Even with its rule changes, CFL can continue leaning on uniqueness of Canadian game

Nostalgia is a powerful drug, and I might just be high off a memory, but in my educated, debatable opinion, Henry "Gizmo" Williams gave us the greatest individual play in a championship football game, ever, in the 1987 Grey Cup.

Better than the Philly Special in Super Bowl LII; better than Rocket Ismail leaving the Calgary Stampeders in his vapour trail in 1991; better than Ronnie Lott knocking Ickey Woods senseless to turn the tide in Super Bowl XXIII.

A 46-yard field goal attempt by Toronto's Lance Chomyk drifted wide right, and into the hands of Williams, whose 5-foot-6 frame rippled with 185 pounds of fast-twitch muscle, and who still might be the greatest return man any form of this sport has ever seen. The record book says the subsequent missed field goal runback was 112 yards long, but video hints that Gizmo covered at least 150.

First score in a title game that Edmonton would win 38-36, and a feat I point to as proof that skill position players need speed beyond the 40-yard dash. Williams ran 10.2 and 20.8 in college, if you're wondering.

More importantly it's the kind of play that can only unfold north of the border.

Williams could have taken a knee so his team could start its next possession at the 35-yard line. All it would cost him was a single point, the current cost of a touchback under Canadian rules. When you're playing for field position, you make that tradeoff.

But if you saw Williams play, you know he was better than instant field position. He had the speed to warp outcomes.  

Williams hit the nitrous, and we all saw the result. Six points the other way. An eight-point swing in a razor-thin game. A sequence as Canadian as Joey Jeremiah's jean jacket. 

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