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Call them zebras of a different stripe.

The CFL-NFL exchange hasn’t been without its challenges for the officials involved.

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They are two different leagues, after all.

And those differences, however subtle, can be drastic to someone whose eye is trained to recognize rule-bending subtleties.

“This has been a great tool because with the three downs and wider and longer field, it’s pretty much passing almost every play,” said new NFL official Alan Eck, who is working CFL games in preparation for the southern season kickoff. “So as a deep judge, this is exactly what I needed.”

The former U.S. college official has had to fully immerse himself in all things CFL, from waggle motion to defenders lining up a yard off the line of scrimmage.

“It took a little while to get up to speed because there are a lot of differences,” he said. “One of the good things from going from college in the U.S. to the NFL is the philosophy and the terminology and what constitutes a foul is pretty much the same.

“Coming up here, everything’s a little bit different.”

Which is why Eck and a handful of other NFL officials took part in a CFL rules clinic in Toronto at the end of May.

“The rules are kind of like indoor football, you’ve got a motion man coming toward the line of scrimmage who’s legal,” he said. “If the field goal goes beyond the (goal-)line and the kicking team recovers, not only can they keep it, they can advance it.

“It’s an exciting league, a lot of different ways to score.”

GModdejonge@postmedia.com

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