Canadian Football Rules
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SECTION 1 — DEFINITIONS
- Canadian Football League, major Canadian professional gridiron football organization, formed in 1956 as the Canadian Football Council, created by the Western Interprovincial Football Union and the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. Its current name was adopted in 1958. Learn more about the CFL, including its teams.
- Feb 17, 2021 - This is three downs and 110 yards of what Canadians call football. See more ideas about football, canadian football league, canadian football.
Article 1 — Kicked Ball
A kicked ball is one struck by a player's foot or leg below the knee.
NOTE: If the ball accidentally strikes a player's leg or foot, it shall not be ruled as a kicked ball.
Article 2 — Drop Kick
A drop kick is made by dropping the ball from the hands and kicking it with the foot just as it rises from the ground.
Article 3 — Place Kick
A place kick is made by kicking the ball after it has been placed on the ground and held by a Team A player, who shall be considered offside with reference to the position of the ball.
On a kickoff, the ball may be held, placed on the ground or placed on a tee, provided that the lowest part of the ball shall be raised not more than three inches above the playing surface.
On a field goal or convert attempt, a kicking tee may be used provided that the ball shall be raised not more than one inch above the playing surface.
Article 4 — Punt
A punt is made by letting the ball fall from the hands and kicking it with the foot before it touches the ground.
Article 5 — Dribbled Ball
A dribbled ball occurs when the ball is kicked while not in possession or control of a player, i.e. a loose ball following a fumble, a blocked kick, a kickoff or a kick from scrimmage. Such a dribbled ball may be touched by the kicker or an onside player without penalty.
Canadian Football Rules Differences
If touched by an offside player:
PENALTY: Ball awarded to opponent at point ball touched, or option.
If touched by an offside player in the opponent's Goal Area:
PENALTY: Ball awarded to opponent at its 25-yard line, or option.
If touched by an offside player in own Goal Area:
PENALTY: Ball awarded to opponent at 10-yard line, or option.
NOTE: If the touching by an offside player occurs on the last play of a half, the opponent may elect to extend the period for an additional play.
NOTE: A ball dribbled by Team A across the line of scrimmage does not interrupt the continuity of downs.
NOTE: A dribbled ball that strikes a goal post shall remain in play.
NOTE: When a ball is dribbled and recovered by Team A, they may not block below the waist.
Article 6 — Onside & Offside
An onside player is a member of the kicker's team who is behind the ball at the instant it is kicked towards the opponent's Dead Line.
An offside player is a member of the kicker's team who is not onside.
An offside player becomes an onside player when the ball, after being kicked towards the opponent's Dead Line, touches or is touched by an opponent, the kicker or another onside player.
EXCEPTION: On a kick from scrimmage, if a Team B player touches the ball before it crosses the line of scrimmage, such touching does not put an offside player of Team A onside.
Canadian Football Rules Vs American
Article 7 — Application Of Penalties
Under this Rule 5, the penalty for any minor foul that occurs after the ball has been kicked and before possession has been gained by the receiving team shall be applied as follows:
- Foul by kicking team (Other than Illegal Interference, Illegally Downfield on Kick, Illegal Kick Out of Bounds (Punt or Kickoff), No Yards, or failure to kickoff 10 yards): at point of last scrimmage (PLS), or point of kickoff, or point of actual kick on an open-field kick, as the case may be. If the open-field kick originates in the Goal Area, the penalty shall be applied at the 10-yard line.
- Foul by receiving team (ther than Contacting the Kicker, Roughing the Kicker, or Illegal Interference of the kicker or an onside player): at point receiving team gains possession (PPG) or is entitled to possession. If the possession was gained in the Goal Area, the penalty shall be applied from the receiving team's 10-yard line.
American and Canadian football both descended from rugby and began in Canada as a game played between British soldiers garrisoned in Montreal. The soldiers played a series of games against students at McGill University. McGill played several games against Harvard in 1874 and a tradition was born. Despite their mutual origins, the Canadian and the American game developed differently and now have substantially different rules and regulations.
The biggest difference between Canadian and American football is the size of the playing field. In Canada, football fields are 110 yards long and 65 yards wide. In America football fields are 100 yards long and 53 and 1/3 yards wide. The goal posts in Canadian football are placed at the front, rather than the back of the end zone which is also deeper in Canadian football than American.
Canadian football teams have twelve players as opposed to the eleven on American teams. Because the same number of players is required at the line of scrimmage in both games, this results in an extra backfield player on Canadian teams. This means that the typical Canadian offensive setup has two slot backs instead of a tight end and on defense, two defensive halfbacks and one safety instead of two safeties as is typical in the American game.
Another difference between the two games is the number of downs. Instead of four as in the American game, Canadian football has three. This results in a more pass and kick oriented game since there are fewer downs available for short-yardage running plays. The kicking rules are also slightly different with the kicker being able to recover and advance his own kick. For this reason, kicking is a much more integral part of Canadian football than American.
The biggest difference between the kicking rules in the two games is that there is no fair catch rule in Canadian football. In American football, if a kick returner thinks he will not be able to advance the ball after recovery, he can signal for a fair catch and be immune from contact. In Canadian football no player on the kicking team except the kicker and any players behind him on the field may ever be within 5 yards of the ball unless it has been touched by an opponent. Also, in Canadian football any kick that goes into the end zone is a live ball, except for successful field goals.
There are other minor differences as well including scoring, motion and time rules but they are not as significant as the major differences noted here.