Last week’s post centred around the debate about abolishing the rouge in Canadian football. This week let’s take a different approach to the single point and ask the following: What if the rouge were adopted into the American game?
While there is certainly no ongoing debate over such a move, it actually has been discussed before. In fact, the rouge has even been used in exhibition scrimmages in American college football. Below are a few news articles from the late 1930s about the possibility of the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference incorporating the Canadian rouge into the U.S. game.
The pro-rouge camp was led by Charles Aaron West, the head coach at the University of North Dakota. Interestingly, the main argument for adopting the single-point rouge was that it would be an easy and effective way to break tied games. Plus, the rouge was deemed a reward to teams who moved the ball downfield by giving them the opportunity to simply kick for singles.
Of course, the Canadian rouge was ultimately not adopted and used in the broader U.S. college football game. But, Coach West and others certainly saw merit in the play. In 1946, West headed north and became the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His love for the Canadian rouge would have made the move a natural fit. Throughout history, the unique rules and nuances of Canadian football have been embraced by numerous American football coaches and players alike.
But, just imagine what it would be like today had Charles West got his way back in 1939. Would Americans be questioning whether the Rose Bowl or Super Bowl should be won on a missed field goal?
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