CFL to consider 3 rule changes

I'm not sure I agree with any of these changes that they are looking at. I'm kind of dissappointed that they never mentioned anything about the challenge system and how it penalizes teams for winning their challenges. I thought that would be in there before some of these other changes.

AS long as they dont use this window to Americanize the game more than it allready is, one would think the idea would be to curtale American Coaches from twisting the "canadian" rules, IMo on field goal returns adopt the CIS rule of moving the ball to the 25 yd line if the returner breaks the plane of the goal line on the return ! and IMHO conceding Safeties when you have the lead is Unsportsmanlike and should be addressed! AND once again they are ignoring the plite of CANADIAN QB,s!

i would hate to see too many american type rulz instituted in the cfl. Especially the removeal of the single point. but i agree it should not be awarded if the kick is not returnable. i was glad that no one took the idea of a fair catch seriously. I personally find that the most boring part of a football game. thats when i get my hotdog and beer... during an NFL punt.

I agree with Arius..

you cannot, I repeat CANNOT! shrink the endzones to 15 yds.

the whole purpose for the bigger endzones was to accomodate the LIVE endzone!

remember, NFL endzones are dead!

CFL endzones are Live!

that's why there's the single point and that's why there are 20yd endzones.

you remove the 20yd endzones, then remove the single, then put the posts at the end, and why not just change all the rules to NFL huh? ya right!

I agree with the kickoff at the 20yd for safeties.. I don't know if I necessarily agree with the converts.. perhaps take away tees?

and LEAVE THE SINGLE POINT ALONE!

I don’t expect much to change

I don’t look at the Rouge as uniquely Canadian its a rule, certainly its not the only rule what differences CFL and NFL. The Rouge just stands out cause its made fun of the most, and it makes sense, why? Rewarding failure should be changed, and I say that cause not all Rouge points are returnable by the D, making it rewarding failure.

Love the rouge as it adds the possibility of some interesting elements of strategy in the end game.
Hate to see any changes to the convert rule that would take away from the possibility of the 2pt convert.
I like the idea of moving the kickoff back on a safety. Keep the points at two but punish the offending team
with distance. It works for me.

I do like that idea.

I didn’t like when the CIS adopted that rule. It diminishes the importance of some great plays on special teams.
Did the CIS not go back to the CFL rule? All the CIS games I attended last year and I can’t recall. :?

The one ‘tweak’ I would really like to see is on the ‘No yards’ rule. I would like to see the referee’s be allowed to have a little more discretion and not assess a penalty to a defender who is back-peddling to escape and has no affect on the play. Not sure how doable it is.

I didn't think that the convert was such a big dea to everyonel!! So because of that, I just thought of this to make the converts more excisting. Turn the convert from being held by the holder, to a drop kick. How's that!!

I’d rather that it had to be kicked by the guy who scored the touchdown.

I agree with zbest, these rule changes actually make the game worse, and I’d rather they not turn the CFL into some sort of novelty league just so they can attract some of the fair weather fans.

Once again I agree with zbest. Was there a blue moon last night? :lol: But I am tempted to contact these people… or at least Cohon, since he’s the only one with an available e-mail right now.

Moving the kick off after a safety to the 20 yard line completely removes the strategy from the game. You might as well just scrap the safety completely.

I would like to see the drop kick back in the game. It was great to see Doug Flutie kick for the extra point in his last game. My suggestion is to make a Field Goal worth 4 points if kicked with a drop kick, and a Convert worth 2 points if kicked with a drop kick.

I would like to see the line of scrimmage on the extra point attempt moved from the 5 yard line to the 10 or 15 yard line.

I would like to see a change in the Import / nonimport ratio, more nonimports and fewer imports. Also the QB rule where they can't play in any other position. I would like to see the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th string QB playing another positions.

I love the kicking game, and would like to see more kicking in the CFL. For example I would like to see a Kick-off after every touch down, field goal, saftey, and rouge or single. In the case of a touch down, a field goal, or a single; the team that was scored upon would have the choice, to kick-off or receive. And when a saftey is scored the team that got the 2 points would have the choice to kick-off or recieve.

I would like to see rules modified to make QUICK KICKS and DROP KICKS easier to execute or at least more tempting to try.

I would like a 20 yard penalty on all kicks that go out of bounds. (punts, FG attempts, kick-offs, quick kicks, and drop kicks). (The ball would be placed 20yards from where the ball went out of bounds). A rouge is only scored if a player is downed in the endzone or the ball goes over the endline (not the goalline) and the ball is placed at the 20 yardline. If the ball goes over the side line in the endzone there would be no rouge and the ball would be placed on the 20 yardline.

I would like to see CFL rules progress in the opposite direction of the NFL rules.

I would like to see the drop kick back in the game. It was great to see Doug Flutie kick for the extra point in his last game. My suggestion is to make a Field Goal worth 4 points if kicked with a drop kick, and a Convert worth 2 points if kicked with a drop kick.

Totally cool idea. :thup:

By live and dead I presume you’re talking about about rules that keep the ball in play on kicks into the end zone. Is it the ability to execute deeper plays? Otherwise there isn’t much difference between what can and can’t happen in an end zone in either league.

I don’t understand why there are two distinct camps here on the rouge. People who say don’t touch it and people who say do away with it all together.

The reality is that the rouge is not always a reward for failure bit it is sometimes a reward for failure. When a team concedes a rouge by way of taking a knee or being tackled, the kicking team very well earned that point. When a 15 yard field goal is shanked and darts through the air out of the back of the end zone with zero chance of anyone catching the ball or preventing it from sailing out, the rouge in this case becomes a definite reward for failure.

Award the rouge when the ball lands in the end zone. Make the end zone 25 or 30 yards. Heck give the end zone an out field wall or a rebound net. (I’m not being serious) But do not claim that a shanked 15 yarder that goes into row 30 is worth a point.

A prevented return is worth a point… a ball kicked into the end zone hot tub shouldn’t be.

The ball crossed the GOAL line. Therefore, the offence accomplished their "goal", how is that a failure?

They failed to achieve a "Field Goal", or a "Touchdown", which is why the score is called a "Rouge" and not worth as many points.

Moving the ball down the length of the CFL field and over the goal line is a scoring play, unless the defending team is able to return the ball across the goal line before being downed.

Good points—mostly. The reason there is no point for a ball which goes out the back of the endzone on a kick-off is precisely as you say. I would agree a shanked field goal point isn’t a big deal either way. The point, pun intended, remains, there isn’t really a reason not to leave the rule as it is either. As I’ve said before, technically, a field goal is a reward for failure. You failed to carry the ball over the line, so now we let you kick it for points. Why? It is all quite arbitrary from the very beginning. Why 3 points? why not 2? Or 4? Didn’t a TD used to be 9 points–5 for the score, 4 for the convert? Etc.? The question is, what is gained by changing the rule? I think it eliminates certain aspects of strategy that are interesting and it also eliminates the uniqueness of the game. I’ve heard some say the safety is boring. So? It is a valuable bit of strategy which actually adds excitement to future plays, and the overall game. Changing that rule because it is dull impacts the rest of the game in ways that may reduce the entertainment value for future plays. Same with the rouge. It is interesting to see if a team will concede the point in certain situations, or will they green light their returner to try and make a big play. There are all kinds of nuances and intrigues to the game that are fun and interesting AS A WHOLE. When you start dicking around with those subtlties you may end up with a more exciting convert play, but a less interesting game overall.
Change a rule if it makes the game better. Don’t change a rule if it does not. Seems simple enough.
Leave the rouge alone!!!

Amen.

I’m sorry but I have to say I hate that idea. Leave the game, and especially the scoring, as simple as possible. This reminds me of rule suggestions like, oh, I don’t know, FGs from 55+ yards should be worth 4 points, the action point … A field goal is a field goal no matter where it’s from or how it’s kicked. It’s 3 points whether it’s from 62 yards away (in which case it’s something out of nothing) and it’s 3 points if it’s 7 yards away (in which case they probably should have scored a lot more).

I fail to see the problem with the convert. So what it’s made 99.5% of the time … That means that 0.5% of the time, it’s not. And it’s not a boring play if there’s no time left on the clock after a team scores a TD to bring themselves within 1 point. Has anyone seen that play from the NFL where the Saints run a whole bunch of laterals and make it into the endzone with no time left, but the kicker misses the convert? It’s a football play; anything can happen (bad snap, bad hold, bad turf, bad kick, bad blocking … ). And it doesn’t even take any time off the clock.

Personally, I think the most boring plays in football are:

  1. Watching everyone stand around doing nothing while one guy with his hand in the air catches the ball;
  2. Watching everyone from one team stand around a rolling ball waiting for it to stop so they can touch it;
  3. Watching someone catch a kick in the endzone and put one knee down with no reason not to. (A single point may not be very much, but it’s enough to win a game by.)

As for the rouge in particular, I think the fact that no consensus has ever been reached on whether it’s good or bad is enough evidence to keep it in the game. But I’m all for changing it so that it only applies on returnable kicks.

Haven't read all posts but i understand where people are coming from with rewarding kickers for missed FG's but to scrap it all together is really dumb like what about rewarding a punter for kicking it 80 yards down the field for a single i think thats a well deserved single imo... I say the only thing is unless the field goal is being kicked from inside the 20 where in all likelyhood its going through the endzone regardless than scrap that single point make the kickers think more.

Safety Rule leave it alone... the only reason you see more kicking in NFL is because the field is more Narrow so defense's have a easier time containing players and cutting lanes off where as if you miss a tackle in the backfield in the CFL a player can turn it into a 50 yard play where as in the NFL it is still possible to do the same but you don't see it as often.

Extra Point should be left alone like someone stated moving the ball back really screws the 2pt convert but than again alot of teams have more success scoring from 5 yard back than right on the goaline for TD's that is so who knows.

Honestly certain rules have been in football so long why change them and like the motto for the CFL last year "This is our Game" and thats what makes this league so entertaining.

Regardless if they change rules its still our game, I get the idea that the mentality of the board in some posts is that if we change rules and there are many that you could call Canadian, are changed that its like we are saying its better in the NFL. Every sport including the NFL makes changes to improve the sport the CFL to continue to progess needs to as well. Im glad to see they are looking into it, I personally would be shocked to see any real radical changes, still for example if they did make a radical change we are still going to go and support the league and we may not like some of the changes but its still football.

I applaud the CFL for considering fan rule change suggestions. The league should always be willing to revisit the rules with an eye towards improving the game, while keeping it fair for both teams.

There are many variables involved in the proposed changes. I trust the committee will thoroughly examine all of them. If they do make a change, I have confidence that it will be a good one.

My personal feelings are that the single should stay, but only for returnable kicks, kicking from the twenty is too far back (twenty five or thirty would be better), and converts aren't worth changing. I'd be just as happy to see no changes.

I think they should score 4 points for hitting the upright and 5 if it hits the upright and goes in.