Football is football (unless it’s soccer, of course) right? Though North American football evolved from the same rugby roots, there are actually significant differences between how it’s played in Canada and the United States. Both games are exciting but here are a few key pieces that make our Canadian version unique.
Bigger Field
Canada is known for its open spaces and our football fields are no different. They’re 110 yards long, 65 yards wide and have end zones 20 yards deep. This compares to the 100ft x 53ft and 10-yard end zones south of the border. Lots of room for our stars to run!
Rouge isn’t just makeup
The two countries share six-point touchdowns, three-point field goals and two-point safety touches but we crazy Canadians added in another wrinkle, the rouge. This one point is scored when a kick of any kind sails through the end zone, other than on a made field goal. On a kick that stays in the end zone, a player receiving the ball can choose to kneel and concede the point for the benefit of getting to start their next play on the 35-yard line. It might sound confusing but it can provide some entertaining and unique scoring situations not seen south of the border.
One more player
In Canada, we like everyone to play so we let one more player per team on to the field at 12 rather than the National Football League’s 11. American quarterbacks who come up to play in Canada often say the biggest change for them is getting used to this additional body trying to defend them.
