Full disclosure, I was born the same month of Marcus Freeman. While he is the head coach at Notre Dame, traveling the world in private jets and dining at the White House, I sit here writing about all of it.
I may have other responsibilities, but for effect let’s only cite that one.
Being the same age as Freeman I can assume part of our college experiences were at least somewhat the same. Being 35 years old today means being in college during what was the peak of the old NCAA Football video game by EA Sports. My college, Division III powerhouse North Central College, unfortunately wasn’t in the game (Kam Kniss would have been a 99 if they were) but Ohio State obviously was.
News came out this week that a year from now the game will be re-released with players getting compensated. It’ll be the first new game since the NCAA Football ’14 (based on the 2013 season) edition.
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So back to Freeman. Just how good did the video game say Freeman was as a player entering his senior year?
NCAA Football ’09 (which was based on the 2008 season) rated Marcus Freeman aka ROLB No. 1 as his name was in the game, the following:
Overall: 96
Speed: 87
Strength: 80
Agility: 86
Acceleration: 92
Awareness: 84
The 96 overall clearly screams star, but that 84 for awareness should be concerning for a future head coach. Now I’m wondering what Tommy Rees’ awareness was in the game and if at times it randomly dipped to 40 (said in sarcasm font).
If you’re curious, Freeman’s 96 overall wasn’t even the best for a linebacker on Ohio State that year. James Laurinaitis was one of two players to get a 99-overall ranking in the game, joining Tim Tebow.
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