Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman should be a EA Sports College Football 25 cover athlete

OU’s senior linebacker should be immortalized on the cover of the new college football video game.

College Football is finally getting passed back the sticks this summer, as EA Sports will be releasing College Football 25. It’s the long-awaited sequel to the college football video game series that saw its last installment, NCAA 14, come out eleven years ago.

EA Sports announced the return of the series in February 2021, and more information about the game itself has trickled out since then, with a teaser trailer dropping this past winter.

While we don’t have a release date yet, we do know that players can opt in to the game and earn income through name, image, and likeness. We know commentators, like ESPN’s lead duo of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, will be featured. We know that all 134 FBS teams for the 2024 season will appear in the game. And we know that there will be multiple covers with different cover athletes for different editions of the game.

That’s where Oklahoma Sooners’ football linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] should come in. There haven’t been any confirmed reports about who the cover athletes will be yet, but Stutsman is exactly the kind of player who should be considered.

Cover athletes are typically offensive players, guys with the ball in their hands. And that makes sense, as that’s what a football video game allows the person playing it to feel like they are doing.

But even at the linebacker spot, Stutsman represents what die-hard college football fans love about the sport, and what new fans to the game can embrace.

He represents college football.

In the era of the transfer portal, with players moving around at will, sometimes multiple times in one year, Stutsman has been a Sooner since his true freshman season in 2021. He stuck it out in the crimson and cream when [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] and his defensive coordinator [autotag]Alex Grinch[/autotag], the pair that recruited him to Norman, hopped on a plane to Southern California. He stuck it out when [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] took charge of the program a week later. He stuck it out through a 6-7 season in 2022, and didn’t waver in his commitment to Venables and the Sooners. And he was the focal point of OU’s defense last year, as the team improved to 10-3.

Stutsman considered leaving for the NFL but changed course and decided to return to Oklahoma to chase championships in the SEC for the 2024 season. He made an epic announcement on social media.

But Stutsman isn’t just some old soul who rejects what is becoming the modern era of college football. If you couldn’t tell by a Jordan Belfort, Wolf of Wall Street reference of all things, Stutsman embraces the new opportunities for players of his caliber.

Stutsman cashed in with a t-shirt featuring his quote from the pregame of the 2023 Red River Rivalry win over Texas. The shirt read, “Oklahoma only fears God. Texas fears Oklahoma.” Even Venables donned the apparel featuring Stutsman in the Golden Hat and sunglasses with his signature on them, smoking a Saban victory cigar. EA Sports can go ahead and make that image the cover.

Personalities sell the sport and Stutsman has one of the biggest in college football. He’s well known, especially in Big 12 and SEC circles. He has a [autotag]Brian Bosworth[/autotag]-esque swagger and style on and off the field. “The Boz” would have made an excellent cover athlete as well.

Stutsman is one of the best linebackers in the nation heading into 2024, and plays for one of the most recognizable brands in the sport. Oklahoma is at or near the very top of the blue blood list over the 150-plus year history of the game.

The Sooners have never had a player grace the cover of a college football video game. The game’s hiatus caused there to never be a cover featuring Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield.

Why not start with Danny Stutsman on the cover of a “defense wins championships” edition of College Football 25?

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