Comparison of American and Canadian football
differences between the twp most common types of gridiron football
American and Canadian football are gridiron codes of football that are very similar; both have their origins partly in rugby football, but some key differences exist between the two codes.
History
Rugby football was introduced to North America in Canada by the British Army garrison in Montreal, which played a series of games with McGill University. In 1874, the United States' Harvard University hosted Canada's McGill University to play the new game derived from rugby football in a home-and-home series.
When the Canadians arrived several days early, to take advantage of the trip to see Boston and the surrounding areas, they held daily practices. During this time, the Americans were surprised to see the Canadians kick, chase, and then run with the ball. Picking up and running with the ball violated a basic rule of the American game of the day; when the U.S. captain (Henry Grant) pointed this out to the captain of the Canadian team (David Roger), the reply was simple: Running with the ball is a core part of the Canadian game. When the American asked which game the Canadians played, David replied "rugby". After some negotiation, they decided to play a game with half and half Canadian/U.S. rules. Thus, many of the similarities and differences between the Canadian and American games indeed came out of this original series where each home team set the rules. For instance, Harvard, because of a lack of campus space, did not have a full-sized rugby pitch.
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