead when recovered, though the kicking team is awarded possession at the spot of recovery.

The American rules differ from the Canadian ones for scrimmage kicks. In American rules to recover a scrimmage kick (punt or missed field goal) and retain possession, the ball must be touched beyond the line of scrimmage by a member of the receiving team (defense). (For an illustration, see the Thanksgiving 1993 section of the Leon Lett article.) If the ball is touched by the receiving team and then recovered by the kicking team, the kicking team will retain possession and be awarded a first down. If the receiving team has not touched the ball before the kicking team touches it, it is "first touching" as described above in fair catches and punt returns.

In both codes, a scrimmage kick which is blocked and recovered by the kicking team behind the line of scrimmage may be advanced—and, possibly, rekicked.

Defensive line

The defensive line can only hold up a receiver within one yard of the scrimmage lines in the CFL, as opposed to five yards in the NFL, allowing for more open plays in the CFL.

Fumbles out of bounds

In Canadian play, if the ball is fumbled out of bounds, the last team to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds gets possession. In American play, when a ball is fumbled out of bounds, the last team to have clear possession of the football is awarded possession.

Field goals and singles

In Canadian football any kick that goes into the end zone is a live ball, except for a successful field goal or if the goalposts are hit while the ball is in flight. If the player receiving the kick fails to return it out of the end zone, or (except on a kickoff) if the ball was kicked through the end zone, then the kicking team scores a single point (rouge), and the returning team scrimmages from its 35-yard line. If a kickoff goes through the end zone without a player touching it or a kicked ball in flight hits a post without scoring a field goal, there is no score, and the receiving team scrimmages from its 25. If the kick is returned out of the end zone, the receiving team next scrimmages from the place that was reached (or if they reach the opponents' goal line, they score a touchdown); in the amateur levels of the game, they are given the ball at their 20-yard line if the kick was not returned that far.

Singles do not exist in American football.

American football also allows a defending team to advance a missed field goal; however, due to the absence of singles and the goalpost position at the back of the end zone, the return is rarely exercised, except on a blocked kick. Most teams instead elect not to attempt a return and assume possession — at the previous line of scrimmage in the NCAA and at the spot of the kick in the NFL. Since the goalpost is out of bounds, any non-scoring kick that strikes the goalpost is dead, and the receiving team takes over possession from the spot of the kick or their own 20-yard line, whichever is further from the receiving team's goal. Likewise, any kickoff or punt which either a) is kicked through the end zone, b) is kicked into the end zone and rolls out of bounds (without being touched by a player), c) is touched in the end zone by a member of the kicking team (with no member of the receiving team touching it), or d) is downed in the end zone by a member of the receiving team, results in a touchback--the receiving team is awarded possession on their own 20-yard line. Note that if a player of the receiving team fields a kickoff or punt in the end zone, he has the option to down it in the end zone (resulting in a touchback) or to try and advance the ball.

Following a successful field goal, in Canadian rules, the team scored upon has the option of receiving a kickoff, kicking off from its 35-yard line, or scrimmaging at its own 35-yard line. In American football, there is a kickoff by the scoring team after every score, with the exception of safeties (see below). The option for the scored-upon team to kick off after a touchdown or safety exists in American amateur football, but it is very rarely exercised.

Open-field kick

Canadian football retains the open-field kick as a legal play, allowing a kick to be taken from anywhere on the field. The open-field kick may be used as a desperation last play by the offence: realizing they are unable to go the length of the field, they advance part of the way and attempt a drop kick, trying to score a field goal. Conversely, the defence, facing a last-second field goal attempt in a tie game or game they lead by one point, will often position its punter and place-kicker in the end zone. If the field goal is missed, they can punt the ball back into the field of play and not concede a single.

American football does not allow kicks to be made from beyond the line of scrimmage or after change of possession, so kick so attempted would result in a penalty.

Safeties

In both American football and Canadian football, a safety (or safety touch) awards 2 points to the defending team. In American football, the team giving up the safety must take a free kick from their own 20 yard line. In Canadian football, the team being awarded the 2 points has the option of scrimmaging from their own 35 yard line, kicking the ball off from their own 35 yard line, or having the opposing team kick off the ball from their own 35 yard line.

Points after touchdown

In both games, after a touchdown is scored, the scoring team may then attempt one play for additional points. In Canadian football, this play is called a convert, and in American football, it is formally called a try, although it is commonly referred to as a conversion, extra point, or point after touchdown (PAT). The additional points may be received through a kick or a scrimmage. If done via kick, the scoring team gains one point, and if done from a scrimmage, the scoring team gains two. However, the position of the ball for attempts is different in the two games.

Point-after-touchdown attempts are taken from no closer than the 2 yard line in American football; at the 5 yard line in Canadian football. However, the Canadian kicker is actually closer to the goalposts, which are on the goal line in Canada and on the end line in the United States.

During conversions, the ball is considered live in the Canadian Football League and American football at the college, some high school and NFL Europe level. As such, this allows the defensive team to gain two points on an interception, fumble return, or safety. Conversely, in the National Football League, other levels of American football, and amateur Canadian football, defensive teams cannot score during a try attempt.

Runner down (amateur)

In Canadian amateur football, the ball is not dead if a player kneels momentarily to, and does, recover a rolling snap, onside/lateral pass, or opponent's kick, while in American amateur football, such a situation produces a dead ball, unless the player is the holder for a place kick. The holder is allowed to catch the snap or recover a rolling snap while on a knee to hold the kick and may also rise to catch a high snap and immediately return to a knee.

Other differences

Other than conversions, there 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.

As in American high school and college football, Canadian receivers need only have one foot in bounds for a catch to count as a reception. NFL play requires two feet in bounds.

CFL roster sizes are 46 players (rather than 53 as in the NFL). A team may dress up to 42 players comprising 20 non-imports (essentially, Canadians), 19 imports (mostly Americans), and 3 quarterbacks.

While the traditional American football season runs from September or late August until December with the NFL playoffs occurring in January and February, the CFL regular season begins in June so that the playoffs can be completed by mid-November, an important consideration for a sport played in outdoor venues in locations such as Regina, Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba. Nevertheless, as recently as 1972, it was not uncommon for the CFL season to end in December.

References

External links

American football | Canadian football | Sporting comparison

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