Back to the Future
by 3DF Staff
“The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?” is one of many famous quotes from Dr. Emmett Brown in the trilogy Back to the Future. I have watched that movie hundreds of times. It’s a cinematic masterpiece with a great storyline, strong comedic and action scenes, and standout performances from acting royalty Dr. Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox).
Seemingly, I have followed the Canadian Football League for the same number of years as the film has been around, and like the CFL when it’s on television, I make every effort to watch this timeless classic.
If you have watched newly appointed CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston on television or read his quotes in the newspaper, he himself has his share of notable statements. “The CFL has always been more than just a sports league: it is a community”, “If you don’t make changes, you die.” Powerful quotes. Yet people are having difficulties understanding the message.
These quotes have been pouring out of the Canadian Football League since spring 2025, and it seems that every time someone speaks on behalf of the CFL, it is to educate and warn you, the fan, that changes are coming. They are inevitable, so deal with it, because that’s how the “little engine that could” will ultimately become the big show in town: profitable and well operated, so say the experts.
Well, changes do not appear to be accepted as normal for a generation of CFL fans, and the attacks on those they feel are to blame have been endless, most noticeably directed toward the commissioner, who is often viewed as a villain and a “crazy lunatic” who is ruining the CFL.
Where have I seen this before? I know, Hill Valley, California, the fictional town used in the Back to the Future trilogy.
Today, society often views those who are different as abnormal. Michael Jackson once said, “People do not like those people who are different, and those who are different do not like those who aren’t different.” This reflects how individuals who are different, or who experience success, often deal with fame and societal prejudice. Jackson suggested that misunderstanding others is a core driver of division among people.
Figures like Dr. Emmett Brown (Doc), and similarly CFL commissioner Johnston, are often viewed as eccentric, crazy, or even dangerous individuals—albeit for very different reasons. However, they are also highly intelligent and successful. They know what they are doing, yet people often refuse to acknowledge this. Are these just the times we live in, or has it always been this way?
I myself could be quoted as saying, “In order to know where you are going, you must remember where you came from.” So, with 1.21 gigawatts, let’s go back in time to 1955.
Hill Valley, California, 1955, a fictional small, developing housing community with a small but vibrant core. Everything seems better—better music, better food, better community. And just like that, you get a glimpse of a time you never experienced, only read about in the newspaper or seen on television.
For the Canadian Football League, 1955 was a period when the league was still developing, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the modern era of Canadian football, officially forming the CFL in 1958.
Back in Hill Valley, the next 30 years unfolded in two possible ways. In one version, the town remains in its original state. In another, it becomes a dark, crime-ridden community where the pleasantries that once defined it disappear, turning it into Biff Tannen’s industrialized playground, thanks to a sports almanac and the invention of a time machine. Great Scott!
In the Canadian Football League, things unfolded in a similar way. Many CFL fans today would have had an emotional breakdown to the number of changes the league has undergone. The Eastern teams once used a two-game total-point format for their finals, while Western teams used a best-of-three series until the 1970s, when the league standardized single-game elimination rounds. End zones were shortened from 25 yards to 20 yards to better suit offensive strategy. Other adjustments such as changes to the size of the football, fair catch rules, the salary cap, and the unique import ratio rule also evolved over time.
Now back to 1985 in Hill Valley. We learn you never mess with the space-time continuum, as an altered past creates an altered history. Supposedly, that did not occur in the CFL, because the 1980s and early 1990s are viewed as a golden era of the league, with the emergence of team dynasties, superstar players, and innovative broadcasting production on CBC. Even for two seasons, the CFL featured the highest paid football player in the world (Raghib “Rocket” Ismail), and brought Canadian legends like Wayne Gretzky and John Candy into the CFL as owners.
There was, however, one season in 1986 where the CFL had to go “back in time” for a rule change that, if implemented today, would leave both fans and players stunned. Tired of seeing the possibility of low-win-percentage Eastern teams having a chance to compete for the Grey Cup, and before the creation of the crossover playoff rule, the CFL briefly brought back a two-game total-point series.
Though it seems someone may have altered the CFL’s fortunes in the 1990s, teams were spending freely without making profits, and many franchises were losing millions of dollars. A survival plan devised by commissioner Larry Smith led to expansion into the United States beginning in 1993 with Sacramento. In 1994, expansion continued with Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Shreveport. Finally, in 1995, Memphis and Birmingham joined, while Sacramento relocated to San Antonio and Las Vegas folded.
Baltimore, renamed multiple times through legal pressure (Colts, CFL Colts, CFLers, Football Club, Stallions), nearly sold out home games and reached the Grey Cup in both seasons losing in 1994 to the BC Lions, then winning in Regina against Calgary the following year. They quickly celebrated their championship and then relocated to Montreal to become the Alouettes.
Sacramento later relocated to San Antonio, leaving behind a legacy in name only, with “Texans” later becoming the name of an NFL expansion franchise in Houston.
Las Vegas’ troubles were legendary. The team held training camp in a casino parking lot, players were reportedly paid in chips, and the organization apologizing to the Prime Minister of Canada for the infamous singing of ”Oh Canada”. Then came one of the most humorous or alarming moments during games, depending on where you stood on the sideline with constant horse droppings on the playing field coming from the mascot equestrian group (Posse Nine) Roughriders Coach Ray Jauch also feared the horses would trample his players.
Despite all the chaos, that era also left behind lasting football legacies, including players like Anthony Calvillo, who would go on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks in CFL history.
Jimmy Buffett attempted to buy the franchise to relocate to Miami but the league rejected the offer.
The Memphis Mad Dogs were quieter off the field, but are remembered for having Damon Allen and bold uniforms. One of their only off the field issues was head coach Pepper Rodgers, who was widely seen as skeptical of the CFL and often struggled with its rules.
Birmingham, meanwhile, went from drawing some of the largest crowds in the league with a high-powered offense led by quarterback Matt Dunigan, to the infamous image of its star quarterback in full gear driving himself to the hospital for X-rays.
Eventually, the timeline corrected itself, and the CFL returned to its all Canadian identity.
Many within the league believed in, and still believe in, U.S. expansion. Perhaps it was the right idea but the wrong execution. What if Honolulu, Portland, Orlando, St. Louis, Anaheim, or Albuquerque had worked out? Those “what ifs” still echo through CFL history. Today, with strong media partnerships such as TSN and DAZN and improving viewership numbers, the CFL appears stable and competitive.
However, as the league continues to evolve, change remains inevitable. Expansion, restructuring, and innovation have always been part of its identity. Every major CFL change from rules to broadcast deals was once criticized before becoming accepted.
Maybe that is the lesson hidden inside both Back to the Future and the history of the Canadian Football League: the future is not something that simply happens, it is something people create.
But if history has taught us anything, it is that somewhere, somehow, someone is already tinkering with the time circuits. And when that happens, don’t be surprised if the CFL finds itself accelerating toward 88 miles per hour once again.
In the words of Marty McFly, “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”