Comparison of Canadian and American football

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".

Related Topics:
American football - Canadian football - Soccer - Rugby football

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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.

Related Topics:
Canada - Montreal - McGill University - Harvard - Ivy League - Rugby league - National Football League - Canadian Football League

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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.

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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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Minor league - NHL

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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.

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