Football in Canada began as an organization of rugby clubs in the 19th century, but over time, American football soon came to dominate both the amateur and professional brand of football in the country. In the 21st century, the Canadian Football League is big business, with eight teams competing in 18-game schedules, culminating in the Grey Cup, the league championship.
Name Changes
The organization Football Canada, which oversees amateur football in Canada at all levels, has undergone numerous changes since its inception in 1884 as the Canadian Rugby Football Union. In the beginning, the CRFU existed simply to organize some kind of championship structure for the many rugby unions across Canada. In the next few years, the CRFU become the governing body for all amateur football in Canada and took the shorter name, the Canadian Rugby Union. When the Canadian Football League formed in 1958, it became the highest level for professional football, while Football Canada continued to oversee the amateur game.
The Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is the name of the championship game and trophy in the CFL, which plays in the summer and early fall. The trophy takes its name from Earl Grey, the Governor-General of Canada in 1909. He donated a trophy for the Rugby Football Championships of Canada. Teams with the CFL exclusively have been competing for the Grey Cup since the 1950s. The CFL marks the centennial of the Grey Cup in 2012.
Canadian Football Hall of Fame
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum in Hamilton, Ontario, first opened in 1962. But within a few years, the property was sold and organizers of the Hall set out to find a more permanent location in the city. In 1968, property near City Hall was identified and, in 1972, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame reopened during the festivities associated with Hamilton hosting the Grey Cup that year.
All-Time Greats
Among the many all-time stars of the Canadian Football League is Warren Moon, who is both in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame in Ohio. Moon quarterbacked the Edmonton Eskimos from 1978 to 1983, during which time he would play on five Grey Cup champions. Canadian sports channel TSN, voted another American quarterback, Doug Flutie, the No. 1 CFL player of all time. Flutie, who starred at Boston College, played for the B.C. Lions, the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts, and was on three Grey Cup champions.
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