"WHAT?!" Americans stunned by wacky CFL onside punt rule

The CFL has its fair share of bizarre entries in its rulebook.

One was on full display last month when the Montreal Alouettes infamously completed a second-down onside punt in a game against the Ottawa Redblacks.

This past weekend, the Alouettes exploited the loophole again, reminding everyone how different the two North American football leagues can get.

Up 7-0 in the first quarter against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo passed the ball to wide receiver Cole Spieker, who was behind the line of scrimmage at the 40-yard line.

The Alouettes receiver opted to go for the onside punt play by way of a short dribble kick just beyond the line. Spieker himself recovered the ball after just one yard, giving Montreal a new set of downs despite barely moving down the field.

CBS Sports shared a video of the play to its Instagram page with a caption that read, “Ummm…WHAT?!”

 

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Football fans on both sides of the border were equally confused by the risky play that could easily result in a turnover.

“That’s actually kinda smart,” one user wrote.

“I would be inconsolable if my team lost a game because of this,” another added in the comments.

“Some Canadian explain please,” someone eager for clarity on the rule commented.

Funnily enough, Montreal’s own quarterback joined the conversation in order to provide an explanation.

“As the quarterback in this clip, I am here to explain. We only have three downs in the CFL, so on second and long with the defenders so far off, we implemented this play. The receiver that catches the ball just needs to kick it past the line of scrimmage when he recovers it, it becomes an automatic first down from the spot recovered,” Fajardo wrote.

“Anyone behind the kicker [kicking player] can recover it as well. Please give CFL a chance, you will truly be entertained by it and its wacky rules,” he added.

Ultimately, the play worked out in Montreal’s favour as they won the game by a score of 22-20.

The two teams will face off once again for the Eastern Semi-Final on Saturday, November 4 at 3 pm ET.