Defenders Of Canadian Football’s ‘Rouge’ Wanted A Word With Me

CFL fans, I hear you…

Last week, we talked about a play that occurred in a CFL game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Roughriders that saw Toronto scoop up a win courtesy of a walk-off rouge, or single.

I wrote about how the rouge is the dumbest rule in sports, given it handed a team a win on what was basically a missed field goal.

After that, I shut my computer for a nice weekend, not realizing I’d spend a good portion of the weekend fielding emails from CFL fans who wanted to let me know how wrong and/or ill-informed about the rouge I was.

So, I figure in the interest of international relations, it’s only fair to hear from the other side of this issue…

Let’s get things rolling with a message from Gordon in Ottawa that explains why the rule exists and what it brings to the table:

The rouge was meant to entice running returns. Either return the kick by running the ball back or concede a point if you are unable to clear a ball kicked into the end zone. Brilliant! It adds an element of strategy and keeps the play interesting and in motion. Sadly, the rule was written in a way that allowed for a point to be scored even when the ball was unplayable… unreturnable after a kick.

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Alright, well already, I like where that’s headed. The CFL cracked a code that the NFL still struggles with, and that’s how to encourage players to return kicks and punts.

And let me tell you, one thing I learned in this little cultural exchange in my inbox was that CFL fans absolutely hate fair catches and touchbacks awarded for kicks that go threw the back of the end zone.

I think that was the most common thing I got, and that was basically some version of, “At least it’s not a bunch of dudes standing around,” which is fair.

We also had a message from Rico in Ottawa (I got a lot of messages from Ottawa for some reason) who explained why booting a pigskin through the end zone isn’t as simple as it may seem in the CFL game.

Yes, goal line to goal line is 110 yards, so a team has to move the ball ten yards further to get close enough to kick the ball into the end zone.  Secondly, the end zones are twice as deep as NFL zones (20 yards compared to 10 in the NFL).  And the CFL end zones used to be 25 yards deep.  So if an offensive drive stalled at the 40 the kicker had to get off a pretty good kick to have the ball make it through the end zone.  In addition, the stadiums that Canadian games were traditionally played in tended to be open at each end meaning that a howling wind could be blowing through making it very difficult to kick the ball anywhere near the back of the end zone.  

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Alright, so it’s not as easy as getting a Canadian version of Justin Tucker and letting him loose to rack up more singles than a cheap stripper.

But what I think I took away from these messages the most was how the rouge is what makes Canadian football its own very unique thing, and that’s very cool.

I think Karen, a 65-year-old tattooed grandma from Quebec (her words) put it best.

Dear Matt,  I adore the Canadian game. I watch 4 games every week and I also watch NFL games, go Bills. We only have 4 because our league is lopsided, go Canada! Anyway, our game is beautiful exactly because it’s different and exciting. What happens in the last 2 minutes of an NFL game, nothing, here anything can happen. We laugh at recent imports who flounder and don’t get it. Once you play our game though you can’t go back. No one hogs the ball for 15 minutes because of boring 4 downs. You need to get your shit done or give it back. I adore where our goalposts are, watching QBs hitting it, kickers dinging it, it’s exhilarating. 110 yards and crazy rules. Like the one that the Als have perfected; a perfect dribble inside kick for a first down. Australian rules football, now that’s weird. Like Trump. P.S. we invented hockey and basketball. 

Thanks for the laugh, 
Karen a 65-year-old tattooed grandma in Quebec

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I still wouldn’t call the rouge my favorite thing in sports, but hearing from some fans who love Canadian football and know a thing or two about, was a lot of fun.

Sounds like I need to buy myself a six-pack of Moosehead and catch some CFL action this week…