American and Canadian football: How different are they? The Canadian and American football started in Canada as a game which was played in Montreal between British soldiers. The soldiers played against the students of McGill University. Football of both these countries has their origin from rugby. Mc Gill and Harvard played lots of games against each other in 1874 and thus this game came into light. Though both American n Canadian footballs have similar origin yet they developed different rules and regulations.

The basic difference is in the size of the football fields. The American football fields are 100 yards in length, and 53 and 1/3 yards in width. The Canadian football fields are 110 yards in length and 65 yards in width. In Canadian football, the goal post is placed in the front. End zone is also deeper in American football.

There are 11 players in the American football team as compared to 12 in the Canadian team. There is an extra backfield player in the Canadian football team. So there are two slot backs in the Canadian offensive setup. There is one safety in Canadian football as compared to 2 in American. There is also only two defensive halfbacks in Canadian football.

They also differ in the number of downs. Canadian football has three as compared to four downs in American football. The Canadian game is thus more kick oriented as there are only few downs available.  There are also more passes. The kicker can advance and recover his kicks. Kicking thus forms an important part of Canadian football, it's not that much important to American football.

Canadian football has no real catch rule. A kick returner can signal for a fair catch in case he thinks he won't be able to move the ball post recovery in American football. It is totally different in Canadian football. Only the kicker and players behind him can be within five yards of the ball. However things change once the ball is touched by the opponents. In Canadian football, a kick going into the end zone is considered as a live ball (the exception is the successful field goals).

There are some minor differences also though they are not very significant like differences in scoring, time rules, motion etc.