As much as the NFL would like you to believe otherwise, the premier American football league is not the only place where this sport exists. Football is played all over the world, on five continents, and I’m sure even someone working in an Antarctica research station has tossed a pigskin around once or twice, but that’s beside the point. The point is that football is truly a global game. Even those who sarcastically call it “Handegg” have had the most popular American sport invade many of their cities recently thanks to international expansion and the sport’s growing worldwide fan base.
And of course, the NFL isn’t even the only home for football in North America. Our neighbors to the north have had the Canadian Football League for almost 70 years. While it may be a different version of the sport with slightly different rules, it is close enough that players have moved between the leagues seamlessly for decades. And back in the day, the CFL wasn’t a “fallback” league. It wasn’t a punchline. It wasn’t the place that quarterbacks with big college stats but limited NFL upside went to die. There was a time (yes, seriously) when the CFL could compete directly with the NFL for top talent and for top college prospects.
To really appreciate how different things used to be, let’s look at some of the biggest names who chose the CFL over the NFL. Not washed-up vets. Not backup quarterbacks. Literal Heisman winners, first-round picks, early NFL stars. Some of these guys turned down the NFL outright. Some left the NFL voluntarily. All illustrate a forgotten era when Canada was a true alternative power in pro football.
Johnny Rodgers — The Jet Heads North
We start in the early 1970s with Nebraska legend Johnny Rodgers, one of the most electric players in college football history. Rodgers was a dynamic threat at multiple offensive positions, a lethal return man, and earned the nickname “The Jet” for obvious reasons. In 1972 he piled up over 1,900 all-purpose yards and won the Heisman Trophy.
The San Diego Chargers drafted him 25th overall in 1973. Pretty good landing spot for a Heisman winner. But then the Montreal Alouettes came calling. They offered a massive contract, and an even bigger opportunity. Rodgers believed he could shine more immediately in the CFL, be featured in their offense, and express himself more as a player.
He was right.
Rodgers exploded in Montreal, winning Rookie of the Year, earning multiple CFL All-Star selections, and helping the Alouettes win the 1974 Grey Cup. He eventually returned to the NFL in 1977, but injuries prevented him from playing more than 20 career games. His CFL stint remains the peak of his professional career.
Tom Cousineau — The #1 Overall Pick Who Said “No Thanks”
A few years later, Ohio State linebacker Tom Cousineau made an even louder statement. Cousineau was a local Ohio star and dominant under Woody Hayes. The Buffalo Bills drafted him first overall in 1979.
And once again… Montreal swooped in.
The Alouettes offered nearly double the money the Bills were offering. Cousineau packed his bags and headed north. And like Rodgers, he made an immediate impact, winning Grey Cup MVP in 1980 as a rookie. By 1982, Cousineau wanted to return to the NFL. The Browns desperately wanted to bring him home, but Buffalo still held his rights. So Cleveland traded a first-, second-, and third-round pick to get him.
One of those picks became a quarterback out of Miami named… Jim Kelly.
Cousineau played six seasons in the NFL but never lived up to the hype of a #1 pick.
Vince Ferragamo — From Super Bowl to CFL Struggles
Next up: quarterback Vince Ferragamo, the first player on this list who wasn’t an incoming rookie.
Ferragamo came out of Cal and Nebraska and spent his early NFL years backing up Pat Haden and Joe Namath on the Los Angeles Rams. Then in 1979, Haden got hurt, Ferragamo took over, and suddenly he was leading the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance.
He followed that with another solid season in 1980, then hit free agency in 1981 with plenty of leverage. And what happened? You guessed it: the Montreal Alouettes made him a massive offer, one of the biggest in CFL history, with a reported salary north of $400,000 per season plus a percentage of gate receipts.
Unlike Rodgers and Cousineau, Ferragamo’s stint in Canada was rough. He threw three times as many interceptions as touchdowns, was benched midway through the year, and never regained his job. Ferragamo returned to the NFL in 1982 and resumed life as a part-time starter and backup.
David Overstreet — A Brilliant Talent Gone Too Soon
The fourth player, David Overstreet, is the most tragic story on this list. A talented running back from Oklahoma, Overstreet was drafted 13th overall by the Dolphins in 1981. A contract dispute opened the door for, yep we aren’t kidding, Montreal to swoop in again.
Overstreet signed with the Alouettes and immediately became one of the league’s most promising young players, earning the team's Rookie of the Year honors. He eventually returned to the Dolphins in 1983 and showed real potential, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
Sadly, Overstreet died in a car accident the following offseason. His CFL-NFL journey remains one of the biggest “what ifs” in both leagues.
Raghib “Rocket” Ismail — The Biggest CFL Signing Ever
We close with the most famous CFL defection: Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, a superstar at Notre Dame and one of the most electric players college football has ever seen.
Ismail was projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 1991 NFL Draft. Instead, the Toronto Argonauts offered him an unprecedented four-year, $18 million contract, the richest deal in CFL history. The CFL literally rewrote parts of its salary structure to fit him in.
Ismail said he felt disrespected by NFL teams during negotiations and chose Toronto instead.
He delivered immediately, winning Grey Cup MVP and finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting. But after a disappointing 1992 season and growing unhappiness in Canada, Ismail left and returned to the NFL, where he put together a solid eight-year career before retiring in 2001.
Final Thoughts
So the next time someone cracks a CFL joke or insists their favorite washed-up college QB should “just go play in Canada,” remind them that there was a stretch when Montreal and Toronto were poaching stars and shaping the football landscape across the continent.
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