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The NFL has better athletes and the CFL has better rules. We should appreciate those differences and what makes the Canadian football game uniquely different and entertaining in its own right.
Published Jul 01, 2025 • Last updated 8 minutes ago • 4 minute read
Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Tevaughn Campbell has gone from the CFL to the NFL and back again.
Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Tevaughn Campbell, front, intercepts a pass intended for Toronto Argonauts wide receiver David Ungerer III, back, during second half CFL football action in Toronto Friday, June 20, 2025. Photo by Jon Blacker /The Canadian Press
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The NFL has better athletes and better everything, except rules.
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Hey, it’s Canada Day. There’s something to celebrate here, folks.
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As much as the National Football League is superior to the Canadian Football League in almost every way — with bigger, stronger and faster players, mega exposure, insane TV contracts, humongous budgets and sports marketing bonanzas — Canadian football truly rules in terms of the way the game is actually played.
We should appreciate those differences and what makes the Canadian football game uniquely different and entertaining in its own right.
Take special teams. The CFL is truly special in that regard.
And the NFL? Aargh.
Fair catch in the NFL? Touchbacks in the NFL?
Excruciatingly boring on both counts.
Two of the absolute worst plays in professional sports, really.
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Fan-unfriendly. Roadblocks to excitement and nothing more.
The CFL has got it figured out with its no-yards rule, always allowing for a potential thrilling punt return on any kick that stays inbounds. Way more kickoff returns, too, due to a different rule-set.
With the placement of the goalposts on the goal-line, instead of the back of the end-zone, missed field goals also allow more for potentially thrilling returns by the opposing teams or single-points for the kicking team with the so-called rouge, which is also awarded for punts into the end-zone when the defending team fails to get the ball out of the end-zone.
Things can get crazy, and have gotten crazy, when, during the end of regulation and a defending team with a one-point lead or tied for the lead, has a punter in the end-zone to boot the ball out to avoid giving up a single or rouge.
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That kind of crazy can be really exciting.
Of course, there’s more to like about the Canadian game.
The waggle. It’s bigger, wider field.
That, along with three-down football, as opposed to four-down football, can lead to a higher passing offence and more explosive plays, generally speaking.
Receivers only need to get one foot inbounds, as opposed to two, while making a catch. That allows for even more of those spectacular sideline of end-zone grabs that aren’t ruled out-of-bounds.
Clock management, too, is on a different level when it comes to the final minutes of the game. In the CFL, the play is not whistled in until the ball is set. In the NFL, unless the player goes out-of-bounds or the pass is incomplete, the clock runs and, more often than not, teams run out of time.
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Watching the NFL quarterback spike the ball to kill the clock is another oddity, but not in a good way.
Even worse, seeing NFL teams trot onto the field and celebrate before the final 30 seconds of the clock run out is not something you see in the CFL and not something you can get used to.
So much more can happen in the CFL, during the final three minutes of regulation than in the NFL and, once again, that has to do with more fan-friendly rules.
And if a game does head into overtime, the CFL also has superior rules compared to the NFL with a true shootout format. In the NFL, the coin toss still has way too much influence on the final outcome.
Say what you want about the calibre of talent in the CFL, but it also has its share of really good players.
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Over the years, many players from the CFL have gone on to the NFL level and have enjoyed some success — guys like Warren Moon, Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Mervin (Swervin) Fernandez, Cam Wake, Joe Horn, Rocket Ismail, Joe Theismann, Joe Kapp, Brandon Browner, Alex Singleton, Dee Alford, Dakoda Shelpley, Ben Heenan, Sam Eguavoen, Tevaughn Campbell, Kory Sheets, Lirim Hajrullahu, Mike Vanderjagt and Brett Maher, just to name some.
Of course, Shelpley, Heenan, Eguavoen, Sheets and Campbell all donned the Green and White for the Saskatchewan Roughriders at one time or another.
And just because you once played in the CFL doesn’t mean it translates into automatic success.
Nor do big names. Vince Young, Johnny (Football) Manziel, Ricky Williams, Fred Biletnikoff, Chad Ochochinco Johnson and Trent Richardson come to mind.
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Young’s stint with the Riders, for example, was short and not so sweet.
More recently, former NFL Los Angeles Charger Mark Webb didn’t even last through Rider training camp this year.
Knowing that the CFL allows for more homegrown talent with its national/American/global ratio — Canadian Brady Oliveira was the league’s most outstanding player in 2024 — is also something worth celebrating.
So, with that, happy Canada Day to all the non-naysayers!
dzary@postmedia.com
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