What's a 'Grey Cup?'
Well, as my Titans are rapidly heading into injury-plagued disaster, and as I live in Canada, I suppose I can take a little time off today to talk about the Super Bowl of Canadian Football. The Grey Cup Game, which determines the champion of the Canadian Football League (CFL), is played this weekend, and NFL ratings will drop sharply north of the 39th parallel on Sunday.
I, like 99.9% of Americans, had no idea there was Canadian Football before moving to Canada in 2001. Upon hearing about it, I scoffed. Seriously, how good could a game be that had a 55-yard line, 20-yard end zones, 12 players, and only 3 downs? What delusion of grandeur could convince those poor misguided Canucks that their game was worthy of the name Football?
That was before I learned that the Harvard Rugby games played in 1874, from which sprang the college craze for American Football, were played against McGill University, from Montreal, and that the Canadians taught the Americans the game. So OK, the Canadians may have a bit of history to support their claim to the game. What happened from there, however, brought us to two very different places.
The official website of the CFL (www.CFL.ca), states that the CFL was officially named the CFL in 1958, some 26 years after the NFL had been named, but both countries have a long, rich tradition of football and rugby competition. So, let's look at some of the differences, shall we?
As I mentioned before, the CFL field is bigger than the NFL. The middle of the field is the 55-yard line, and the end zones are 20 yards deep, as opposed to the standard 10 yards of the NFL. Also, the field is wider, 195 feet, to the NFL's 160. The extra room is needed, as CFL teams field 12 players.
Though no one will argue that the talent level in the CFL is below that in the NFL (after all, if you've got the talent, wouldn't you rather play in a league where the rookie minimum salary is 5 times the average CFL salary?), it is very difficult to argue that the product is a lesser one. The bigger field, emphasis on passing (with only 3 downs to cover the same 10 yards for a new first down), and additional ways to score make for a much more offensive-oriented game. And, as in any league where the talent is mixed, there is a much higher chance for the unexpected to happen.
Some CFL stars made the jump to the NFL, and have done rather well for themselves. Doug Flutie, for example, had won a few Grey Cups before joining the Bills as a rather serviceable QB. Warren Moon wasn't too bad either, and Jeff Garcia, despite T.O.'s opinion, didn't stink up the joint in San Francisco. In fact, because of the emphasis on the passing game in the CFL, quarterbacks seem to have the easiest transition to the NFL. Most who do make the jump become 3rd-stringers, or serviceable backups, but a few have made a name for themselves. There are a few other players who've made the jump as well. Marc Boerigter has averaged 18.6 yards per catch with the Chiefs since joining them in 2002, for example.
And oddly enough, there have been quite a few players who, while only "solid," or "steady" players in the NFL, became greats in the CFL. Doug Flutie is one of them, as well. Today, you can see John Avery (once of the Miami Dolphins) tearing up the field for the Toronto Argonauts, who are in the Grey Cup game this weekend. Given the year they've had, Avery might just get a phone call from Miami after the game.
It's a tougher schedule in the CFL. 18 games, rather than 16, and in a colder climate. There are only 40 players on a CFL team, so no one except the QB's is above special teams. If they're not playing on old-style astro-turf (and pounding their knees to jelly), they're playing outside in substantially cooler temperatures than anyone other than Green Bay or the Pats.
I did enjoy the few CFL games I've seen. No, the stadiums aren't as big, nor the production quite as "sexy," and it's obvious that there's not nearly the money involved (average season ticket prices for a B.C. Lions game were about that of a single-game Seahawks Club Seat ticket), but it's still guys going out and playing their hearts out on a football field. And that's never a bad thing to see.
In the past couple years, has anybody made the jump from the CFL to the NFL?
I know Marc Boerigter went to the Chiefs in 2002, after a fantastic year with the Calgary Stampeeders.
Ricky Ray (of the Edmonton Eskimos) was a backup QB for the Jets last year, but he's now back in the CFL this season.
There are several CFL players each year that exercise their "option year" in their CFL contract to go to an NFL training camp. If they make the NFL team, the'll stick (usually as a special teamer/backup) for a few years. Some come back to the CFL right away, some after a few years, some not at all.
Ricky Ray, for example, didn't want to be a backup (3rd string) for the Jets again (I think they cut him, as well), so he came back to the CFL this year, and is getting paid something like $400,000 CAD/year for four years - to start. That's comparable to what he'd get paid to ride the pine in the NFL.
As far as anyone who's made a successful CFL-NFL transition in the last two years, I'm not sure. I'll do some research.
Well, after some research, I didn't find any CFL players who made an NFL team and stuck for an entire season, post-2002. There are a few
scheduled to show up for NFL training camps this year, but who knows how many will crack rosters?
I will make sure to visit the CFL angle at least twice this year. Once towards the beginning of the season, to see if anyone has made a roster, and once towards the end to see who stuck around.
Mike Sellers TE/RB for Washington Redskins was in the CFL and played for Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Does anyone have a listing of players that played in the CFL and had game time experience in the NFL say from 1958 to present. I'm interested in a SimFantasy league using these players.
TEMPORARY INSANITY OF NEW YORK JETS MISLEADING
QUARTERBACK RICKY RAY AFTER ONLY ONE YEAR!!!
THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMENT IS NOT TO "SLAG" THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAUGUE.IT IS TO
SHOW THE KINDS OF MISTAKES THAT CAN BE MADE WHEN A VAST SURPLUS OF TALENT EXISTS. THIS MAKES THE IDEA OF 'TRYING OUT FOR THE TEAM' AT LEAST 50% CALCULATED. (AND SMUG POLITICS AND UNWITTING LIES.)
UNTIL ONLY VERY RECENTLY CANADA SUPPLIED THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF PLAYERS FOR AROUND 30 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE TEAMS. WE PROBABLY STILL ACCOUNT FOR AROUND 65%!
IN THE DAYS OF BOSTON SUPERSTAR BOBBY ORR, THE TALLY WAS CLOSER TO 100%. WE SUPPLIED NEARLY ALL THE PLAYERS OUT OF A POPULATION OF 25 MILLION PEOPLE. (NOW WE ARE AT 30 MILLION AND MORE U.S.AND EUROPEAN PLAYERS ARE GREAT; AND MAKING N.H.L. ROSTERS!
IMAGINE IF CANADA HAD 250-70 MILLION PEOPLE
BENEFITING AS A POPULATION SUBJECTED TO A SUBERB HOCKEY SYSTEM. THIS IS PRECISELY WHERE THE U.S. STANDS IN RELATION TO ITS FOOTBALL PROGRAMS AND ENORMOUS NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE CAMPS.
IT IS, THEREFORE, EVEN MORE INEVITABLE THAT DUMB MISTAKES AND EVEN DELIBERATE OVERLOOKING OF GREAT TALENT ARE GOING TO OCCUR IN TANDEM! EGO ENTERS THE PICTURE AS WELL! MY PRIME PROBLEM IS THAT MANY PLAYERS ARE CONNED BY AGENTS AND TEAMS INTO BELIEVING THAT THEY ARE REALLY, REALLY DESIRED. RICKY RAY IS A CLASSIC CASE IN POINT.
RAY WAS OUR OUTSTANDING AND VERY YOUNG BRILLIANT QUARTERBACK WITH THE EDMONTON ESKIMOS. WE ARE A TEAM THAT DISCOVERED A CERTAIN QUARTERBACK IN 1978 THAT NOT ONE N.F.L. CLUB AGRESSIVELY EVEN WANTED FOR A BACKUP PIVOT. THE
MAN'S NAME WAS WARREN MOON! BELIEVE ME, I FOLLOWED THE CAREERS OF BOTH MEN AND RAY IS EQUALLY AS GOOD AS WARREN MOON.
AT 22 0R 23 YEARS OLD RAY WON THE CANADIAN SUPERBOWL...THE GREY CUP. A NUMBER OF N.F.L. SCOUTS WERE WERE HIGHLY IMPRESSED AND WERE COURTING MR. RAY! ONE CAN BE EXCUSED FOR QUESTIONING THE INTUITION OF HIS AGENT, BUT RAY SIGNED WITH THE NEW YORK JETS. UNQUESTIONABLY, RAY WAS LEAD INTO BELIEVING HE WOULD SEE AT LEAST SOME, ALBEIT VASTLY DIMINISHED PLAYING TIME. LIKE ANY GOOD AMERICAN KID, RAY GREW UP DREAMING OF PLAYING IN THE N.F.L. NOT SURPRISINGLY, HE BOLTED TO NEW YORK TO TAKE THE OFFER, EVEN THOUGH THE ESKIMOS MATCHED THE CASH OFFER OF THE JETS! (BY NOW, SOME N.F.L. CLUBS HAVE CLOSE TO 300 PLAYERS INVITED TO TRY TO MAKE THE TEAM)
ANY MAJOR COACH COULD EASILY SEE FROM C.F.L. GAME FOOTAGE THAT RAY WAS AT LEAST CLOSE TO A JOE MONTANA OR JEFF GARCIA "LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAPPEN"!
THEN RAY DID THE UNFORGIVABLE! HE FAILED TO LOOK LIKE MONTANA IN A ROUTINE EXHIBITION GAME. (SOMETHING EVEN THE GREATS HAVE OFTEN FAILED TO DO!) HE WAS THEREFORE GIVEN THE "WATERBOY" TREATMENT; AND NOT ONLY DID NOT PLAY REAL GAMES BUT WAS NOT EVEN DRESSED FOR ALMOST ALL OF THE CLUBS GAMES.
I AM NOT A FAN OF THE ONE AND ONE ONLY STARTING QUARTERBACK SYSTEM! THIS BUILDS RESENTMENT AMONGST TEAM PEERS AND DETRACTS FROM
LEARNING FROM THE NUMBER ONE PIVOT!
I SAW A GAME WHERE THE JETS HAD ONLY 2 POINTS ON THE SCOREBOARD ABOUT 10 MINUTES INTO THE 4TH QUARTER. THE QB PERFORMANCE WAS SIMPLY ABYSSMAL AND I KEPT ASKING MYSELF..WHERE ON EARTH IS RICKY RAY? HE CAN PASS AND RUN CIRCLES
AROUND THE OPPOSITION COMPARED TO THE FAVORED SON WHO WAS LEFT IN THE GAME. ONE CAN LOVE THE N.F.L. AND STILL ASK : WHY DID THEY LURE RAY AWAY FROM THE MOST WELL -ADMINISTERED FRANCHISE IN THE C.F.L.? THEY OBVIOUSLY HAD NO REAL PLANS OF USING RICKY RAY WHATSOEVER.
THIS BOILS DOWN TO THE OVERSURPLUS AND THE EGO THAT SAYS...WE ARE SO GOOD THAT WE TAKE YOUR BEST QUARTERBACKS JUST FOR "INSURANCE" IN CASE 4 OR 5 OTHERS GET INJURED. I CONSIDER THAT AN UNWITTING (AT BEST) SLAP IN THE FACE TO MISLEAD SUCH A GREAT PLAYER!
AFTER ESSENTIALLY A YEAR OFF RAY RETURNED TO THE EDMONTON ESKIMOS WHERE HE STARTED A LITTLE
OFF HIS GAME BUT WENT ON TO BREAK DOUG FLUTIES'S
SINGLE SEASON PASSING YARDAGE! AGAIN AGAINST MONTREAL RAY WON A SENSATIONALING EXCITING GREY CUP THAT WENT TO DOUBLE-OVERTIME TO DECIDE!! I
WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE N.F.L. GAME GO TO THREE DOWNS BECUSE THE ALREADY SLIGHTLY SUPERIOR LEAGUE WOULD BE THAT MUCH MORE EXCITING; AND LESS PREDICTABLE IN THE 4TH QUARTER!
THE JETS REALLY MISSED ON THIS ONE; AND RAY MAY RETURN ONEDAY TO HAUNT HIS OLD PSEUDO-ALMA MATER IN THE GAME OF FOOTBALL! THIS REMINDS ME OF THE STONEWALLING A FELLOW BY THE NAME OF STEVE NASH GOT IN BASKETBALL. HIS HIGH SCHOOL COACH SENT FILM REELS OF CANADIAN NASH ABSOLUTELY DOMINATING BASKETBALL GAMES IN CANADIAN HIGH SCHOOL! THE COACH SENT THESE FILMS TO 30 UNITED STATES COLLEGES AND NOT ONE WAS EVEN REMOTELY INTERESTED! MANY WERE RETURNED COMPLETELY UNOPENED.
JUST RECENTLY, DULL, NO-TALENT STEVE NASH WON THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD IN THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE! IN DOING SO HE BECAME ONLY THE SECOND WHITE ATHLETE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS FEAT...THE OTHER, I BELIEVE WAS LARRY BIRD! "CHEERS" AND I REST MY CASE, PEOPLE!
MONEY IS IN THE NFL BUT THE SHOW IS IN THE CFL !
One of your biggest problems is the small NFL field. Very talented but small football players have little chance in this league. But those exiting players are welcome in Canada. Like all players from the states, they have to adapt. Not all can, even if they where stars in college football or played years in the NFL. Of course you need fast and very mobile defense to stop them. You do not see in the CFL lineman that can’t run. Often you see those running 20 yards to make a bloc. Nearly every play it’s a battle for the field position. No such thing to watch a football untouched after a kick! Defense, offense and special teams are equally important in the CFL.
« I will like to point out how fast sometimes a CFL lineman can be. In the Winnipeg – Montreal game for example Dario Romero 300 pounds fellow ran after Kevin Glenn 189 pounds for a good distance and tackle him for a 2 yards lost. I couldn’t believe it! »
With only two downs to make ten yards, the offense is force to take chances. It’s a more open game. It’s very hard on quarterbacks. Not much place for error. CFL is a passing league. Wide field and the extra player makes defense reading more difficult. Passing on the wide side of a CFL field it’s very hard to master. To spread the defense, a quarterback has to do it. He cannot stay in his pocket all the time. He needs to throw from different places. Most of the CFL quarterbacks are mobile. Being a passing league and a bigger football field, it’s very hard on receivers too. They run a lot and have only 20 seconds between each play. In the first year in the CFL, former NFL players or those relieved from training camps, many have legs aches. Endurance is very important in the CFL. Lots of speed and very little time to catch your breath!
The NFL it’s all about the outside of the box. Lot’s of glamour, show of, but very little in the inside. That’s why in the Super bowls they talk more about the TV commercials and the half time show then the game by itself! NFL is very rich. For 16 years they support a 30 millions lost each year in Europe. Remember, they played the NFL’s style of football! If the show was that good, Europe will steel have football!
We all know with money you can sell anything to anyone! This is the real success of the NFL, not on the quality of the show. Dollar for dollar in this aspect, CFL outperformed NFL by far! The NFL is the most over-rated sport presentation in North America if not the world. The NFL survives on slick well done media hype. The game itself is boring when compared to the CFL or in fact U.S. College football. NFL can never replicate the CFL feel of excitement and authenticity.
CFL is the only pro sport left not being corrupted by money. I do not want to be honed by NFL and turn it to a circus. CFL game is a lot more entertaining, faster the players are not spoil brats. Many former NFL players don’t even make a CFL team. It is well under estimated league. Ask Joe Kapp, Dieter Brock, Tom Clements, Warren Moon, Doug Flutie, Jos Theisman, David Archer and Jeff Garcia to name a few.
« As an American (and huge CFL fan) we could only be so fortunate as to gain added exposure to your great league. The CFL is by far the most exciting brand of football out there - most Americans would be absolutely shocked with the quality of play. If the NFL and NCAA were to adapt a few of your rules» USA CFL FAN, on Nov 20, 2005, Michigantech.
«I am American and I moved to Toronto about 6 years ago, from Florida. I have found a real love for the CFL and for the Argos. Personally I think that NFL is way overhyped and when you watch it you think to yourself "That's IT???". Always expecting more and waiting for something spectacular, which never actually happens. The CFL is exciting football with exciting players.» - USA/Canadian blog.
MONEY IS IN THE NFL BUT THE SHOW IS IN THE CFL !
One of your biggest problems is the small NFL field. Very talented but small football players have little chance in this league. But those exiting players are welcome in Canada. Like all players from the states, they have to adapt. Not all can, even if they where stars in college football or played years in the NFL. Of course you need fast and very mobile defense to stop them. You do not see in the CFL lineman that can’t run. Often you see those running 20 yards to make a bloc. Nearly every play it’s a battle for the field position. No such thing to watch a football untouched after a kick! Defense, offense and special teams are equally important in the CFL.
« I will like to point out how fast sometimes a CFL lineman can be. In the Winnipeg – Montreal game for example Dario Romero 300 pounds fellow ran after Kevin Glenn 189 pounds for a good distance and tackle him for a 2 yards lost. I couldn’t believe it! »
With only two downs to make ten yards, the offense is force to take chances. It’s a more open game. It’s very hard on quarterbacks. Not much place for error. CFL is a passing league. Wide field and the extra player makes defense reading more difficult. Passing on the wide side of a CFL field it’s very hard to master. To spread the defense, a quarterback has to do it. He cannot stay in his pocket all the time. He needs to throw from different places. Most of the CFL quarterbacks are mobile. Being a passing league and a bigger football field, it’s very hard on receivers too. They run a lot and have only 20 seconds between each play. In the first year in the CFL, former NFL players or those relieved from training camps, many have legs aches. Endurance is very important in the CFL. Lots of speed and very little time to catch your breath!
The NFL it’s all about the outside of the box. Lot’s of glamour, show of, but very little in the inside. That’s why in the Super bowls they talk more about the TV commercials and the half time show then the game by itself! NFL is very rich. For 16 years they support a 30 millions lost each year in Europe. Remember, they played the NFL’s style of football! If the show was that good, Europe will steel have football!
We all know with money you can sell anything to anyone! This is the real success of the NFL, not on the quality of the show. Dollar for dollar in this aspect, CFL outperformed NFL by far! The NFL is the most over-rated sport presentation in North America if not the world. The NFL survives on slick well done media hype. The game itself is boring when compared to the CFL or in fact U.S. College football. NFL can never replicate the CFL feel of excitement and authenticity.
CFL is the only pro sport left not being corrupted by money. I do not want to be honed by NFL and turn it to a circus. CFL game is a lot more entertaining, faster the players are not spoil brats. Many former NFL players don’t even make a CFL team. It is well under estimated league. Ask Joe Kapp, Dieter Brock, Tom Clements, Warren Moon, Doug Flutie, Jos Theisman, David Archer and Jeff Garcia to name a few.
« As an American (and huge CFL fan) we could only be so fortunate as to gain added exposure to your great league. The CFL is by far the most exciting brand of football out there - most Americans would be absolutely shocked with the quality of play. If the NFL and NCAA were to adapt a few of your rules» USA CFL FAN, on Nov 20, 2005, Michigantech.
«I am American and I moved to Toronto about 6 years ago, from Florida. I have found a real love for the CFL and for the Argos. Personally I think that NFL is way overhyped and when you watch it you think to yourself "That's IT???". Always expecting more and waiting for something spectacular, which never actually happens. The CFL is exciting football with exciting players.» - USA/Canadian blog.