On September 22nd, the CFL announced that major, major rule changes would be coming to the league, with some being rolled out next season and others in 2027.
As I list these rule changes, you'll note that every one of them brings them more in line with American football. This has some Canadians decrying the changes just on principle, or warning of slippery slopes where the rest of the Canadian game's unique rules will be wiped out in the not-too-distant future, as well.
Me, I reject slippery-slope arguments out-of-hand, and the most fundamental unique aspects of the Canadian game — 3 downs and 12 players — is not changing.
So what is? I was going to list these from ones I like the most to ones I dislike the most, but I am either neutral on or like all of them, so let's instead order them by significance.
Midfield will be the 50-yard line, not the 55.
This is the biggest change, and of course makes it just like the American game. I said I was at worst neutral on all of the changes, but let me take that back; I dislike this one. There's no reason for it. The only reason the league gave is that it will allow "offenses to start closer to the opposition's end zone" (So? Look how close you start to your opposition's end zone in arena football.)
The rest of the CFL's "why this change is good" wording is lumped into its other field size change, which is: end zones will be 15 yards deep instead of 20. This to me is the most shrug-worthy change, other than some adjustments to the play clock. I will say it's good that the stadia in Canada (and there are some) that can't fit 20-yard end zones, and therefore have to dog-ear them on the sides, won't have to do so anymore.
The goalposts are moving from the goal line to the end line.
Again, this brings it in line with American football. I'm all for this one. While I will miss teams being in field goal position basically as soon as they cross midfield, I never got over my mild annoyance of the goal line goal posts.
You may be aware or recall the NFL made this exact same change in the 70s, citing player safety. Canucks against this change point out that the only thing rarer than players colliding with the support post is players getting hurt colliding with the (padded) support post, but the bottom line is, it's still like having a bollard in front of the net in hockey. Move it back.
Punts and missed field goals that leave the back or the sides of the end zone untouched no longer result in 1 point (a "rouge") for the other team.
Oh yes, thank you. Look, I like the rouge. I think the U.S. game should adopt it, in fact. Why do touchbacks get to be such an easy freebie? You want extra yardage to operate, you gotta exchange it for a point.
But the problem is punts and field goal attempts that can't be voluntarily touched-back because they've been blasted to kingdom come also result in a rouge. This means that, in a tie game with :01 second left, you can line up for a FG, you don't even have to make it to win the game. You just have to make it long enough to be unreturnable (very easy for short attempts!). This has caused a ton of controversy in games where this actually happens, even among diehard Canadian game fans, and has long before the league changed it.
Staring next year, the rouge will only be awarded if the return man (on punts and missed field goals) either elects to take a knee, or tries to bring it out of the end zone and fails. Punts and field goals that settle in the end zone will also still be a rouge. Perfect.
All teams will be required to have their sidelines on opposite sides of the field.
Many or most Canadian stadia have the opposing teams line up on the same side, which means, the further away from midfield the ball is, the greater disadvantage one team has on substitutions. Another no-brainer.
I mentioned 3 downs and 12 men will still be in effect, and multiple men in motion and fields 65 yards in width will also remain in effect. The wider field is important to accommodate the extra man.
All in all, these changes make sense, and actually, in the CFL media (as well as its Twitterverse), the reactions I've seen are mostly positive. One exception is BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke, who has absolutely railed against the changes with a candid furor rarely on display when athletes talk to the media.
When you consider that Rourke broke all sorts of records as a rookie in BC and seriously positioned himself to become one of the all-time CFL homegrown greats, and then gave it up to ride the pine in the NFL for two seasons (four teams, no appearances), it's pretty funny.
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