Good Old Canada Has Gifted Us Another Onside Punt

You will be forgiven for not knowing what the hell is going on in this highlight, which shows a bunch of people moving around pre-snap, followed by a punt that seems to catch the broadcasters by surprise, followed by a man on the punting team recovering the punt, and then celebrating about it. It’s an onside punt!

Those Canadians and their wacky rules! In the CFL, any player who is “onside”—behind the kicker when the ball is kicked—can recover the ball on a punt, and can even advance the ball if they aren’t tackled upon taking possession. This play didn’t result in the ultra-rare onside-punt touchdown, but I am told ... yes ... yes, I am told that the recovered onside punt is, in fact, a cool and good rarity in Canadian football.

That’s Brandon Banks, formerly (and briefly) a deadly return man in the NFL, doing the recovering, and those are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the very same scamps who pulled off the legendary onside punt touchdown of 2015. This onside punt was part of a comprehensive 30-13 victory over Winnipeg, moving the Tiger-Cats to 4-10 on the season.