Braden Vankoughnett
A pair of Canadian football enthusiasts with ties to Kamloops aren’t happy with this week’s CFL rule changes coming in next season.
Former CFL’er from 1987-1994 Todd Wiseman and Kamloops Broncos Coach Braden Vankoughnett believe the Canadian game is fine the way it is.
Vankoughnett’s dad Dave played 11 seasons in the CFL on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive line.
“I’m a Canadian football purist, there’s lots of things that didn’t need to be changed with the game, and I don’t see it making much of difference, ” said Braden as his Broncos prepare for another game in the BC Junior Football Conference this weekend in Prince George.
The rules changes announced by new CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnson call for the 55 yard-line to be removed. End zones will also shrink in depth to 15 yards instead of 20. A 35 second play-clock will now be instituted rather than waiting for the referee to signal in a 20 second play-clock as the team breaks the huddle. The rouge is also being modified. Missed field goal returns will also become a thing of the past with the goal post uprights moving to the back of the end zone.
“I can understand the pace of play changes, but it can’t affect how exciting the Canadian game is within the final three minutes,” stated Vankoughnett.
Todd Wiseman
He also doesn’t foresee other levels of Canadian football like USPORTS or Canadian Junior Football being quick to adapt. Fields across the country would need to be re-configured, including Hillside Stadium where the Broncos play their home games out of.
Todd Wiseman – who cracked the CFL’s BC Lions out of Kamloops back in 1987 agrees with Bombers Head Coach Mike O’Shea and BC Lions QB Nathan Rourke. Both were outspoken on the actual need for changes with the Canadian game.
“You have all these guys speaking out from the heart. What is the end game here? There’s nothing wrong with it. I don’t hear the fans asking for these changes.”
While the rule changes have been announced, there’s been little information from the CFL on how exactly the rules will be executed.
“I guess I question a new Commissioner coming in and making these drastic changes. A guy like Randy Ambrosie – a former player – was on the job for like seven years in that role. Now all of a sudden these changes come in?’
Wiseman is a self-described Canadian football die-hard. He once intercepted a pass late in the 1st half of a CFL game, then proceeded to try and onside punt the ball into the opposing end zone in an attempt to recover it for a touchdown or at the very least a two-point safety.
“We’ll have to see what these changes look like in the end. I didn’t think we needed them and I don’t think many were asking (for them).
