Post by Coach Campbell on Jan 18, 2012 13:34:02 GMT
The Rules of American and Canadian Football: A Comparison
The rules of American football are very similar to those of Canadian football. Canadian and American football do not much resemble soccer, the sport which most of the world calls "football." However, both of these games have their origins in rugby football, usually known in North American simply as "rugby".
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 arranged to play a few games in the United States, at Harvard, which liked the new game so much that it became a feature of the Ivy League. 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 20th Century which have not been copied by Canadian football. The major Canadian codes never added a 4th down, shortened the field of play to 100 yards, abolished the onside kick (see "Kicker advancing the ball" below), restricted backfield motion, or moved or changed the dimensions of the goals, while the NCAA (from which 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, and slower and not as severe in reducing the number of players on the field. Canadian football was also much slower in removing restrictions on blocking, but caught up by the 1970s so that no significant differences remain. Similarly, differences in scoring (valuing touchdowns relatively 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 retention of the 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. 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.
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. However, the Canadian 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 after the NHL. Indeed, many Canadian Football League players are Americans who grew up playing American football.
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. However, it is very unusual for a primarily Canadian football player to have their American football statistics affect their career totals, or vice-versa. Because of the greater popularity of American football, so-called legendary football accomplishments are frequently on the basis of American football totals alone, as few players have achieved such a level by playing both styles of football, and even fewer by playing Canadian football alone.
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 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. The goalposts for kicking are placed at the goal line in Canadian football and the end line in the American game. 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 distance between a sideline and a hash mark are the same in both fields, which leaves a greater distance between the hash marks in the Canadian game.
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 Canadian football. The typical offensive arrangement in Canadian football is for there to be two slot backs instead of the American tight end, while on the defensive end of the ball, two safeties are employed instead of one.
The Ball
The specifications of Canadian and American footballs are slightly different, and imply that on the average the Canadian football will be slightly shorter although not, as popularly believed, slightly fatter. Canadian Football League rules specify that the long circumference of the ball should be not less than 27 3/4 inches (705 mm) nor greater than 28 1/4 inches (718 mm), while the short axis should be no less than 20 7/8 inches (530 mm) nor greater than 21 1/8 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: 20 3/4 to 21 1/4 inches (527 to 540 mm), long circumference 27 3/4 to 28 1/2 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.
Sources: CFL rulebook, Wilson Sporting Goods, Arena Football League 101
Number of Downs
In both games, a team will have a limited number of downs to advanced the ball ten yards. In American football, there are four downs, while in Canadian football, there are only 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; not so the snapper in American football. 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 (914 mm) 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 Catch
In American football, if a punt returner sees that, in his judgement, 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 (14 m). 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 in the opponents' possession.
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. Oftentimes, the ball hits the ground and is surrounded by players from the kicking team, who allow it to roll dead, at which point play is stopped. In Canadian football the ball must be played by the receiving team.
Backfield in Motion
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. 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 Rules
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, 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 end-minutes 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.
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 160 seconds off the clock (almost three minutes) without gaining a first down. In Canadian football, just over 60 seconds can be run off. In American football, the clock need not run out for the half or the game to be called. Canadian football requires that the clock be run out for the half or the game to be called. A final play is also permitted if time expires between plays in Canadian football.
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 40 seconds from the end of the previous play.
Kicker Advancing the Ball
The 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, except on a kick-off, when the kicker and anyone behind him (i.e., the entire team, lest they be off-side), are eligible to recover the ball, so long as it has progressed at least ten yards down the field; hence the "onside kick" play. Canadian football extends this principle to all kicks, including those downfield.
Defensive Line
The defensive line can only hold up a receiver within 1 yard (0.9 m) of the scrimmage lines in the CFL, as opposed to 5 yards (4.6 m) in the NFL, allowing for more open plays.
Fumbles
In 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 Goals
Missed 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 (a "rouge"), and the returning teams scrimmages from their 35 yard line. The returner also 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. In the amateur levels of Canadian football, if the returner exits the end zone, they will automatically gain possession at the 20 yard line if the returner is tackled before he reaches the 20 yard line.
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 (32 m) line. In American football there is a kickoff after every score.
Safety Touch
In both Canadian football and American football, a safety touch awards 2 points to the defending team. In American football, the team giving up the safety touch kicks off 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 the opposing team kick off the ball off from their own 35 yard line.
Extra Points
In both games, after a touchdown is scored, the scoring team must then convert the touchdown, which may be done through a kick or a scrimmage. If done through a kick, the scoring team scores one point, and if done from a scrimmage, the scoring team scores two. However, the position of the ball for conversions is different in the two games.
Conversions are taken between the 2 or 3 yard line in American football, and 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 and NFL Europe level. As such, this allows the defensive team to score two points on an interception or fumble return. However, in the National Football League, other levels of American football, and amateur Canadian football, the ball is considered dead on a turnover.
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.
Other Differences
Other than converts, 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.
Canadian receivers need only 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.
CFL roster sizes are 40 players (rather than 53 as in the NFL), comprising 19 non-imports (essentially, Canadians), 18 imports, 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 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. Although, as recently as 1972, it was not uncommon for the CFL season to end in December.
Note: Unwilling to give up on professional football after failing to gain an NFL team for the city, the next professional football venture hosted by Memphis and the Liberty Bowl was the ill-fated attempt by the Canadian Football League to enter U.S. markets rejected by the NFL. The Memphis team was christened the Memphis Mad Dogs, and played one season, 1995, the final year of the CFL's rather sad attempts to compete south of the border. Attempts to play Canadian football in most U.S. venues are somewhat hampered by the need for a far larger playing surface. The field of play is 10 yards longer and 35 feet wider than in the U.S. version, and the end zones were then 25 yards deep (now 20) rather than 10; few U.S. stadiums are designed readily to accommodate a playing surface of this size. In the Liberty Bowl these changes were necessarily largely ignored, due to the design features noted earlier. Had the attempt to play the Canadian game included an attempt to use the full width of that game's field, players not participating in the game and the coaching staffs would have to have been seated in the stands as was often the case in the early years of Arena football, which ironically was attempting to establish itself in the Memphis market simultaneously with the Mad Dogs. Likewise, 25 yards past the goal line at the Liberty Bowl puts one several rows up into the end zone stands. The only real concession to the Canadian format that was feasible at the Liberty Bowl was the moving of the goal posts to the goal line, where they are in the Canadian game, as opposed to the end line. The result was a hybrid game, mostly played by Canadian rules on essentially a U.S. field
The rules of American football are very similar to those of Canadian football. Canadian and American football do not much resemble soccer, the sport which most of the world calls "football." However, both of these games have their origins in rugby football, usually known in North American simply as "rugby".
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 arranged to play a few games in the United States, at Harvard, which liked the new game so much that it became a feature of the Ivy League. 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 20th Century which have not been copied by Canadian football. The major Canadian codes never added a 4th down, shortened the field of play to 100 yards, abolished the onside kick (see "Kicker advancing the ball" below), restricted backfield motion, or moved or changed the dimensions of the goals, while the NCAA (from which 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, and slower and not as severe in reducing the number of players on the field. Canadian football was also much slower in removing restrictions on blocking, but caught up by the 1970s so that no significant differences remain. Similarly, differences in scoring (valuing touchdowns relatively 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 retention of the 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. 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.
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. However, the Canadian 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 after the NHL. Indeed, many Canadian Football League players are Americans who grew up playing American football.
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. However, it is very unusual for a primarily Canadian football player to have their American football statistics affect their career totals, or vice-versa. Because of the greater popularity of American football, so-called legendary football accomplishments are frequently on the basis of American football totals alone, as few players have achieved such a level by playing both styles of football, and even fewer by playing Canadian football alone.
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 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. The goalposts for kicking are placed at the goal line in Canadian football and the end line in the American game. 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 distance between a sideline and a hash mark are the same in both fields, which leaves a greater distance between the hash marks in the Canadian game.
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 Canadian football. The typical offensive arrangement in Canadian football is for there to be two slot backs instead of the American tight end, while on the defensive end of the ball, two safeties are employed instead of one.
The Ball
The specifications of Canadian and American footballs are slightly different, and imply that on the average the Canadian football will be slightly shorter although not, as popularly believed, slightly fatter. Canadian Football League rules specify that the long circumference of the ball should be not less than 27 3/4 inches (705 mm) nor greater than 28 1/4 inches (718 mm), while the short axis should be no less than 20 7/8 inches (530 mm) nor greater than 21 1/8 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: 20 3/4 to 21 1/4 inches (527 to 540 mm), long circumference 27 3/4 to 28 1/2 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.
Sources: CFL rulebook, Wilson Sporting Goods, Arena Football League 101
Number of Downs
In both games, a team will have a limited number of downs to advanced the ball ten yards. In American football, there are four downs, while in Canadian football, there are only 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; not so the snapper in American football. 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 (914 mm) 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 Catch
In American football, if a punt returner sees that, in his judgement, 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 (14 m). 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 in the opponents' possession.
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. Oftentimes, the ball hits the ground and is surrounded by players from the kicking team, who allow it to roll dead, at which point play is stopped. In Canadian football the ball must be played by the receiving team.
Backfield in Motion
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. 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 Rules
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, 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 end-minutes 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.
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 160 seconds off the clock (almost three minutes) without gaining a first down. In Canadian football, just over 60 seconds can be run off. In American football, the clock need not run out for the half or the game to be called. Canadian football requires that the clock be run out for the half or the game to be called. A final play is also permitted if time expires between plays in Canadian football.
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 40 seconds from the end of the previous play.
Kicker Advancing the Ball
The 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, except on a kick-off, when the kicker and anyone behind him (i.e., the entire team, lest they be off-side), are eligible to recover the ball, so long as it has progressed at least ten yards down the field; hence the "onside kick" play. Canadian football extends this principle to all kicks, including those downfield.
Defensive Line
The defensive line can only hold up a receiver within 1 yard (0.9 m) of the scrimmage lines in the CFL, as opposed to 5 yards (4.6 m) in the NFL, allowing for more open plays.
Fumbles
In 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 Goals
Missed 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 (a "rouge"), and the returning teams scrimmages from their 35 yard line. The returner also 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. In the amateur levels of Canadian football, if the returner exits the end zone, they will automatically gain possession at the 20 yard line if the returner is tackled before he reaches the 20 yard line.
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 (32 m) line. In American football there is a kickoff after every score.
Safety Touch
In both Canadian football and American football, a safety touch awards 2 points to the defending team. In American football, the team giving up the safety touch kicks off 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 the opposing team kick off the ball off from their own 35 yard line.
Extra Points
In both games, after a touchdown is scored, the scoring team must then convert the touchdown, which may be done through a kick or a scrimmage. If done through a kick, the scoring team scores one point, and if done from a scrimmage, the scoring team scores two. However, the position of the ball for conversions is different in the two games.
Conversions are taken between the 2 or 3 yard line in American football, and 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 and NFL Europe level. As such, this allows the defensive team to score two points on an interception or fumble return. However, in the National Football League, other levels of American football, and amateur Canadian football, the ball is considered dead on a turnover.
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.
Other Differences
Other than converts, 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.
Canadian receivers need only 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.
CFL roster sizes are 40 players (rather than 53 as in the NFL), comprising 19 non-imports (essentially, Canadians), 18 imports, 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 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. Although, as recently as 1972, it was not uncommon for the CFL season to end in December.
Note: Unwilling to give up on professional football after failing to gain an NFL team for the city, the next professional football venture hosted by Memphis and the Liberty Bowl was the ill-fated attempt by the Canadian Football League to enter U.S. markets rejected by the NFL. The Memphis team was christened the Memphis Mad Dogs, and played one season, 1995, the final year of the CFL's rather sad attempts to compete south of the border. Attempts to play Canadian football in most U.S. venues are somewhat hampered by the need for a far larger playing surface. The field of play is 10 yards longer and 35 feet wider than in the U.S. version, and the end zones were then 25 yards deep (now 20) rather than 10; few U.S. stadiums are designed readily to accommodate a playing surface of this size. In the Liberty Bowl these changes were necessarily largely ignored, due to the design features noted earlier. Had the attempt to play the Canadian game included an attempt to use the full width of that game's field, players not participating in the game and the coaching staffs would have to have been seated in the stands as was often the case in the early years of Arena football, which ironically was attempting to establish itself in the Memphis market simultaneously with the Mad Dogs. Likewise, 25 yards past the goal line at the Liberty Bowl puts one several rows up into the end zone stands. The only real concession to the Canadian format that was feasible at the Liberty Bowl was the moving of the goal posts to the goal line, where they are in the Canadian game, as opposed to the end line. The result was a hybrid game, mostly played by Canadian rules on essentially a U.S. field