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"No yards": the kick/punt receiver has a five-yard zone around him, into which opponents may not intrude until he catches the ball. Once he catches it, he's fair game. But until then, he is safe from being attacked. "No yards" basically means that his safety zone was violated, and a penalty ensues. Note that there is no "fair catch" rule in CFL; every kick/punt caught must be run back.
"Three downs, not four": That's easy--you do a lot of passing plays. You need a quarterback who can target a receiver downfield, put the ball to where the receiver will be, and a receiver who can get to where the football is going to be. Doug Flutie, Joe Theismann, and Warren Moon were masters of this, and all played in the CFL. Joe Montana must have studied the CFL, because he did the same thing. At any rate, if you're trying to get the ball downfield, and you've only got three downs to do so, you don't waste your time on an experimental play trying to rush the ball. You throw it.
"End zone": It's deeper, that's all. Note that the goal posts are on the goal line, not at the rear of the end zone, so players have to avoid the pylon that is actually in the end zone.
"Rouge": the single point. It's complicated, but very nicely explained here, I think:
Thanks for the interesting explanation, Chevy. I had a hunch that offenses needed to act faster and more desperately to advance the ball with just three downs. It's for sure a different way of playing, different strategies and all. I just need to watch more CFL to better understand the game.
I will point out another CFL oddity... The drop kick. Kicker drops the ball to the ground, and then kicks it as it bounces off the ground, to try to get it through the goal posts. Another one, the underhand ( or shovel pass ) from the QB to an end, who is standing on the scrimmage line at the sidelines , after "apperaring to leave the field ". A trick play not seen very much. The CFL used to have a limit on how many "import players " could be on a team's roster. I think it was six Americans back in the 50's and 60's.
Yeah, the drop kick is definitely one of the oddest plays in gridiron ball. The NFL has it too but it is very rarely executed down here. The last NFL player in my memory to have successfully done a drop kick was none other than CFL hero Doug Flutie who did it in his last NFL season with the New England Patriots in 2005. That and the fair catch kick in which an offense can elect to try kicking the ball from the spot of the fair catch through the upright, a Herculanean effort for most you might say. These plays are as rare as finding a future passive infinitive in a Latin text.
I will point out another CFL oddity... The drop kick. Kicker drops the ball to the ground, and then kicks it as it bounces off the ground, to try to get it through the goal posts. Another one, the underhand ( or shovel pass ) from the QB to an end, who is standing on the scrimmage line at the sidelines , after "apperaring to leave the field ". A trick play not seen very much. The CFL used to have a limit on how many "import players " could be on a team's roster. I think it was six Americans back in the 50's and 60's.
I guess it may be used on occasion but I myself haven't witnessed a drop kick in a CFL game in ages.
The CFL still has rules on import and non-import players. Not sure of the exact breakdown.
In English, mainly yes, but don't forget about French speaking Canada where " programme " is used, and where the UK got it from...kind of like " aubergine "
Correct about French, though "programme" is almost never used as a spelling in Canadian English.
Canadian English uses a mix of British and American spelling. Though in informally many Canadian use American spelling, official Canadian spelling is centre, colour, dialogue, judgement, and not center, color, dialog and judgment.
OTOH official Canadian spelling uses the American Z in words like authorize, categorize, emphasize, but uses the British S for analyse.
"No yards": the kick/punt receiver has a five-yard zone around him, into which opponents may not intrude until he catches the ball. Once he catches it, he's fair game. But until then, he is safe from being attacked. "No yards" basically means that his safety zone was violated, and a penalty ensues. Note that there is no "fair catch" rule in CFL; every kick/punt caught must be run back.
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I don't have anything against American football and I actually like it, but the fair catch rule is among the dumbest rules in any sport.
Nothing looks more ridiculous than a bunch of guys form the kicking team waiting around for the ball to stop rolling.
I don't have anything against American football and I actually like it, but the fair catch rule is among the dumbest rules in any sport.
Nothing looks more ridiculous than a bunch of guys form the kicking team waiting around for the ball to stop rolling.
Even more ridiculous is when a receiver signals a fair catch only to have an opponent rushing too fast careen into him and thereby setting off a penalty . Yeah, I do not understand football enough to know the advantage of a fair catch. There's probably a good reason why the Canadians do not allow it.
I don't have anything against American football and I actually like it, but the fair catch rule is among the dumbest rules in any sport.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban Peasant
Even more ridiculous is when a receiver signals a fair catch only to have an opponent rushing too fast careen into him and thereby setting off a penalty . Yeah, I do not understand football enough to know the advantage of a fair catch. There's probably a good reason why the Canadians do not allow it.
Yes, I think the NFL's "fair catch" rule is pretty dumb too. The only reason I can see for it is to make the game safer. But football is a rough game to begin with and if the CFL doesn't use it, I can't see why the NFL does. The "no yards" rule works well, and just like any other play, the ball carrier should be tackled
I'll also mention that it is typical at the start of the CFL season, to see a rookie kick returner (usually a US import player) signal for a fair catch, only to get plowed once he catches the ball. I have no doubt that American players have been schooled in CFL rules, but I guess when you've played American rules at high school and college for eight years, it's easy to forget that thirty-minute locker room talk about CFL rules that includes so much more than the "no fair catch" rule.
It's really not a special play of its own but rather a play that results from designated CFL rules. In the NFL, a punted ball that ends up in or vertically beyond the endzone results in a "touchback" to the 20 yard line (i.e. the team now in possession starts at their own 20 yard). Sometimes a special teams receiver is in or near the end zone who can scoop up the ball and either return it by running out of the endzone or taking a knee in the endzone for a touchback. It looks like in the CFL, there is no such rule and no matter what, the defense has to keep the ball out of the endzone. The receiver can return it or kick it back out of the endzone but if as in the case of the video above he fails to do so, the opponent (kicking) team is awarded a single. Correct me if any if this is not accurate. Now what happens if the punt accidentally goes "out of bounce" beyond the sidelines? In the NFL, the receiving team is awarded a start at the 40 yard line but what happens in the CFL?
Here is a rare game-winning single (rouge) from just a few weeks ago during the Quebec university championship. Not sure why number 13 in the white didn't kick it out. Maybe he thought he didn't have time. (Bonus - commentary is in French!)
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where " programme " is used, and where the UK got it from...kind of like " aubergine " 
. Yeah, I do not understand football enough to know the advantage of a fair catch. There's probably a good reason why the Canadians do not allow it.
The single (rouge)...
