1. Difference Between Canadian Football And American Football
2. What Is The Difference Between Canadian And American Football
3. Canadian Football Vs American Football Players
4. Canadian Football Vs American Football Compare And Contrast

1. The CFL has just a rich history as the NFL. Its origins can be traced back to the 1860’s when rugby football was played in Canada. Over the decades, as in American football, Canadian football slowly formed into the game we know today. The first gridiron match was played in Toronto in 1861, and it quickly took off in popularity.
2. Feb 17, 2011 The difference between NFL and CFL covers a number of areas from the size of the teams to playing rules. NFL and CFL are two football leagues, an American and a Canadian respectively. Football is football you would say whether it is played in the US or across the border in Canada.

NFL vs CFL

The difference between NFL and CFL covers a number of areas from the size of the teams to playing rules. NFL and CFL are two football leagues, an American and a Canadian respectively. Football is football you would say whether it is played in the US or across the border in Canada. But there are glaring differences between the NFL and CFL, and one needs to see matches in action to feel the differences. For laymen, NFL stands for the National Football League, which is played in the US, and CFL refers to Canadian Football League, played in Canada. Of course, the game is football, or soccer as it is called by some, so there are bound to be similarities, but this article will highlight some of the major differences between NFL and CFL.

What is NFL?

NFL stands for the National Football League. This is played in the US. NFL was first established in 1920. Currently there are 32 teams who play in the NFL. NFL is the most popular of the sports league in America. The current NFL champions are New England Patriots. The number of players in a NFL team is 11.

See full list on rulesofsport.com. Apr 26, 2009 - In American football, you have four downs to move the ball 10 yards. In Canadian football, you have three downs to move the ball 10 yards. That makes Canadian ball much more passing-oriented. Jul 07, 2010 Two other differences deserve a closer look: field size and number of downs. The Canadian football field is absolutely huge and dwarfs the size of its American counterpart. 100 yards field of play is just the beginning. The endzones are twice the length at 20 yards each compared with American versions at 10 yards.

When it comes to the playing field, without counting the 10-yard end zones, the playing area in NFL is 100 yards and the width of the field is 53.5 yards. Coming to the timeouts, each team has three timeouts in each half. The scoring of NFL goes as follows. A touchdown gets 6 points; kicked convert gets 1 point; passed or rushed convert gets 2 points; field goal gets 3 points; safety touch gets 2 points, and rouge gets 1 point.

What is CFL?

CFL stands for Canadian Football League. This is played in Canada. CFL is the highest sports league in Canada in the professional sports category. CFL was found in 1958. Currently there are nine teams that are playing in the CFL. The most recent CFL champions are Calgary Stampeders. Twelve (12) players make up a team in CFL. This extra player in CFL usually stays in the backfield. This means seven players on the offense and five on the defense. Thus, there is an extra receiver in a team in CFL.

When it comes to the playing field, playing area in CFL is larger than that used in NFL. In CFL, the end zones are 20 yards and the width of the field is 65 yards. The length of the CFL field is 110 yards. If you consider the timeouts, each team has one timeout in each half. The scoring of CFL goes as follows. You can see that the scoring is same as the NFL. A touchdown is given 6 points; kicked convert is given 1 point; passed or rushed convert is given 2 points; field goal is given 3 points; safety touch is given 2 points; rouge is given 1 point.

What is the difference between NFL and CFL?

Definitions of NFL and CFL:

NFL: NFL stands for the National Football League. This is played in US.

CFL: CFL stands for Canadian Football League. This is played in Canada.

Characteristics of NFL and CFL:

Number of Players:

NFL: NFL has 11 players on the field during a game.

CFL: CFL has 12 players on the field during a game.

Size of Field:

Field Width:

NFL: The field width in NFL is 53.5 yards.

CFL: The field width in CFL is 65 yards.

Field Length:

NFL: The field length of NFL is 100 yards.

CFL: The field Length of CFL is 110 yards.

End Zones:

NFL: NFL has two 10 yard end zones.

CFL: CFL has two 20 yard end zones.

Balls:

Though white balls are used in both NFL and CFL, there are some differences in the balls used.

NFL: The white ball used in NFL has no stripes over it and is smaller in circumference compared to the balls used in CFL.

CFL: The ball used in CFL is bigger, having a larger circumference and has stripes over it.

Time Outs:

NFL: There are three timeouts in NFL for each team in each half.

CFL: There is only one timeout in each half for CFL teams.

Play Clock:

This is the rest time taken by an offensive team to prepare for the next game play.

NFL: Play clock is 40 seconds in NFL.

CFL: A play clock of only 20 seconds is provided in CFL.

Sudden Death:

NFL: If the game is tied after the duration, NFL makes use of sudden death to decide the winner.

CFL: In CFL, each game is given two possessions if the game is tied after the duration. If the teams are still tied, the game is declared a tie. For a tie game, CFL teams get one point, whereas there is no such system in NFL. There is either victory or a loss. In CFL, teams with highest points make for playoffs.

Number of Downs:

NFL: The offensive team in NFL needs to make 4 downs to make first down, score a touchdown or kick a field goal.

CFL: For the same, a team in CFL needs only 3 downs.

Money:

Players play for money apart from fame, and it is NFL that is far ahead of CFL in terms of player salaries. This is the reason why many talented players from Canada are always anxious to play in NFL.

Difference Between Canadian Football And American Football

There are many other minor differences apart from these major differences in CFL and NFL.

Images Courtesy:

1. National Football League game by Lpdrew (CC BY-SA 2.0)
2. Canadian football game by D’Arcy Norman (CC BY 2.0)

What Is The Difference Between Canadian And American Football

In football scoreboards news, we look at the history of football and why Canadian differs from American football in this important way.

The CFL has just a rich history as the NFL. Its origins can be traced back to the 1860’s when rugby football was played in Canada. Over the decades, as in American football, Canadian football slowly formed into the game we know today. The first gridiron match was played in Toronto in 1861, and it quickly took off in popularity. The development of the game at the beginning practically mirrored that of in the US, but a bit later on the relevant associations started making independent decisions and some different rules were adopted.

So what (and when?) exactly happened to make the Canadian game differ from the American game in such an important aspect: the number of downs?

“Football scoreboards news” found out that to start with you have to go way back to the 1890’s. Walter Camp, one of the forefathers of the game in North American as a whole, introduced the scrimmage and down and distance rules. There were a large number of rugby unions that time in Canada, and they liked the idea and implemented it. They did not, however, elect to change the number of players from 15 a side.

With the dawn of the new century, John Burnside, who captained the university football team in Toronto, reduced the quantity of players per side from 15 to 12, and brought in the rule in which teams must gain 10 years in 3 downs. In Camp’s original rule teams had 5 downs.

These new rules were resisted to start with by the provincial rugby unions in Canada, but they were eventually adopted. At this time, American football also had three downs, and this remained the case until 1912. In this year, the rule makers elected to increase the number of downs from 3 to 4. The Canadian Rugby Union stayed with the Burnside rules, and kept three downs. Perhaps they would have followed the American example, but World War 1 forced the suspension of all official games for 2 years, and by the time things got going again, in the beginning of the 1920’s, any thoughts of changing the rules to meet the US standards had been dropped.

Canadian Football Vs American Football Players

The Canadians adopted the forward pass, but not until 1929, and the CRU did not make this rule official until 1931. The first touchdown pass in the history of the Grey Cup was made that year, by a guy called Warren Stevens. Since that time rules have come and gone, changes have constantly been made to the game, as in American football, but that one, all so important, rule has remained that distinguishes it from its Southern partner. Canadians are probably happy about that!

Canadian Football Vs American Football Compare And Contrast

For more information, go to:
en.wikipedia.org