Revamping Rules : Yay or Nay?

Some traditions have to be upheld – cheerleaders, for example 😉 – while others are easily broken. Our team went through a great deal of change in 2019, starting with the new logo, and it certainly got people talking! But, the truth is, without change, there is no growth. In the past couple of years, Randy Ambrosie, CFL Commissioner, has identified new ways to propel our league’s evolution, such as globalization through partnerships with several different countries.

“We have to stop being so humble,” said Randy Ambrosie during his last visit in Montreal. “We’re at the beginning of new beginnings. Just think of David Stern and the NBA! He dared to dream that his league could be bigger and stronger and he truly made it become global. We have to do the same.”

Most recently, Ambrosie brought up new ideas pertaining to the rules of the game. Let us know which ones you’d be in favour of!

The Playoff Format

📍Goal: make the race to the playoffs even more exciting!
👉Idea: As usual, teams ranked at the top of their respective division would be exempt of the semi-final. The teams participating in the semifinals, however, would be the next four best teams of the league, regardless of their division. Therefore, if rankings are as follows:

Saskatchewan and Montreal would get a bye-week, per usual, and we’d see semifinal matchups opposing Hamilton and Winnipeg, as well as Calgary and Edmonton.

Let’s say Hamilton and Calgary won. Well, the next day, the best team in the league – Montreal in this case, obviously – would have the privilege of choosing its opponent for the Division final live on TV!

In this case, Montreal would choose the Tiger-Cats considering their flimsy performance at the Grey Cup last year. Saskatchewan would face Calgary.

Finally, the winners of the Division finals would face each other at the Grey Cup. And we bet it’d be Montreal versus Sask in 2010 rematch.

The Single When a Field Goal is Missed

📍Goal: abolish a rule that rewards failure and favour kick returns
👉Idea: Currently, in the CFL, when a kicker misses a field goal and the ball travels through the end zone to go out of bounds, the kicking team earns a point. Some would say we’re rewarding failure since the goal is to kick between two posts, not just far. Therefore, the commissioner brought up the possibility of abolishing the single point or rouge as we call it. And, to make it even more interesting, our General Manager Danny Maciocia added his own little twist to it.

When a field goal is missed, the receiving team could be rewarded if it successfully travels outside of the end zone. If the player kneels, the single is conceded to the kicking team and the following offensive drive starts at the 35-yard line. As usual, basically. However, if the player chooses to speed out of his end zone, his team would start at least at the 20-yard line.

So 15-yards less, but no point conceded. Not bad, right?

Punts Going out of Bounds

📍Goal: encourage spectacular punt returns and speed up the game
👉Idea: Give an automatic penalty to a team that punts out of bounds. It slows down the game and, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t rather see spectacular returns than a ref attempting to judge where the ball went out.

The Converts

📍Goal: spice the game up!
👉Idea:
a) If you’ve watched some XFL games, you’ve probably noticed what happens after a team scores a touchdown. And it’s not a kick! Instead, teams have to enter the end zone either through the air or on the ground. They can choose to score one extra point from the 2-yard line, two extra points from the 5-yard line and three extra points from the 10-yard line. Interesting!
b) Instead of potentially earning a point after a touchdown, teams could lose one. The league would keep the kick, but give seven points for a touchdown from the get-go. Then, if the kicker misses the PAT, his team loses the point. Yay or nay?

Kinda fascinating, don’t you think?
Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for more discussions about these new ideas!