A wild Argos win revives debate over rouge rule

For a split second, Argonauts kicker Lirim Hajrullahu thought he had cost his team a chance to win.

- GILBERT NGABO

With the score tied 19-19 in the dying seconds against the Saskatchewan Roughriders two weeks ago, the 34-year-old Hajrullahu stepped up to the ball 40 yards out with a chance to be the hero. He must have felt confident; he had already made four field goals, including a 50yarder, to keep the Argos in the game.

But this time, he watched as the ball sailed slightly outside the left goalpost and into the end zone as the clock expired.

He missed. But it was still enough to win the game.

“I just remember seeing the ref pointing in the air, and I was like: Oh right, rouge. I forgot about that play,” says Hajrullahu.

“Honestly for me it was bittersweet. We had just hit a 50-yarder to tie the game with about a minute left, so walking up to that ball I thought it was going to be a lot easier kick. Just unfortunate the way it ended, but it’s part of the rules. Just because it happened at the last play of the game, it hits a little different.”

The rouge, or single, is one of the most glaring differences between the CFL and NFL. In the Canadian league, a team is awarded a point when the ball is kicked into the end zone — either a missed field goal or punt — and the receiving team does not return or kick the ball out.