When Jordan Lynch got cut from the Chicago Bears, after being signed by the team as an undrafted free agent, it would have been easy to think his football career was over.  But for Lynch, it was just a new chapter in his life.  After his release from the Bears, Lynch was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, a new chapter that has begun with a championship.

On a 14 degree evening in front of a sold out crowd, Lynch helped bring the Edmonton Eskimos to victory andtheir  14th Grey Cup  by beating the Ottawa RedBlacks by a score of 26-20. Lynch scored his fifth touchdown of the year on Sunday with 3:22 seconds left in the game, sealing the Eskimos’ victory.

While the CFL brand of football would be largely recognizable to most Americans, there are several differences that might leave the average fan scratching his (or her) head.

For starters, the CFL adds one more player to each side of the ball, bringing the number of players on the field at one time to 24.  But ironically, after adding a player on each side of the ball, the CFL rule book reduces the number of downs per possession, allowing just three downs to gain 10 yards.

In the NFL the only way to score one point is with the point after touchdown (PAT), but in the CFL you can score a “single” (otherwise called a “rouge”) in several ways.  Accordng to Wikipedia, a rouge is awarded “when the ball is kicked into the end zone by any legal means, other than a successful field goal, and the receiving team does not return, or kick, the ball out of its end zone. It is also a single if the kick travels through the end zone or goes out of bounds in the end zone without being touched, except on a kickoff.”

Along with these differences in scoring rules, the configuration of the playing fields differ between the CFL and NFL. In Canada the field goal posts are moved to the front of the end zone, which makes it a shorter distance for field goal kickers.

With the Eskimos, Lynch has returned to the quarterback position he played both at MC and Northern Illinois, after spending his short stint with the Bears as a running back. Although he is used mostly in specific run packages, when he gets to throw the ball he is accurate with a passer rating of 158.3.  Contributing on both offense and special teams. Lynch has scored six touchdowns (5 rushing and 1 passing), and has compiled eight special team tackles.

For Lynch being a running quarterback is nothing new. As a member of the Caravan Lynch rushed for over 800 yards his senior year, along with over a thousand yards passing. He received numerous awards at the conference and state level, including the Lawless Award as Catholic League MVP, and multiple all-conference honors. Lynch was named  to the Chicago Sun-times All-Area first team, Chicago Tribune All-State honorable mention, and the Northwest Indiana Times Offensive Player of the Year.

If that wasn’t enough, Lynch was invited to play on USA’s gold medal winning team junior national team, on which he was a team captain.  Interestingly enough, on that occasion Lynch played as a safety, making seven tackles and recovering one fumble in three games. Lynch got to bring along Mount Carmel Head Coach Frank Lenti, who participated on the Team USA coaching staff as an offensive line coach.

Before Lynch was coached by Frank Lenti, he was playing for the St. Christina Cardinals in Mount Greenwood on Chicago’s South Side. As a teenager Lynch could often be found playing pickup football with some of the neighborhood kids. Current Mount Carmel senior Tyler Egan, the next-door neighbor of Lynch, used to be the opposing quarterback in these neighborhood football games.

Egan remembers those days fondly.  “Jordan had the best trick plays. When he didn’t have practice he would always be out playing with all the kids.” After scoring the winning touchdown for the CFL Championship, it’s clear that his playing days are from over.