Who should grace the cover of EA Sports College Football 25?
Details continue to trickle out about the new EA Sports College Football 25 game, which is set to be released sometime this summer.
We learned Thursday that over 11,000 FBS players would have the opportunity to “opt-in” to the game and would receive $600, plus a free copy of the game for the use of their name, image and likeness. Athletes who remain in the game for multiple years would be paid annually.
EA Sports College Football was last sold in 2013, and it’s insane that the game disappeared for over a decade over a measly $600 per player.
But alas.
At least it is coming back, and last week’s official teaser only heightened the nostalgia.
The game’s full reveal (and official release date) will be unveiled in May.
So should grace the cover?
Famous head coaches Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh and Deion Sanders have all been mentioned as popular candidates. Recent Heisman Trophy winners Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels would be natural choices as well since EA Sports previously only used players who had gone on to the NFL.
But in today’s NIL landscape, it would behoove EA Sports to promote active players on the cover each season moving forward.
The irony with the game returning now is there is no Caleb Williams in college football in 2024, though. The former USC quarterback would’ve been the slam-dunk choice had the game returned last season.
But it didn’t. And now there’s a vacuum of star power in the sport, especially at the quarterback position.
Well, the one way EA Sports could actually embrace this aspect — especially since a singular cover athlete won’t dramatically shift sales in Year 1 considering so many people are frothing at the game’s return anyways — is by having a slew of players featured.
Like preseason magazines, EA Sports could have regional covers with say:
Southeast — Georgia quarterback Carson Beck
Southwest — Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers
Midwest — Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson
West — Oregon quarterback Dillion Gabriel
Mountain West — Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders
That would cover several Heisman Trophy favorites (in what’s expected to be a wide-open race in 2024) from some of the best teams in the nation, plus one of the most popular players in the sport in Shedeur Sanders.
Or, if EA Sports wanted to involve even more fan bases, teams and athletes, they could pay ode to the first year of the 12-team playoff with a dozen cover athletes from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12.
Like:
SEC — Beck, Ewers and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe
Big Ten — Henderson, Gabriel, Michigan corner Will Johnson
ACC (and Notre Dame) — Miami quarterback Cam Ward, Florida State quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard
Big 12 — Sanders, Oklahoma State tailback Ollie Gordon and Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita.
Whatever option EA Sports lands on will likely be met with pushback because there is no obvious, unanimous candidate. So why not involve as many athletes as possible?
Because after all, for the first time ever, they’re in the game.