Quarterback Jalen Milroe was confirmed to be selected as one of six players featured on the deluxe cover of the EA Sports College Football 25 video game.
In a now deleted Instagram post, Milroe confirmed he will join Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Colorado two-way player Travis Hunter and Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins as the six named players on the cover of the deluxe edition of the game. They will be presented along with nameless players from the other 134 schools the game features.
EA confirmed that the cover was authentic and that all covers for the game will be officially revealed on Thursday.
Although not much is known about the game, in a press release in February 2021 Electronic Arts said the game will deliver an authentic college football experience and the high-quality gameplay “that fans have long loved.”’
This loved experience comes from the original game, called “NCAA Football,” which was discontinued in 2013 after former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed a lawsuit alleging that the NCAA was blocking football and basketball players featured in EA Sports games from receiving profit.
After a legal battle, EA and the NCAA agreed to a $20 million settlement. This was to compensate certain Division I men’s basketball and football players with a share of the games’ revenue, as O’Bannon argued that athletes should be paid for their name, image and likeness once they leave college.
“With the games no longer in production and the plaintiffs settling their claims with EA and the Collegiate Licensing Company, the NCAA viewed a settlement now as an appropriate opportunity to provide complete closure to the video game plaintiffs,” NCAA Chief Legal Officer Donald Remy said in a press release in 2014.
A judge also ordered the NCAA to pay $44.4 million in attorney’s fees for the plaintiffs in the case.
The debate about athlete compensation went on for nearly a decade before the NCAA adopted an interim policy in 2021 that suspended its former rules against students profiting from their NIL.
Fans have been passionately lobbying for the return of the game, and the NCAA’s new rules allowed it to be picked up again under a new name nearly a decade later. The game’s return was announced to in February 2021 while the NCAA was still working to finalize its new NIL policies.
“We’ve heard from millions of passionate fans requesting the return of college football video games,” Cam Weber, former EA Sports executive vice president and group general manager said in a press release in 2021. “We love the energy, tradition and passion of college football and I am beyond thrilled to say we are back in development.”
Each athlete in the game will receive $600 and a copy of the game, but some athletes could later be selected as game ambassadors.
Milroe won’t be the only Crimson Tide player fans might see when playing the game; Ty Simpson and Parker Brailsford both announced via their Instagram that they’d also be in the game. Fans can expect to see many others, as over 10,000 athletes have opted to participate.
Although there is no date for when fans will officially be able to join the Heisman finalist quarterback in finding national championship glory, the game is slated to come out sometime this summer.
