{{Redirect|Football in Canada|the article about association football in Canada|Soccer in Canada}}
Canadian football is a form of gridiron footballGridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
played exclusively in CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroidA prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids stand in contrast to oblate spheroids...
ball into the opposing team's scoring area (end zoneIn gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
). In Canada, the term football usually refers to Canadian football and American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
collectively, or either sport specifically, depending on the context. The two sports have shared origins and are closely related, but have significant differencesAmerican and Canadian football are very similar, as both have their origins in rugby football, but there are some key differences.-History: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 particular, 12 players on the field per team in Canadian football rather than 11, and three downs per possession rather than four. The smaller number of downs in Canadian football results in less offensive rushing than in the American game.
Rugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
in Canada had its origins in the early 1860s, and over time, the unique game known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football CanadaFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1884 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union. Currently active teams such as the Toronto ArgonautsThe Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
and Hamilton Tiger-CatsThe Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
have similar longevity. The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league. Its championship game, the Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, is the country's single largest sporting event, attracting a broad television audience (in 2009, about 40% of Canada's population watched part of the game). Canadian football is also played at the high school, junior, collegiate, and semi-professional levels: the Canadian Junior Football LeagueThe Canadian Junior Football League is a national amateur Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in six provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl...
and Quebec Junior Football LeagueThe Quebec Junior Football League operated from 1970 to the present, as a successor to the Quebec Juvenile Football League. It began competition as a conference of the Canadian Junior Football League from which it eventually withdrew. Upon withdrawal from the CJFL, the QJFL incorporated teams from...
are leagues for players aged 18–22, many post-secondary institutions compete in Canadian Interuniversity SportTwenty-six universities across Canada compete in football under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity Sport . The teams are divided into four conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec...
for the Vanier CupThe Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
, and senior leagues such as the Alberta Football LeagueThe Alberta Football League is an amateur Canadian football league. For the 2010 season, 8 teams competed for the league championship...
have grown in popularity in recent years. Great achievements in Canadian football are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian...
.
Other organizations across Canada perform senior league Canadian football during the summer.
History
{{Expand section|date=April 2011}}
The first documented gridiron footballGridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
match was a game played on November 9, 1861, at University CollegeUniversity College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
, University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(approximately 400 yards west of Queen's Park). One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was (Sir) William Mulock, later Chancellor of the school. A football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear.
In 1864, at Trinity CollegeThe University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
, Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland and Frederick A. Bethune devised rules based on rugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
. However, modern Canadian football is widely regarded as having originated with a game of rugby played in MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, in 1865, when British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football ClubThe Montreal Football Club was a Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Quebec Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1915. The club was a founding member of the QRFU and played in the first football game in...
was formed in 1868, the first recorded non-university football clubThe history of the formation of the oldest football clubs is of interest to sport historians in tracing the origins of the modern codes of football from casual pastime to early organised competition and mainstream sport. Many early clubs did not use the word "football" in their name...
in Canada.
This rugby-football soon became popular at Montreal's McGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. McGill challenged Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to a game, in 1874.
Predecessors of the Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
include the Canadian Rugby Football UnionFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
(CRFU), and the Canadian Rugby Union. The CRFU, original forerunner to the current Canadian Football League, was established in 1882.
The Burnside rulesThe Burnside rules were a set of rules that transformed Canadian football from a rugby-style game to the gridiron-style game it has remained ever since...
were implemented in the early part of the 20th century in an effort to transition from a more rugby-oriented game to a game more closely resembling American football. In general, the evolution of Canadian football has generally lagged behind that of the American game by several years or even decades in some cases. Forward passIn several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
es were not allowed in the Canadian game until 1929, and touchdowns, which had been five points, were only increased to six points in 1956, in part to placate the new base of American fans brought on by a new television contract. Several relics of the older game remain in Canadian football: the use of only three downs, the longer 110 yard field (the field is still measured in yards, even though the rest of Canada switched to the metric systemCanada has converted to the metric system for many purposes but there is still significant use of non-metric units and standards in many sectors of the Canadian economy...
in the 1970s), the larger number of players on the field, and unrestricted forward motion on the offensive side of the ball.
The Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
was established in 1909 as the championship of all of Canadian football. Initially an amateur competition, it eventually became dominated by professional teams in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Ontario Rugby Football UnionThe Ontario Rugby Football Union or ORFU was an early amateur Canadian football league with teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded in 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt the Burnside Rules, from which the modern Canadian football code would...
, the last amateur organization to compete for the trophy, withdrew from competition in 1954. The move, coupled with the establishment of a well-paying American television contract (Canadian television had carried games since the debut of the medium in 1952), ushered in the modern era of Canadian professional football. The Canadian Football League established itself as an organization in 1958.
Canadian football has mostly been contained to Canada, with the United States being the only other country to have hosted a high-level Canadian football game. The CFL's controversial "South DivisionThe term CFL USA refers to the abortive expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States in the early-to-mid 1990s. The 1993 CFL season saw the addition of the first American team to the league, the Sacramento Gold Miners...
" as it would come to be officially known attempted to put CFL teams in the United States playing under Canadian rules between 1992 and 1995. The move was mostly a failure, although the Baltimore StallionsThe Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons. They were the most successful American team in the Canadian Football League, having two winning seasons and a division title. In 1995 they became the only American team...
became the first and only U.S.-based team to win the Grey Cup during this era.
As of 2011, neither Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
nor Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
have organized Canadian football at the college, professional or amateur level. Neither province has a college football team, nor has the Canadian Football League ever played in either province (the only stadium that could accommodate either one would be Newfoundland's King George V ParkKing George V Park is a soccer-specific stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland, located at the head of Quidi Vidi Lake in downtown St. John's. The stadium was built in 1925 as the National stadium of Newfoundland...
).
League play
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2010}}
Canadian football is played at several levels in Canada. The professional league in which the sport is played is the eight-team Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL), and its champion is awarded the Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, the oldest trophy in professional football,{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}. The CFL regular season begins in June, and playoffs are completed by mid-November. In cities with outdoor stadiums such as CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Edmonton, WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, HamiltonHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, and ReginaRegina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, low temperatures and icy field conditions can seriously affect the outcome of a game.
Amateur football is governed by Football CanadaFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
. At the university level, 26 teams play in four conferences under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity SportCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
; the CIS champion is awarded the Vanier CupThe Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
. Junior football is played by many after high school before joining the university ranks. There are 20 junior teams in three divisions in the Canadian Junior Football LeagueThe Canadian Junior Football League is a national amateur Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in six provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl...
competing for the Canadian BowlThe Canadian Bowl is the championship of the Canadian Junior Football League. The three league champions participate in the playdowns for the championship. One champion receives a bye to the game, while the other two play off in the Jostens Cup. The bye rotates among the three...
. The Quebec Junior Football LeagueThe Quebec Junior Football League operated from 1970 to the present, as a successor to the Quebec Juvenile Football League. It began competition as a conference of the Canadian Junior Football League from which it eventually withdrew. Upon withdrawal from the CJFL, the QJFL incorporated teams from...
includes teams from Ontario and Quebec who battle for the Manson Cup.
Semi-professionalA semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
leagues have grown in popularity in recent years, with the Alberta Football LeagueThe Alberta Football League is an amateur Canadian football league. For the 2010 season, 8 teams competed for the league championship...
becoming especially popular. The Northern Football Conference-Teams:-Defunct teams:...
formed in Ontario in 1954 has also surged in popularity as College players that do not continue to or get drafted to a professional team but still want to continue playing football. The Ontario champion plays against the Alberta champion for the "National Championship". The Canadian Major Football League is the governing body for the semi-professional game.
The field
The Canadian football field is 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide with end zoneIn gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
s 20 yards (18 m) deep. At each goal line is a set of 40 feet (12 m) goalposts, which consist of two uprights joined by an 18+1/2 ft crossbar which is 10 feet (3 m) above the goal line. The goalposts may be H-shaped (both posts fixed in the ground) although in the higher-calibre competitions the tuning-fork design (supported by a single curved post behind the goal line, so that each post starts 10 feet (3 m) above the ground) is preferred. The sides of the field are marked by white sidelines, the goal line is marked in white, and white lines are drawn laterally across the field every 5 yards (4.6 m) from the goal line. These lateral lines are called "yard lines" and are marked with the distance in yards from the nearest goal line, except for the yard line in the centre of the field, which is usually marked with a "C" for "Centre line" ."Hash marks" are painted in white, parallel to the yardage lines, at 1 yard (0.9144 m) intervals, 24 yards (21.9 m) from the sidelines.
On fields that have a surrounding running track, such as Commonwealth StadiumCommonwealth Stadium is a sports stadium located in the Norwood Area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, primarily used by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. The stadium is owned and operated by the City of Edmonton.- History :...
, Molson Stadium, and many universitiesCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
, the endzones are often cut off in the corners to accommodate the track. This was particularly common among U.S.-based teams during the CFL's American expansion, where few American stadiums were able to accommodate the much longer CFL field.
Play of the game
Teams advance across the field through the execution of quick, distinct plays, which involve the possession of a brown, prolate spheroidA prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids stand in contrast to oblate spheroids...
ball with ends tapered to a point. The ball has two one-inch-wide white stripes.
Kickoff
Play begins with one team place-kicking the ball from its own 35-yard line. Both teams then attempt to catch the ball. The player who recovers the ball may run while holding the ball, or lateral throw the ball to a teammate.
Stoppage of play
Play stops when the ball carrier's knee, elbow, or any other body part aside from the feet and hands, is forced to the ground (a tackle); when a forward pass is not caught on the fly (during live play); when a touchdown (see below) or a field goal is scored; when the ball leaves the playing area by any means (being carried, thrown, or fumbled out of bounds); or when the ball carrier is in a standing position but can no longer move. If no score has been made, the next play starts from scrimmage.
Scrimmage
Before scrimmage, an official places the ball at the spot it was at the stop of clock, but no nearer than 24 yards from the sideline or 1 yard from the goal line. The line parallel to the goal line passing through the ball (line from sideline to sideline for the length of the ball) is referred to as the line of scrimmage. This line is a sort of "no-man's land"; players must stay on their respective sides of this line until the play has begun again. For a scrimmage to be valid the team in possession of the football must have seven players, excluding the quarterback, within one yard of the line of scrimmage. The defending team must stay a yard or more back from the line of scrimmage.
Live play
- run with the ball, attempting to run farther down field (gaining yardage). The ball-carrier may run in any direction he sees fit (including backwards).
- drop-kick the ball, dropping it onto the ground and kicking it on the bounce. (This play is exceedingly rare in both Canadian and American football, although in the Canadian game it is sometimes used as a last-second "desperation play" if the team is behind by less than three points.)
- pass the ball laterally or backwards to a teammate. This play is known as a lateral, and may come at any time on the play. A pass which has any amount of forward momentum is a forward pass (see below); forward passes are subject to many restrictions which do not apply to laterals.
- hand-off—hand the ball off to a teammate, typically a halfback or the fullback.
- punt the ball; dropping it in the air and kicking it before it touches the ground. When the ball is punted, only opposing players (the receiving team), the kicker, and anyone behind the kicker when he punted the ball are able to touch the ball, or even go within five yards of the ball until it is touched by an eligible player (the No Yards rule, which is applied to all kicking plays).
- place the ball on the ground for a place kick
- throw a forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
, where the ball is thrown to a receiver located farther down field (closer to the opponent's goal) than the thrower is. Forward passes are subject to the following restrictions:
- They must be made from behind the line of scrimmage
- Only one forward pass may be made on a play
- The pass must be made in the direction of an eligible receiver or pass 10 yards after the line of scrimmage
Each play constitutes a down. The offence must advance the ball at least ten yards towards the opponents' goal line within three downs or forfeit the ball to their opponents. Once ten yards have been gained the offence gains a new set of three downs (rather than the four downs given in American football). Downs do not accumulate. If the offensive team completes 10 yards on their first play, they lose the other two downs and are granted another set of three. If a team fails to gain ten yards in two downs they usually punt the ball on third down or try to kick a field goalA field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
(see below), depending on their position on the field. The team may, however use its third down in an attempt to advance the ball and gain a cumulative 10 yards.
Change in possession
The ball changes possession in the following instances:
- If the offence scores a field goal, the scoring team must kickoff from their own 35-yard line.
- If the offence scores a touchdown, the scoring team must kickoff from their own 35-yard line. This also applies when the defence scores on a turnover which is returned for a touchdown—technically, they become the offence until the conclusion of the play, and the scoring team must still kickoff.
- If the defence scores on a safety (bringing the ball down in the offence's own end zone), they have the right to claim possession.
- If one team kicks the ball; the other team has the right to recover the ball and attempt a return. If a kicked ball goes out of bounds, or the kicking team scores a single or field goal as a result of the kick, the other team likewise gets possession.
- If the offence fails to make ten yards in three plays, the defence takes over on downs.
- If the offence attempts a forward pass and it is intercepted by the defence; the defence takes possession immediately (and may try and advance the ball on the play). Note that incomplete forward passes (those which go out of bounds, or which touch the ground without being first cleanly caught by a player) result in the end of the play, and are not returnable by either team.
- If the offence fumbles (a ball carrier drops the football, or has it dislodged by an opponent, or if the intended player fails to catch a lateral pass or a snap from centre, or a kick attempt is blocked by an opponent), the ball may be recovered (and advanced) by either team. If a fumbled ball goes out of bounds, the team whose player last touched it is awarded possession at the spot where it went out of bounds. A fumble by the offence in their own end zone, which goes out of bounds, results in a safety.
- When the first half ends, the team which kicked to start the first half may receive a kickoff to start the second half.
Rules of contact
There are many rules to contact in this type of football. First, the only player on the field who may be legally tackled is the player currently in possession of the football (the ball carrier). Second, a receiver, that is to say, an offensive player sent down the field to receive a pass, may not be interfered with (have his motion impeded, be blocked, etc.) unless he is within one yard of the line of scrimmage (instead of 5 yards (4.6 m) in American football). Any player may block another player's passage, so long as he does not hold or trip the player he intends to block. The kicker may not be contacted after the kick but before his kicking leg returns to the ground (this rule is not enforced upon a player who has blocked a kick), and the quarterback, having already thrown the ball, may not be hit or tackled.
Infractions and penalties
Infractions of the rules are punished with penalties, typically a loss of yardage of 5, 10 or 15 yards against the penalized team. Minor violations such as offside (a player from either side encroaching into scrimmage zone before the play starts) are penalized five yards, more serious penalties (such as holding) are penalized 10 yards, and severe violations (such as face-masking) of the rules are typically penalized 15 yards. Depending on the penalty, the penalty yardage may be assessed from the original line of scrimmage, the spot the violation occurred (for example, for a pass interference infraction), or the place the ball ended after the play. Penalties on the offence may, or may not, result in a loss of down; penalties on the defence may result in a first down being automatically awarded to the offence. For particularly severe conduct, the game official(s) may eject players (ejected players may be substituted for), or in exceptional cases, declare the game over and award victory to one side or the other. Penalties do not affect the yard line which the offence must reach in order to reach first down (unless the penalty results in a first down being awarded); if a penalty against the defence results in the first down yardage being attained, then the offence is awarded a first down.
Penalties may occur before a play starts (such as offsides), during the play (such as holding), or in a dead-ball situation (such as unsportsmanlike conductUnsportsmanlike conduct is a foul or offense in many sports that is not necessarily a violation of the respective sport's rules of play, but violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sportsmanship and/or participant conduct...
).
Penalties never result in a score for the offence. For example, a point-of-foul infraction committed by the defence in their end zone is not ruled a touchdown, but instead advances the ball to the one-yard line with an automatic first down. For a distance penalty, if the yardage is greater than half the distance to the goal line, then the ball is advanced half the distance to the goal line, though only up to the one-yard line (unlike American football, in Canadian football no scrimmage may start inside either one-yard line). If the original penalty yardage would have resulted in a first down or moving the ball past the goal line, a first down is awarded.
In most cases, the non-penalized team will have the option of declining the penalty; in which case the results of the previous play stand as if the penalty had not been called. One notable exception to this rule is if the kicking team on a 3rd down punt play is penalized before the kick occurs: the receiving team may not decline the penalty and take over on downs. After the kick is made, change of possession occurs and subsequent penalties are assessed against either the spot where the ball is caught, or the runback.
Kicking
Canadian football distinguishes three ways of kicking the ball:
Place kickThe place kick is a kicking style commonly used in rugby league and rugby union. It is also seen in Association football, American football and Canadian football.-American and Canadian football:...
: Kicking a ball held on the ground by a teammate, or, on a kickoff (resuming play following a score), placed on a tee.
Drop kickA drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....
: Kicking a ball after bouncing it on the ground. Although rarely used today, it has the same status in scoring as a place kick. This play is part of the game's rugbyRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
heritage, and was largely made obsolete when the ball with pointed ends was adopted. Unlike the American game, Canadian rules allow a drop kick to be attempted at any time by any player, but the move is very rare.
PuntIn some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
: Kicking the ball after it has been released from the kicker's hand and before it hits the ground. Punts may not score a field goal, even if one should travel through the uprights. As with drop kicks, players may punt at any time.
On punts and field goal attempts (but not kickoffs), members of the kicking team, other than the kicker and any teammates who are onside (behind the kicker at the time of the kick), may not approach within five yards of the ball until it has been touched by the receiving team.
Scoring
The methods of scoring are:
Touchdown : Achieved when the ball is in possession of a player in the opponent's goal area, or when the ball in the possession of a player crosses or touches the plane of the opponent's goal-line, worth 6 points (5 points until 1956). A touchdown in Canadian football is often referred to as a "major score" or simply a "major."
Conversion (or Convert) : After a touchdown, the team that scored attempts one scrimmage play from any point between the hash marks on or outside the opponents' 5-yard line. If they make what would normally be a field goal, they score one point; what would normally be a touchdown scores two points (a "two-point conversion"). No matter what happens on the convert attempt, play then continues with a kickoff (see below).
Field goal : Scored by a drop kick or place kick (except on a kickoff) when the ball, after being kicked and without again touching the ground, goes over the cross bar and between the goal posts (or between lines extended from the top of the goal posts) of the opponent's goal, worth three points. If the ball hits the upright above the cross-bar before going through, it is not considered a dead ball, and the points are scored. (Rule 5, Sect 4, Art 4(d))
Safety : Scored when the ball becomes dead in the possession of a team in its own goal area, or when the ball touches or crosses the dead-line, or side-line-in-goal and touches the ground, a player, or some object beyond these lines as a result of the team scored against making a play. It is worth two points. This is different from a single (see below) in that the team scored against begins with possession of the ball. The most common safety is on a third down punt from the end zone, in which the kicker decides not to punt and keeps the ball in his team's own goal area. The ball is then turned over to the receiving team (who gained the two points), by way of a kickoff from the 25 yard line or scrimmaging from the 35 yards (32 m) line on their side of the field.
Single : Scored when the ball becomes dead in the possession of a team in its own goal area, or when the ball touches or crosses the dead-line, or side-line-in-goal, and touches the ground, a player, or some object beyond these lines as a result of the ball having been kicked from the field of play into the goal area by the scoring team. It is worth one point. This is different from a Safety (see above) in that team scored against receives possession of the ball after the score.
- Officially, the single is called a rouge (French
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "red") but is often referred to as a single. The exact derivation of the term is unknown, but it has been thought that in early Canadian football, the scoring of a single was signalled with a red flag.
Resumption of play
Resumption of play following a score is conducted under procedures which vary with the type of score.
- Following a touchdown and convert attempt (successful or not), play resumes with the scoring team kicking off from its own 35-yard line (45-yard line in amateur leagues).
- Following a field goal, the non-scoring team may choose for play to resume either with a kickoff as above, or by scrimmaging the ball from its own 35-yard line.
- Following a safety, the scoring team may choose for play to resume in either of the above ways, or it may choose to kick off from its own 35-yard line.
- Following a single or rouge, play resumes with the non-scoring team scrimmaging from its own 35-yard line, unless the single is awarded on a missed field goal, in which case the non-scoring team scrimmages from either the 35-yard line or the yard line from which the field goal was attempted, whichever is greater.
Game timing
The game consists of two 30-minute halves, each of which is divided into two 15-minute quarters. The clock counts down from 15:00 in each quarter. Timing rules change when there are three minutes remaining in a half.
A short break interval occurs after the end of each quarter (a longer break at halftime), and the two teams then change goals.
In the first 27 minutes of a half, the clock stops when:
- points are scored,
- the ball goes out of bounds,
- a forward pass is incomplete,
- the ball is dead and a penalty flag has been thrown,
- the ball is dead and teams are making substitutions (e.g., possession has changed, punting situation, short yardage situation),
- the ball is dead and a player is injured, or
- the ball is dead and a captain calls a time-out
In sports, a time-out is a halt in the play. This allows the coaches of either team to communicate with the team, e.g., to determine strategy or inspire morale. Time-outs are usually called by coaches or players, although for some sports, TV timeouts are called to allow media to air commercial breaks...
.
The clock starts again when the referee determines the ball is ready for scrimmage, except for team time-outs (where the clock starts at the snap), after a time count foul (at the snap) and kickoffs (where the clock starts not at the kick but when the ball is first touched after the kick).
In the last three minutes of a half, the clock stops whenever the ball becomes dead. On kickoffs, the clock starts when the ball is first touched after the kick. On scrimmages, when it starts depends on what ended the previous play. The clock starts when the ball is ready for scrimmage except that it starts on the snap when on the previous play
- the ball was kicked off,
- the ball was punted,
- the ball changed possession,
- the ball went out of bounds,
- there were points scored,
- there was an incomplete forward pass,
- there was a penalty applied (not declined), or
- there was a team time-out.
The clock does not run during convert attempts in the last three minutes of a half. If the 15 minutes of a quarter expire while the ball is live, the quarter is extended until the ball becomes dead. If a quarter's time expires while the ball is dead, the quarter is extended for one more scrimmage. A quarter cannot end while a penalty is pending: after the penalty yardage is applied, the quarter is extended one scrimmage. Note that the non-penalized team has the option to decline any penalty it considers disadvantageous, so a losing team cannot indefinitely prolong a game by repeatedly committing penalties.
Overtime
In the CFL, if the game is tied at the end of regulation play, then each team is given an equal number of chances to break the tie. A coin toss is held to determine which team will take possession first; the first team scrimmages the ball at the opponent's 35-yard line and advances through a series of downs until it scores or loses possession. If the team scores a touchdown, starting with the 2010 season, it is required to attempt a 2-point conversion.
The other team then scrimmages the ball at the same 35-yard line and has the same opportunity to score. After the teams have completed their possessions, if one team is ahead, then it is declared the winner; otherwise, the two teams each get another chance to score, scrimmaging from the other 35-yard line. After this second round, if there is still no winner, during the regular season the game ends as a tie. In a playoff or championship game, the teams continue to attempt to score from alternating 35-yard lines, until one team is leading after both have had an equal number of possessions.
In Canadian Interuniversity SportCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
football, for the Uteck BowlThe Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinals in Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's football, held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to face the Mitchell Bowl champion for the Vanier Cup...
, Mitchell BowlThe Mitchell Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's football, and is the semifinal held in the westernmost location of the two semifinal venues. The winner of this game goes on to play against the Uteck Bowl champions for the Vanier Cup...
, and Vanier CupThe Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
, the same overtime procedure is followed until there is a winner.
Players
{{Image label begin|image=Canadian football positions.jpg|width=600}}
{{Image label small|x=10.0|y=105.0|scale=|text=running
backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
}}
{{Image label small|x=105.0|y=105.0|scale=|text=quarter-
backQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
}}
{{Image label small|x=70.0|y=50.0|scale=|text=slot-
backSlotback is a position in Gridiron football . The slotback is similar to the wide receiver but also has many of the same traits as a running back, lines up closer to the offensive line and often farther back...
}}
{{Image label small|x=120.0|y=170.0|scale=|text=slot-
backsSlotback is a position in Gridiron football . The slotback is similar to the wide receiver but also has many of the same traits as a running back, lines up closer to the offensive line and often farther back...
}}
{{Redirect|Football in Canada|the article about association football in Canada|Soccer in Canada}}
Canadian football is a form of gridiron footballGridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
played exclusively in CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroidA prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids stand in contrast to oblate spheroids...
ball into the opposing team's scoring area (end zoneIn gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
). In Canada, the term football usually refers to Canadian football and American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
collectively, or either sport specifically, depending on the context. The two sports have shared origins and are closely related, but have significant differencesAmerican and Canadian football are very similar, as both have their origins in rugby football, but there are some key differences.-History: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 particular, 12 players on the field per team in Canadian football rather than 11, and three downs per possession rather than four. The smaller number of downs in Canadian football results in less offensive rushing than in the American game.
Rugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
in Canada had its origins in the early 1860s, and over time, the unique game known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football CanadaFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1884 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union. Currently active teams such as the Toronto ArgonautsThe Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
and Hamilton Tiger-CatsThe Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
have similar longevity. The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league. Its championship game, the Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, is the country's single largest sporting event, attracting a broad television audience (in 2009, about 40% of Canada's population watched part of the game). Canadian football is also played at the high school, junior, collegiate, and semi-professional levels: the Canadian Junior Football LeagueThe Canadian Junior Football League is a national amateur Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in six provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl...
and Quebec Junior Football LeagueThe Quebec Junior Football League operated from 1970 to the present, as a successor to the Quebec Juvenile Football League. It began competition as a conference of the Canadian Junior Football League from which it eventually withdrew. Upon withdrawal from the CJFL, the QJFL incorporated teams from...
are leagues for players aged 18–22, many post-secondary institutions compete in Canadian Interuniversity SportTwenty-six universities across Canada compete in football under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity Sport . The teams are divided into four conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec...
for the Vanier CupThe Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
, and senior leagues such as the Alberta Football LeagueThe Alberta Football League is an amateur Canadian football league. For the 2010 season, 8 teams competed for the league championship...
have grown in popularity in recent years. Great achievements in Canadian football are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian...
.
Other organizations across Canada perform senior league Canadian football during the summer.
History
{{Expand section|date=April 2011}}
The first documented gridiron footballGridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
match was a game played on November 9, 1861, at University CollegeUniversity College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
, University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(approximately 400 yards west of Queen's Park). One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was (Sir) William Mulock, later Chancellor of the school. A football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear.
In 1864, at Trinity CollegeThe University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
, Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland and Frederick A. Bethune devised rules based on rugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
. However, modern Canadian football is widely regarded as having originated with a game of rugby played in MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, in 1865, when British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football ClubThe Montreal Football Club was a Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Quebec Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1915. The club was a founding member of the QRFU and played in the first football game in...
was formed in 1868, the first recorded non-university football clubThe history of the formation of the oldest football clubs is of interest to sport historians in tracing the origins of the modern codes of football from casual pastime to early organised competition and mainstream sport. Many early clubs did not use the word "football" in their name...
in Canada.
This rugby-football soon became popular at Montreal's McGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. McGill challenged Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to a game, in 1874.
Predecessors of the Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
include the Canadian Rugby Football UnionFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
(CRFU), and the Canadian Rugby Union. The CRFU, original forerunner to the current Canadian Football League, was established in 1882.
The Burnside rulesThe Burnside rules were a set of rules that transformed Canadian football from a rugby-style game to the gridiron-style game it has remained ever since...
were implemented in the early part of the 20th century in an effort to transition from a more rugby-oriented game to a game more closely resembling American football. In general, the evolution of Canadian football has generally lagged behind that of the American game by several years or even decades in some cases. Forward passIn several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
es were not allowed in the Canadian game until 1929, and touchdowns, which had been five points, were only increased to six points in 1956, in part to placate the new base of American fans brought on by a new television contract. Several relics of the older game remain in Canadian football: the use of only three downs, the longer 110 yard field (the field is still measured in yards, even though the rest of Canada switched to the metric systemCanada has converted to the metric system for many purposes but there is still significant use of non-metric units and standards in many sectors of the Canadian economy...
in the 1970s), the larger number of players on the field, and unrestricted forward motion on the offensive side of the ball.
The Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
was established in 1909 as the championship of all of Canadian football. Initially an amateur competition, it eventually became dominated by professional teams in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Ontario Rugby Football UnionThe Ontario Rugby Football Union or ORFU was an early amateur Canadian football league with teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded in 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt the Burnside Rules, from which the modern Canadian football code would...
, the last amateur organization to compete for the trophy, withdrew from competition in 1954. The move, coupled with the establishment of a well-paying American television contract (Canadian television had carried games since the debut of the medium in 1952), ushered in the modern era of Canadian professional football. The Canadian Football League established itself as an organization in 1958.
Canadian football has mostly been contained to Canada, with the United States being the only other country to have hosted a high-level Canadian football game. The CFL's controversial "South DivisionThe term CFL USA refers to the abortive expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States in the early-to-mid 1990s. The 1993 CFL season saw the addition of the first American team to the league, the Sacramento Gold Miners...
" as it would come to be officially known attempted to put CFL teams in the United States playing under Canadian rules between 1992 and 1995. The move was mostly a failure, although the Baltimore StallionsThe Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons. They were the most successful American team in the Canadian Football League, having two winning seasons and a division title. In 1995 they became the only American team...
became the first and only U.S.-based team to win the Grey Cup during this era.
As of 2011, neither Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
nor Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
have organized Canadian football at the college, professional or amateur level. Neither province has a college football team, nor has the Canadian Football League ever played in either province (the only stadium that could accommodate either one would be Newfoundland's King George V ParkKing George V Park is a soccer-specific stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland, located at the head of Quidi Vidi Lake in downtown St. John's. The stadium was built in 1925 as the National stadium of Newfoundland...
).
League play
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2010}}
Canadian football is played at several levels in Canada. The professional league in which the sport is played is the eight-team Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL), and its champion is awarded the Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, the oldest trophy in professional football,{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}. The CFL regular season begins in June, and playoffs are completed by mid-November. In cities with outdoor stadiums such as CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Edmonton, WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, HamiltonHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, and ReginaRegina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, low temperatures and icy field conditions can seriously affect the outcome of a game.
Amateur football is governed by Football CanadaFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
. At the university level, 26 teams play in four conferences under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity SportCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
; the CIS champion is awarded the Vanier CupThe Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
. Junior football is played by many after high school before joining the university ranks. There are 20 junior teams in three divisions in the Canadian Junior Football LeagueThe Canadian Junior Football League is a national amateur Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in six provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl...
competing for the Canadian BowlThe Canadian Bowl is the championship of the Canadian Junior Football League. The three league champions participate in the playdowns for the championship. One champion receives a bye to the game, while the other two play off in the Jostens Cup. The bye rotates among the three...
. The Quebec Junior Football LeagueThe Quebec Junior Football League operated from 1970 to the present, as a successor to the Quebec Juvenile Football League. It began competition as a conference of the Canadian Junior Football League from which it eventually withdrew. Upon withdrawal from the CJFL, the QJFL incorporated teams from...
includes teams from Ontario and Quebec who battle for the Manson Cup.
Semi-professionalA semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
leagues have grown in popularity in recent years, with the Alberta Football LeagueThe Alberta Football League is an amateur Canadian football league. For the 2010 season, 8 teams competed for the league championship...
becoming especially popular. The Northern Football Conference-Teams:-Defunct teams:...
formed in Ontario in 1954 has also surged in popularity as College players that do not continue to or get drafted to a professional team but still want to continue playing football. The Ontario champion plays against the Alberta champion for the "National Championship". The Canadian Major Football League is the governing body for the semi-professional game.
The field
The Canadian football field is 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide with end zoneIn gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
s 20 yards (18 m) deep. At each goal line is a set of 40 feet (12 m) goalposts, which consist of two uprights joined by an 18+1/2 ft crossbar which is 10 feet (3 m) above the goal line. The goalposts may be H-shaped (both posts fixed in the ground) although in the higher-calibre competitions the tuning-fork design (supported by a single curved post behind the goal line, so that each post starts 10 feet (3 m) above the ground) is preferred. The sides of the field are marked by white sidelines, the goal line is marked in white, and white lines are drawn laterally across the field every 5 yards (4.6 m) from the goal line. These lateral lines are called "yard lines" and are marked with the distance in yards from the nearest goal line, except for the yard line in the centre of the field, which is usually marked with a "C" for "Centre line" ."Hash marks" are painted in white, parallel to the yardage lines, at 1 yard (0.9144 m) intervals, 24 yards (21.9 m) from the sidelines.
On fields that have a surrounding running track, such as Commonwealth StadiumCommonwealth Stadium is a sports stadium located in the Norwood Area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, primarily used by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. The stadium is owned and operated by the City of Edmonton.- History :...
, Molson Stadium, and many universitiesCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
, the endzones are often cut off in the corners to accommodate the track. This was particularly common among U.S.-based teams during the CFL's American expansion, where few American stadiums were able to accommodate the much longer CFL field.
Play of the game
Teams advance across the field through the execution of quick, distinct plays, which involve the possession of a brown, prolate spheroidA prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids stand in contrast to oblate spheroids...
ball with ends tapered to a point. The ball has two one-inch-wide white stripes.
Kickoff
Play begins with one team place-kicking the ball from its own 35-yard line. Both teams then attempt to catch the ball. The player who recovers the ball may run while holding the ball, or lateral throw the ball to a teammate.
Stoppage of play
Play stops when the ball carrier's knee, elbow, or any other body part aside from the feet and hands, is forced to the ground (a tackle); when a forward pass is not caught on the fly (during live play); when a touchdown (see below) or a field goal is scored; when the ball leaves the playing area by any means (being carried, thrown, or fumbled out of bounds); or when the ball carrier is in a standing position but can no longer move. If no score has been made, the next play starts from scrimmage.
Scrimmage
Before scrimmage, an official places the ball at the spot it was at the stop of clock, but no nearer than 24 yards from the sideline or 1 yard from the goal line. The line parallel to the goal line passing through the ball (line from sideline to sideline for the length of the ball) is referred to as the line of scrimmage. This line is a sort of "no-man's land"; players must stay on their respective sides of this line until the play has begun again. For a scrimmage to be valid the team in possession of the football must have seven players, excluding the quarterback, within one yard of the line of scrimmage. The defending team must stay a yard or more back from the line of scrimmage.
Live play
- run with the ball, attempting to run farther down field (gaining yardage). The ball-carrier may run in any direction he sees fit (including backwards).
- drop-kick the ball, dropping it onto the ground and kicking it on the bounce. (This play is exceedingly rare in both Canadian and American football, although in the Canadian game it is sometimes used as a last-second "desperation play" if the team is behind by less than three points.)
- pass the ball laterally or backwards to a teammate. This play is known as a lateral, and may come at any time on the play. A pass which has any amount of forward momentum is a forward pass (see below); forward passes are subject to many restrictions which do not apply to laterals.
- hand-off—hand the ball off to a teammate, typically a halfback or the fullback.
- punt the ball; dropping it in the air and kicking it before it touches the ground. When the ball is punted, only opposing players (the receiving team), the kicker, and anyone behind the kicker when he punted the ball are able to touch the ball, or even go within five yards of the ball until it is touched by an eligible player (the No Yards rule, which is applied to all kicking plays).
- place the ball on the ground for a place kick
- throw a forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
, where the ball is thrown to a receiver located farther down field (closer to the opponent's goal) than the thrower is. Forward passes are subject to the following restrictions:
- They must be made from behind the line of scrimmage
- Only one forward pass may be made on a play
- The pass must be made in the direction of an eligible receiver or pass 10 yards after the line of scrimmage
Each play constitutes a down. The offence must advance the ball at least ten yards towards the opponents' goal line within three downs or forfeit the ball to their opponents. Once ten yards have been gained the offence gains a new set of three downs (rather than the four downs given in American football). Downs do not accumulate. If the offensive team completes 10 yards on their first play, they lose the other two downs and are granted another set of three. If a team fails to gain ten yards in two downs they usually punt the ball on third down or try to kick a field goalA field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
(see below), depending on their position on the field. The team may, however use its third down in an attempt to advance the ball and gain a cumulative 10 yards.
Change in possession
The ball changes possession in the following instances:
- If the offence scores a field goal, the scoring team must kickoff from their own 35-yard line.
- If the offence scores a touchdown, the scoring team must kickoff from their own 35-yard line. This also applies when the defence scores on a turnover which is returned for a touchdown—technically, they become the offence until the conclusion of the play, and the scoring team must still kickoff.
- If the defence scores on a safety (bringing the ball down in the offence's own end zone), they have the right to claim possession.
- If one team kicks the ball; the other team has the right to recover the ball and attempt a return. If a kicked ball goes out of bounds, or the kicking team scores a single or field goal as a result of the kick, the other team likewise gets possession.
- If the offence fails to make ten yards in three plays, the defence takes over on downs.
- If the offence attempts a forward pass and it is intercepted by the defence; the defence takes possession immediately (and may try and advance the ball on the play). Note that incomplete forward passes (those which go out of bounds, or which touch the ground without being first cleanly caught by a player) result in the end of the play, and are not returnable by either team.
- If the offence fumbles (a ball carrier drops the football, or has it dislodged by an opponent, or if the intended player fails to catch a lateral pass or a snap from centre, or a kick attempt is blocked by an opponent), the ball may be recovered (and advanced) by either team. If a fumbled ball goes out of bounds, the team whose player last touched it is awarded possession at the spot where it went out of bounds. A fumble by the offence in their own end zone, which goes out of bounds, results in a safety.
- When the first half ends, the team which kicked to start the first half may receive a kickoff to start the second half.
Rules of contact
There are many rules to contact in this type of football. First, the only player on the field who may be legally tackled is the player currently in possession of the football (the ball carrier). Second, a receiver, that is to say, an offensive player sent down the field to receive a pass, may not be interfered with (have his motion impeded, be blocked, etc.) unless he is within one yard of the line of scrimmage (instead of 5 yards (4.6 m) in American football). Any player may block another player's passage, so long as he does not hold or trip the player he intends to block. The kicker may not be contacted after the kick but before his kicking leg returns to the ground (this rule is not enforced upon a player who has blocked a kick), and the quarterback, having already thrown the ball, may not be hit or tackled.
Infractions and penalties
Infractions of the rules are punished with penalties, typically a loss of yardage of 5, 10 or 15 yards against the penalized team. Minor violations such as offside (a player from either side encroaching into scrimmage zone before the play starts) are penalized five yards, more serious penalties (such as holding) are penalized 10 yards, and severe violations (such as face-masking) of the rules are typically penalized 15 yards. Depending on the penalty, the penalty yardage may be assessed from the original line of scrimmage, the spot the violation occurred (for example, for a pass interference infraction), or the place the ball ended after the play. Penalties on the offence may, or may not, result in a loss of down; penalties on the defence may result in a first down being automatically awarded to the offence. For particularly severe conduct, the game official(s) may eject players (ejected players may be substituted for), or in exceptional cases, declare the game over and award victory to one side or the other. Penalties do not affect the yard line which the offence must reach in order to reach first down (unless the penalty results in a first down being awarded); if a penalty against the defence results in the first down yardage being attained, then the offence is awarded a first down.
Penalties may occur before a play starts (such as offsides), during the play (such as holding), or in a dead-ball situation (such as unsportsmanlike conductUnsportsmanlike conduct is a foul or offense in many sports that is not necessarily a violation of the respective sport's rules of play, but violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sportsmanship and/or participant conduct...
).
Penalties never result in a score for the offence. For example, a point-of-foul infraction committed by the defence in their end zone is not ruled a touchdown, but instead advances the ball to the one-yard line with an automatic first down. For a distance penalty, if the yardage is greater than half the distance to the goal line, then the ball is advanced half the distance to the goal line, though only up to the one-yard line (unlike American football, in Canadian football no scrimmage may start inside either one-yard line). If the original penalty yardage would have resulted in a first down or moving the ball past the goal line, a first down is awarded.
In most cases, the non-penalized team will have the option of declining the penalty; in which case the results of the previous play stand as if the penalty had not been called. One notable exception to this rule is if the kicking team on a 3rd down punt play is penalized before the kick occurs: the receiving team may not decline the penalty and take over on downs. After the kick is made, change of possession occurs and subsequent penalties are assessed against either the spot where the ball is caught, or the runback.
Kicking
Canadian football distinguishes three ways of kicking the ball:
Place kickThe place kick is a kicking style commonly used in rugby league and rugby union. It is also seen in Association football, American football and Canadian football.-American and Canadian football:...
: Kicking a ball held on the ground by a teammate, or, on a kickoff (resuming play following a score), placed on a tee.
Drop kickA drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....
: Kicking a ball after bouncing it on the ground. Although rarely used today, it has the same status in scoring as a place kick. This play is part of the game's rugbyRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
heritage, and was largely made obsolete when the ball with pointed ends was adopted. Unlike the American game, Canadian rules allow a drop kick to be attempted at any time by any player, but the move is very rare.
PuntIn some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
: Kicking the ball after it has been released from the kicker's hand and before it hits the ground. Punts may not score a field goal, even if one should travel through the uprights. As with drop kicks, players may punt at any time.
On punts and field goal attempts (but not kickoffs), members of the kicking team, other than the kicker and any teammates who are onside (behind the kicker at the time of the kick), may not approach within five yards of the ball until it has been touched by the receiving team.
Scoring
The methods of scoring are:
Touchdown : Achieved when the ball is in possession of a player in the opponent's goal area, or when the ball in the possession of a player crosses or touches the plane of the opponent's goal-line, worth 6 points (5 points until 1956). A touchdown in Canadian football is often referred to as a "major score" or simply a "major."
Conversion (or Convert) : After a touchdown, the team that scored attempts one scrimmage play from any point between the hash marks on or outside the opponents' 5-yard line. If they make what would normally be a field goal, they score one point; what would normally be a touchdown scores two points (a "two-point conversion"). No matter what happens on the convert attempt, play then continues with a kickoff (see below).
Field goal : Scored by a drop kick or place kick (except on a kickoff) when the ball, after being kicked and without again touching the ground, goes over the cross bar and between the goal posts (or between lines extended from the top of the goal posts) of the opponent's goal, worth three points. If the ball hits the upright above the cross-bar before going through, it is not considered a dead ball, and the points are scored. (Rule 5, Sect 4, Art 4(d))
Safety : Scored when the ball becomes dead in the possession of a team in its own goal area, or when the ball touches or crosses the dead-line, or side-line-in-goal and touches the ground, a player, or some object beyond these lines as a result of the team scored against making a play. It is worth two points. This is different from a single (see below) in that the team scored against begins with possession of the ball. The most common safety is on a third down punt from the end zone, in which the kicker decides not to punt and keeps the ball in his team's own goal area. The ball is then turned over to the receiving team (who gained the two points), by way of a kickoff from the 25 yard line or scrimmaging from the 35 yards (32 m) line on their side of the field.
Single : Scored when the ball becomes dead in the possession of a team in its own goal area, or when the ball touches or crosses the dead-line, or side-line-in-goal, and touches the ground, a player, or some object beyond these lines as a result of the ball having been kicked from the field of play into the goal area by the scoring team. It is worth one point. This is different from a Safety (see above) in that team scored against receives possession of the ball after the score.
- Officially, the single is called a rouge (French
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "red") but is often referred to as a single. The exact derivation of the term is unknown, but it has been thought that in early Canadian football, the scoring of a single was signalled with a red flag.
Resumption of play
Resumption of play following a score is conducted under procedures which vary with the type of score.
- Following a touchdown and convert attempt (successful or not), play resumes with the scoring team kicking off from its own 35-yard line (45-yard line in amateur leagues).
- Following a field goal, the non-scoring team may choose for play to resume either with a kickoff as above, or by scrimmaging the ball from its own 35-yard line.
- Following a safety, the scoring team may choose for play to resume in either of the above ways, or it may choose to kick off from its own 35-yard line.
- Following a single or rouge, play resumes with the non-scoring team scrimmaging from its own 35-yard line, unless the single is awarded on a missed field goal, in which case the non-scoring team scrimmages from either the 35-yard line or the yard line from which the field goal was attempted, whichever is greater.
Game timing
The game consists of two 30-minute halves, each of which is divided into two 15-minute quarters. The clock counts down from 15:00 in each quarter. Timing rules change when there are three minutes remaining in a half.
A short break interval occurs after the end of each quarter (a longer break at halftime), and the two teams then change goals.
In the first 27 minutes of a half, the clock stops when:
- points are scored,
- the ball goes out of bounds,
- a forward pass is incomplete,
- the ball is dead and a penalty flag has been thrown,
- the ball is dead and teams are making substitutions (e.g., possession has changed, punting situation, short yardage situation),
- the ball is dead and a player is injured, or
- the ball is dead and a captain calls a time-out
In sports, a time-out is a halt in the play. This allows the coaches of either team to communicate with the team, e.g., to determine strategy or inspire morale. Time-outs are usually called by coaches or players, although for some sports, TV timeouts are called to allow media to air commercial breaks...
.
The clock starts again when the referee determines the ball is ready for scrimmage, except for team time-outs (where the clock starts at the snap), after a time count foul (at the snap) and kickoffs (where the clock starts not at the kick but when the ball is first touched after the kick).
In the last three minutes of a half, the clock stops whenever the ball becomes dead. On kickoffs, the clock starts when the ball is first touched after the kick. On scrimmages, when it starts depends on what ended the previous play. The clock starts when the ball is ready for scrimmage except that it starts on the snap when on the previous play
- the ball was kicked off,
- the ball was punted,
- the ball changed possession,
- the ball went out of bounds,
- there were points scored,
- there was an incomplete forward pass,
- there was a penalty applied (not declined), or
- there was a team time-out.
The clock does not run during convert attempts in the last three minutes of a half. If the 15 minutes of a quarter expire while the ball is live, the quarter is extended until the ball becomes dead. If a quarter's time expires while the ball is dead, the quarter is extended for one more scrimmage. A quarter cannot end while a penalty is pending: after the penalty yardage is applied, the quarter is extended one scrimmage. Note that the non-penalized team has the option to decline any penalty it considers disadvantageous, so a losing team cannot indefinitely prolong a game by repeatedly committing penalties.
Overtime
In the CFL, if the game is tied at the end of regulation play, then each team is given an equal number of chances to break the tie. A coin toss is held to determine which team will take possession first; the first team scrimmages the ball at the opponent's 35-yard line and advances through a series of downs until it scores or loses possession. If the team scores a touchdown, starting with the 2010 season, it is required to attempt a 2-point conversion.
The other team then scrimmages the ball at the same 35-yard line and has the same opportunity to score. After the teams have completed their possessions, if one team is ahead, then it is declared the winner; otherwise, the two teams each get another chance to score, scrimmaging from the other 35-yard line. After this second round, if there is still no winner, during the regular season the game ends as a tie. In a playoff or championship game, the teams continue to attempt to score from alternating 35-yard lines, until one team is leading after both have had an equal number of possessions.
In Canadian Interuniversity SportCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
football, for the Uteck BowlThe Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinals in Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's football, held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to face the Mitchell Bowl champion for the Vanier Cup...
, Mitchell BowlThe Mitchell Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's football, and is the semifinal held in the westernmost location of the two semifinal venues. The winner of this game goes on to play against the Uteck Bowl champions for the Vanier Cup...
, and Vanier CupThe Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
, the same overtime procedure is followed until there is a winner.
Players
{{Image label begin|image=Canadian football positions.jpg|width=600}}
{{Image label small|x=10.0|y=105.0|scale=|text=running
backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
}}
{{Image label small|x=105.0|y=105.0|scale=|text=quarter-
backQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
}}
{{Image label small|x=70.0|y=50.0|scale=|text=slot-
backSlotback is a position in Gridiron football . The slotback is similar to the wide receiver but also has many of the same traits as a running back, lines up closer to the offensive line and often farther back...
}}
{{Image label small|x=120.0|y=170.0|scale=|text=slot-
backsSlotback is a position in Gridiron football . The slotback is similar to the wide receiver but also has many of the same traits as a running back, lines up closer to the offensive line and often farther back...
}}
{{Image label small|x=220.0|y=115.0|scale=|text=offensive
{{nbsp}}
{{Image label small|x=195.0|y=17.0|scale=|text=wide
receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
}}
{{Image label small|x=285.0|y=325.0|scale=|text=wide
receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
}}
{{Image label small|x=285.0|y=115.0|scale=|text=defensive
{{nbsp}}
{{Image label small|x=360.0|y=115.0|scale=|text=line-
backers}}
{{Image label small|x=495.0|y=115.0|scale=|text=umpire}}
{{Image label small|x=395.0|y=25.0|scale=|text=corner-
backA cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
}}
{{Image label small|x=410.0|y=55.0|scale=|text=defensive
back}}
{{Image label small|x=460.0|y=175.0|scale=|text=defensive
backs}}
{{Image label small|x=570.0|y=300.0|scale=|text=corner-
backA cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
}}
{{Image label end}} |
The University of Alberta Golden Bears (yellow and white, offence) are first-and-tenA down is a period in which a play transpires in American and Canadian football.-Description:A down begins with a snap or free kick , and ends when the ball or the player in possession of it is declared down by an official, a team scores, or the ball or player in possession of it leaves the field...
at their 54 yards (49.4 m) line against the Calgary DinosThe Calgary Dinos football team has won the Vanier Cup national championship four times, the most out of any of the Canada West teams and most recently in 1995. The Dinos also won in 1983, 1985 and 1988. The team most recently appeared in the 2010 Vanier Cup, but lost to the Laval Rouge et Or...
(red and black, defence) in a CIS footballTwenty-six universities across Canada compete in football under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity Sport . The teams are divided into four conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec...
game at McMahon StadiumMcMahon Stadium is a Canadian football stadium located in Calgary, Alberta. The stadium is owned by the University of Calgary and operated by the McMahon Stadium Society....
in 2006. The twelve players of each side and the umpire (one of seven officialIn American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field...
s) are shown. The Golden Bears are in a one-backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
offence with five receivers. |
Offence
The offensive positions found in Canadian football have, for the most part, evolved throughout the years, and are not officially defined in the rules. However, among offensive players, the rules recognize three different types of players:
Down linemen: Down linemen are players who, at the start of every play, line up at the line of scrimmage; once in their stance they may not move until the play begins. The offence must have at least seven players lined up at the line of scrimmage on every play. The exception to this rule is the player (typically the centre) who snaps the ball to the quarterback. Linemen generally do not run with the ball (unless they recover it on a fumble) or receive a hand-off or lateral pass, but there is no rule against it. Interior linemen (that is, excluding the two players at either end of the scrimmage line) are ineligible receivers; they may not receive a forward pass either. (The two offensive ends on the line of scrimmage may receive forward passes.)
Backs: Backs line up behind the linemen; they may run with the ball, receive handoffs, laterals, and forward passes. They may also be in motion before the play starts.
Specific offensive positions include:
Backs/Receivers:
Quarterback: Generally the leader of the offence. Calls all plays to teammates, receives the ball off of snap, and initiates the action usually by running the ball himself, passing the ball to a receiver, or handing the ball off to another back.
Fullback: Multiple roles including pass protection, receiving, and blocking for the running back. On short yardage situations may also carry the ball.
Running back/Tailback: As the name implies, the main runner on the team. Also an eligible receiver and blocker on pass plays.
Wide receiver: Lines up on the line of scrimmage, usually at a distance from the centre. Runs down the field in order to catch a forward pass from the quarterback.
SlotbackSlotback is a position in Gridiron football . The slotback is similar to the wide receiver but also has many of the same traits as a running back, lines up closer to the offensive line and often farther back...
: Similar to the wide receiver, but lines up closer to the offensive line.
Down linemen:
Centre: Snaps the ball to the quarterback. Most important pass blocker on pass plays. Calls offensive-line plays.
Left/right guard: Stands to the left and right of the centre helps protect the quarterback, Usually very good run blockers to open holes up the middle for runners.
Left/right tackle: Stands on the ends of the offensive line, The biggest men on the line, usually well over 300 poundsThe avoirdupois system is a system of weights based on a pound of 16 ounces. It is the everyday system of weight used in the United States and is still widely used to varying degrees by many people in Canada, the United Kingdom, and some other former British colonies despite the official adoption...
(140 kg). Usually very good pass blockers.
Offensive lineman: Collective name for centre, guards, and tackles.
Defence
The rules do not constrain how the defence may arrange itself (other than the requirement that they must remain one yard behind the line of scrimmage until the play starts).
Cornerback: Covers the wide receivers on most plays.
Safety: Covers deep. Last line of defence, can offer run support or blitz.
Defensive halfback: Covers the slotback and helps contain the run from going to the outside.
Defensive back: Collective term for cornerback, safety, and defensive halfback.
Nose tackle: Lineman across from centre, tries to get past the offensive-line or take double team and open holes for blitzes.
Defensive tackle: Inside defensive linemen try to break through the offensive line and open holes for linebackers.
Defensive end: Main rushing lineman. Rushes the quarterback and try to contain rushers behind the line of scrimmage.
Middle linebacker: Lines up across from the centre 3 to 4 yards (3.7 m) back. Quarterback of the defence. Calls plays for lineman and linebackers.
Weak-side linebacker: Lines up on the short side of field, and can drop into pass coverage or contain.
Strong-side linebacker: Lines up on the opposite side and usually rushes.
Special teams
Special teams generally refers to kicking plays, which typically involve a change in possession.
Holder: Receives the snap on field goal tries and converts; places the ball in position and holds it to be kicked by the kicker. This position is generally filled by a reserve quarterback; occasionally the starting quarterback or punter will fill in as holder.
Kicker: Kicks field goals, converts, kick-offs
Punter: Punts ball, usually on third downs
Returners: Fast, agile runners who specialize in fielding punts and kickoffs, attempting to advance them for better field position or a score.
See also
{{Portal box|Canadian football|Sport in Canada}}
- Comparison of American and Canadian football
- Glossary of Canadian football
This is a glossary of terms used in Canadian football. Glossary of American football also covers many terms used in the Canadian version of the game....
- List of Gridiron football teams in Canada
- Comparison of Canadian football and rugby league
A comparison of Canadian football and rugby league football can be made because of their shared origins, resulting in similarities and shared concepts in terms of scoring and advancing the ball. Aside from American football, rugby league is the sport most similar to Canadian football...
- Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
- Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Sport in Canada}}
{{Team Sport}}
{{American football concepts}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Football}}
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