Before July 19, the last time a new college football video game hit the shelves would have been when some players were as young as 7 years old.
That was in the summer of 2013, and it turned out to be the last of the ‘NCAA Football’ franchise (as the game was then known), thanks to a wave of lawsuits primarily over players’ likeness.
Those issues are all settled now, and gamers and sports fans alike have spent the past two-plus weeks playing EA Sports College Football 25, the new game’s official name.
That includes college football players across the country. One team (Georgia Tech) even had a party to celebrate the game’s release and to encourage team bonding and participation.
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Clemson’s R.J. Mickens was one of a handful of players that spoke to The Athletic ($) this past week to share their thoughts on College Football 25 and what they liked most about the game.
“I play people straight up. Just straight up online games, against friends and stuff,” Mickens told The Athletic. “It’s funny, because my teammates and I always argue over who gets to use Clemson, but then we just end up doing random teams so it’s fair. But playing some of my buddies at other schools, I love playing as Clemson and beating up on them with us. That’s fun.”
Asked what teams he likes to play with aside from the Tigers, Mickens pointed to his ties to the Dallas area. The Tigers’ safety came to Clemson by way of Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas, where he played on the same team as Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers — one of three players featured on the video game’s cover.
“There’s a lot of great teams in the game,” Mickens said. “I’ve got a lot of buddies — one of my best friends in high school, Quinn Ewers, is the quarterback at Texas, so they’re really fun to play with. SMU has a lot of good players I know; I’m from Dallas. So I know a lot of people on that team as well.”
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