Coaches show ...

[Stats Junkie]

Do you know when did the term "rouge" become commonly used again? I had never heard this term growing up following the CFL through the 70's and 80's, but when I got back to following the game after completing university it was a commonly used term, I had to look up it's actual meaning.

In the mid-1980s the CFL started publishing an annual stats & information book called "CFL Facts, Figures & Records". The early editions of this book also included the CFL Rule Book.

I recall going through the Rule Book and seeing the term rouge for the first time. It was listed in the section which identified the values of various scoring plays. For 1 point it listed "Single or Rouge". It is easy to imagine that someone unfamiliar with the historical use of the various terms would simply associate single and rouge as interchangeable terms - I may have been one of those people back then.

When the term rouge started to work its way back into CFL lingo, it didn't phase me because of what I had read in the Rule Book. I can't give a specific year when it started.

[TecnoGenius]

Well, rouge in French is "red" or even "blush"... what if it's a reference to allowing yourself to be tackled in the EZ is embarrassing and you (should) blush/rouge?  i.e. be ashamed of yourself.

Maybe?