New Bills coach Rex Ryan challenges the Argonauts—to a hockey game?

Former New York Jets and new Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan is usually good for a soundbite (see those condemned-to-hell snacks (language warning)), and his latest one involves the CFL. Ryan was officially introduced as the Bills' new head coach Wednesday, and later that day, he went on Toronto's Sportsnet 590 The Fan's Prime Time Sports with Jeff Blair and Tim Micallef. Ryan, who lived in Toronto with his mother and brothers while growing up, told Blair and Micallef he loves the city, and he'd want to play the Maple Leafs under CFL rules and the Argonauts in hockey. His full comments can be heard here via The Fan here; here's a transcription of the key parts, via Lucas Barrett at the CFL's The Snap site:

When Ryan was asked which rules would you play with he responded: “We’ll play with CFL rules, and then we will play the Maple Leafs.”

Ryan didn’t stop there, issuing another challenge to both Toronto squads. “We’ll play the Argos in hockey and play the Maple Leafs in football.”

Well, hey, that might represent a chance for the Bills to avenge an ignominious defeat, as they're the only current NFL team to lose to a CFL team. Eight exhibition games between Canadian and American teams took place from 1948 to 1961 (Barrett has the full list here), but the only Canadian win was Hamilton beating Buffalo in 1961. (Technically, that isn't a CFL over NFL victory, though; the Bills were in the American Football League at the time, which officially merged with the NFL in 1970.) The Bills might well be able to record a win under CFL rules, especially if they're playing the Maple Leafs. (But hey, even beating the Maple Leafs at hockey isn't all that hard these days.)

Ryan's obviously joking around here, as he should be, because it's highly unlikely we'll ever actually see CFL-NFL exhibition games again. A lot's changed since the 1940s to 1960s when salaries north and south of the border were much closer to each other and several players turned down NFL offers to go to Canada. Now, the NFL's salaries are so much higher that the CFL can't directly compete for guys the NFL wants, plus lots of CFL players attempt to make the jump to the southern league. That would likely put a CFL team at a significant disadvantage in a cross-border game, one that probably wouldn't be fully remedied even if the game was played under CFL rules.

Regardless of what would actually happen in a cross-border football game, though, there's no advantage for either the NFL or CFL in playing one. First off, football's a physical game and one that leads to injuries; no team wants to lose players in a game that would be even more meaningless than a standard preseason contest. Beyond that, the NFL's already such a huge presence, and one that bills itself as being the best football in the world. Even if an NFL team would have a significant advantage against a CFL team, anything can happen in a given game, and the mere chance of losing to a CFL team could hurt that league. Similarly, the CFL is quite happy to exist in its own right, and the chance of one of its teams getting clobbered by an NFL team might damage its reputation. For both leagues, the risk outweighs the reward. Thus, Ryan's comments are fun, but they're not going to lead to anything. The Bills playing the Argonauts in hockey, though? Now that's a plan we can get behind...