Explainer: Why the CFL went away from microchip footballs (2024)

If you compare a regular football and a microchip-implanted football, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference by looking at them.

They might even appear to be the same when you throw or catch the two balls.

But when you kick one, it’s a different story.

“I think some people that haven’t actually seen the chip think it’s some tiny micro-sized chip; it’s actually fairly big,” said Saskatchewan Roughriders’ kicker Brett Lauther. “If you put this in a basketball and try to dribble and shoot it, guys would have major complaints. Same with a hockey puck (or) golf ball.

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“It’s just not doing what it used to do; it doesn’t feel the same.”

Starting last season, the CFL began occasionally using microchipped footballs to collect real-time data to track statistics like ball speed, runner speed and trajectory.

This year, the league was planning on using chipped balls in every game.

That is until Lauther — who also serves as vice president CFL Players’ Association — and several others voiced concerns about the microchip balls.

“You don’t know if it’s going to be on the right or left side depending on the snap and where it actually lines up,” said Lauther. “When you compress your foot that much through the ball, the air is all pushing to a point now because there’s a pressure point in there and it’s making the ball leak either right or left.

“The end-over-end rotation with the ball isn’t quite the same at all.”

Since the CFL was planning on mandating the balls this year, Lauther said kickers were supposed to get some chipped balls months in advance of training camp to try and get used to them, but he only received his right before camp.

“For me, I really tried to give it an unbiased go without looking at the balls,” said Lauther. “And it was just completely different than what we were used to.”

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Despite the concerns from kickers, the balls were used in some of the CFL’s pre-season games, including Saskatchewan’s first pre-season game when Lauther was 3-of-5 on his field goal attempts.

While Lauther says there was a mix of chipped balls and non-chipped balls in that game, only chipped balls were used in Saskatchewan’s second game in Edmonton when Lauther missed two of his four field goal attempts.

“Obviously I didn’t play well in either pre-season game in my opinion,” said Lauther, a veteran of 86 games who has connected on 83 per cent of his career attempts. “It was definitely very uncomfortable trying to get used to them.

“Usually when it’s a non-chipped ball, I know right away if I’ve messed up myself, if something was off when I made the kick.

“But with these ones, it was almost like every time you’re looking up, I’ve thought some I’ve missed were going in and vice versa.”

Lauther also said some kickers developed bruises on their feet from kicking the balls, while some chips fell out and were rattling around inside the football.

Still, the CFL used chipped balls in the opening game of the season between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes.

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In that game, Bombers’ kicker Sergio Castillo, who made 90 per cent of his field goals in 2023, hit just one of his three field goal attempts on the night.

He voiced his displeasure to the media following the game while other kickers around the league, including Lauther, took to social media to express their concerns.

“We’re deeply disappointed and saddened by the league’s decision to use chipped footballs in the kicking game this upcoming season,” Lauther’s statement read in part. “The CFLPA has exhausted all efforts to try and get these balls taken out and I even had multiple conversations with our president where he was told it would be resolved positively during camp and to keep kicking the non-chipped balls.”

The next day, the CFL issued a statement saying chipped balls are no longer mandatory and teams can choose which ball to use on kicking plays.

“The league has tested these footballs using robotic technology and current CFL players,” the statement read. “While there is no definitive evidence to suggest their use impacts performance in any manner, we are taking this step out of respect for kickers who do not yet feel comfortable using them.”

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While the league plans on revisiting the microchipped balls ahead of the 2025 season, Lauther is happy with how swiftly a decision was made before it impacted more games — and careers.

“Just thankful that this year now when we kick the ball we actually know where it’s going,” said Lauther. “Now it’s just back to football and back to what it was.”

tshire@postmedia.com

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