The CFL: 10 things you (and Johnny Manziel) might not know
Johnny Manziel is currently navigating his first Canadian Football League training camp as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' newest quarterback.
With that backdrop, here are 10 things you might not know about the CFL, lessons Johnny Football may also be getting a crash course in ...
1. The CFL has been in existence for 60 years
Yep, the top Canadian league took shape about four decades after the NFL but does predate the AFL and its still-familiar teams (Bills, Jets, Patriots, Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders and Broncos among them) that eventually merged into the NFL.
2. The Grey Cup has been awarded 105 times
Canadian football's Holy Grail actually has far more history than the NFL's Lombardi Trophy. The Grey Cup was first earned by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in 1909 as Canada's amateur rugby football champions. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took the Cup in the CFL's inaugural season (1958). The Toronto Argonauts have won it a record 17 times, though only seven since the CFL came into existence. The Edmonton Eskimos have notched a record 11 Cups (14 overall) during the CFL era.
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3. The CFL has had seven U.S. homes
For a while, the Canadian league expanded south of the border. Between 1993 and 1995, the Baltimore Stallions, Birmingham Barracudas, Las Vegas Posse, Memphis Mad Dogs, Sacramento Gold Miners, San Antonio Texans and Shreveport Pirates were league members, though none existed throughout that whole three-season stretch. Baltimore was the only American team to play for the Grey Cup, losing in 1994 but winning it the following year. The Stallions left Baltimore in 1996, knowing they couldn't compete with the newly christened Ravens.
4. Rough Riders and Roughriders
For nearly four decades, the CFL had two teams that basically had the same name: the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Rough Riders. (No way the NFL would have suffered such marketing chaos.) Ottawa's team folded after the 1996 season. The nation's capital has had two teams in the intervening years, but neither — the defunct Renegades or current Redblacks — adopted the old nickname.
5. CFL teams can win a game by 1-0 score
How you ask? In Canada you get one point for a rouge, which basically occurs when a ball goes into (or through) the opponents' end zone and isn't returned on a punt or missed field goal. And, yes, Montreal defeated Ottawa 1-0 on Oct. 30, 1966.
6. More quirky CFL differences
Canadian fields are longer (110 yards) and wider (65 yards) than their NFL counterparts, and the end zones are typically twice as deep, though goalposts rest on the goal line. There are 12 men to a side in the CFL game, which only provides three downs to gain a first instead of four. Multiple offensive players can be in motion prior to the snap in the CFL, and they can even move forward as long as they don't cross the line until the snap.
7. CFL teams play more games
Canadian teams play 18 regular-season games but get three bye weeks during a schedule that runs from June to November. Six of the nine teams reach postseason, which plays out over three weeks.
8. The CFL has featured North America's most prolific passers
Think Peyton Manning (record 71,940 NFL passing yards) is the king of fling? Not so fast. Anthony Calvillo, who spent 16 of his 20 CFL seasons (ending in 2013) with the Montreal Alouettes, has thrown for a pro football record 79,816 yards. He's followed by Damon Allen, brother of Marcus Allen, who previously held the record with 72,381. Warren Moon amassed 70,553 total yards when combining his CFL and NFL stats. The New Orleans Saints' Drew (70,445 in the NFL) will almost surely surpass Manning early in the 2018 season and might overtake Calvillo in 2019 if he maintains his prolific pace.
Five times a CFL quarterback has surpassed 6,000 yards in a season — Doug Flutie holds the record with 6,619 in 1991 — and two have more than 600 yards in a game (Matt Dunigan had 713 in a 1994 contest). No NFL passer has reached any of these thresholds.
(Another fun fact: Three CFL receivers have 2,000-yard seasons, something that's never occurred in the NFL.)
9. A lot of NFL stars have played in the CFL
Flutie and Moon were superstars in Canada before returning to the U.S., where Moon built a Hall of Fame career. Ricky Williams played for Toronto in 2006 while in temporary NFL exile. Before becoming a Pro Bowler with the Dolphins, Cameron Wake had 39 sacks in two seasons for the British Columbia Lions. Jeff Garcia, Chad Johnson and Brandon Browner are part of an extensive list of players who appeared in both leagues.
10. Manziel should take the field soon
Assuming he adapts to the Canadian game quickly, stays out of trouble and earns playing time, Manziel might be about to embark on a path that could lead him back to the NFL, though he maintains that's not his immediate objective. The Tiger-Cats (or "Ticats") play their first preseason game June 1. They open the regular season in Calgary on June 16.
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Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis