CFL Grey Cup Ref Forgets Most-Important Rule Of A Coin Toss Ahead Of Kickoff

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The Canadian Football League is already incredibly strange when you compare it to the NFL and the vastly different rules between the two leagues. In perfect CFL fashion, the Grey Cup, the final game of the season, got off to a truly bizarre start on Sunday night when the head referee forgot the most important rule of a coin toss.

There are really only two rules of a coin toss: ask someone to call heads or tails and then toss the coin in the air. Somehow, referee Ben Major forgot the first rule.

With the captains of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts meeting at midfield, Major showed both teams the coin, and then handed the coin to a designated coin tosser who threw the coin in the air. As soon as the coin left the man's hand, he realized that he hadn't asked anyone from Toronto whether they wanted heads or tails. 

He caught himself, but it was too late, and then played it off with a pretty awkward shrug of the shoulders while fans inside the stadium laughed at the moment.

Toronto lost the coin toss, but ultimately went on to dominate Winnipeg by a score of 41-24 to win its CFL record 19th Grey Cup title.

The Argonauts' win was mighty impressive seeing as how quarterback Chad Kelly, the final pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, broke his tibia and fibula in gruesome fashion earlier in the playoffs. 

Backup quarterback Nick Arbuckle, who played college football at Georgia State, had a day to remember for the Argonauts as he threw for 252 yards and two second-half touchdown passes. Arbuckle has now won the Grey Cup twice after hoisting the trophy in 2018 as well during his time with the Calgary Stampeders.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.