NCAA Football Cover Athletes: A Legacy of Collegiate Stars
EA Sports College Football, formerly known as NCAA Football, is an American football video game series developed by EA Sports. The series served as a college football counterpart to the Madden NFL series, beginning in 1993 with the release of Bill Walsh College Football. In July 2013, the NCAA announced that it would not renew its licensing contract with Electronic Arts because of an ongoing legal dispute regarding the use of player likenesses in the games. However, this contract only covered the use of the NCAA name and related logos, not those of individual schools and conferences, which are negotiated individually or through the Collegiate Licensing Company. Following the commercial success of the franchise's revival, EA Sports announced the continued annualization of the series.
The Early Years: Bill Walsh and the Transition to NCAA Football
The series began in 1993 with Bill Walsh College Football, featuring the top 24 college football teams from 1992 and 24 of the all-time greatest teams since 1978. While no actual players were named and no official team logos used, colleges were listed by city and players identified by number. Play modes included exhibition, playoffs, and all-time playoffs. The game featured 36 Division I-A teams, a windowless passing mode, customizable seasons from one to sixteen weeks, and complete statistical tracking throughout the season.
The series was renamed College Football USA 96 and was the first version to feature all (108 at the time) Division l-A teams. It was also the first in the series to feature real bowl games (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose). There were 400 plays from which to choose, and a new passing mode allowed players to select from five receivers on every play. College Football USA 97 was the fourth installment of the series.
The Rise of Cover Athletes: From Tommie Frazer to Charles Woodson
The tradition of featuring cover athletes began with Tommie Frazer of the University of Nebraska on the cover of College Football USA 97. NCAA Football 98 was released in 1997. NCAA Football 99 was the sixth edition of the game. The game featured University of Michigan cornerback and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson on the cover, marking the first time a non-quarterback graced the cover. The minds behind NCAA Football 99 were able to introduce three-dimensional polygon-rendered players to the game-a first for the franchise-that allowed fans to experience more realistic gameplay. Woodson attended the University of Michigan from 1995 to 1997, where he played cornerback and safety positions for the Wolverines. In his junior season in 1997, Woodson became the third Michigan player to win the Heisman Trophy and the only defensive player in college football history to win the coveted award. After he finished his three-year collegiate career with the Wolverines, Woodson was selected as the fourth overall pick in the 1998 draft by the Oakland Raiders. Woodson would have another opportunity to take home a Super Bowl win in 2010 after he was traded to the Green Bay Packers. After the Super Bowl win, Woodson played with Green Bay for a few more seasons until 2013, when he signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Raiders. Woodson would finish his final season with the Raiders in 2016-ending an 18-year-long career with the NFL. Today, Woodson is an NFL analyst for ESPN, covering some of Fox Network’s biggest games.
The game featured all 112 Division I-A teams at the time and also featured 3D, polygon-rendered players for the first time in the franchise's history. Additional features included the ability to create players, edit player names, sixty fight songs and crowd chants. Over eighty historical teams were added to the game, as well. The Heisman Memorial Trophy replaces the 'EA Sports MVP" trophy and other awards are given out. Recruiting is simple and done in a serpentine draft system. The Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl are now playable, and the other Bowls played have EA Sports as the sponsor. Created players from this game can be imported to the title Madden NFL 99. It featured no commentary by booth announcers; instead a PA announcer provides the commentary.
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The 2000s: Expanding Features and Iconic Cover Athletes
NCAA Football 2000 featured Ricky Williams, a University of Texas running back and Heisman Trophy winner, on the cover. The game increased the number of teams and bumped up the number of bowls from four to 23, adding the option to edit new plays.
NCAA Football 2001 featured Shaun Alexander, a University of Alabama running back. This time, you could create your own school and players and even take part in playoffs at the end of a Dynasty Mode run.
NCAA Football 2002 showcased Chris Weinke of Florida State University. Critics overlooked the lack of create-a-player-and-school options and praised 2002’s deep stat tracking and expansive skill systems.
NCAA Football 2003 featured Joey Harrington of the University of Oregon. It brought back player creation options, added trophies, Mascot Matches, and a whole lot more.
NCAA Football 2004 featured Carson Palmer, quarterback of the University of Southern California. NCAA Football 2004 added a classics mode, where you could replay classic matches from NCAA history and improved pretty much every animation as well.
Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile
NCAA Football 2005 featured Larry Fitzgerald, representing the University of Pittsburgh. It did introduce home stadium advantages, more dynamic crowds, and a metric ton of teams to pick from.
NCAA Football 06 featured Desmond Howard. While attending the University of Michigan from 1988 to 1991, Howard became the first receiver in Big Ten history to lead the conference in scoring-he set (or at least tied) five NCAA records and a dozen school records, including 19 receiving touchdowns in a single season. After college, Howard was selected as the fourth overall pick in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders (then going by another name). Howard’s 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown during the second half of the 1997 Super Bowl XXXI not only helped the Packers secure the 35-21 win against the New England Patriots, but it also helped secure him the Super Bowl MVP award that year. After the Super Bowl, Howard became a free agent and signed with the Oakland Raiders for one season before re-joining the Packers in 1999, but was cut halfway through the season due to performance issues. After being signed to the Detroit Lions four days later, Howard would go on to play for the Lions until his final season in 2002-marking the end of his 11-season long NFL career. Today, Desmond Howard is a college football analyst for ESPN. This is a slight break in tradition as the NCAA Football series traditionally featured an NFL rookie on the cover of the game, with an action shot of him wearing his college jersey from the previous year. In NCAA Football 06, a new game mode, “Race for the Heisman,” allowed fans to play as a standout high school athlete hoping to sign with a major college program. For the first time in the franchise’s history, NCAA Football 06 featured an actual music soundtrack instead of only playing school fight songs and band pieces.
NCAA Football 07 featured Reggie Bush. Heisman winner and University of Southern California player Reggie Bush was the player who bridged the console generation, appearing on the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions as well as the PS2 and Xbox ones. 07 really didn’t do that much new. It refined the deep Campus Legend simulator and added a momentum meter that boosted everyone’s performance. This version of the game utilized a feature called Turn the Tide, which consisted of a momentum meter on the score graphic at the top or bottom of the screen.
NCAA Football 08: Jared Zabransky and Leadership Control
NCAA Football 08 was released on July 17, 2007. Boise State broke the pattern of repeating universities and saw star player Jared Zabransky on the cover of NCAA Football 2008. Leading the charge was Broncos QB Jared Zabransky, who ended the game with a modified version of the infamous Statue of Liberty play. EA has selected the rugged Zabransky as the cover athlete for NCAA Football 08, which was formally announced today. Zabransky's knack for rallying his troops will be exhibited in the new leadership control feature in NCAA Football 08. Big plays made by big stars will now have an influence on other players, letting them step up their game by boosting their personal ratings. EA also promises a deeper recruiting system and an all-new campus legend mode. Some of the new features for this version include Leadership Control, which allows players who perform well to "lead by example" and control the action on the field and increase their sphere of influence by improving their players' personal ratings on each big play. The game also features a new and deeper recruiting system and an all-new Campus Legend mode. 2008 suffered the most from EA Sports syndrome - which is to say, it was kind of the same thing as the previous one. Fewer noticeable improvements and alterations meant that, while it still scored well, it didn’t have quite the warm reception of the last few games before it.
Multiple Covers: NCAA Football 09 and 10
In 2009 and 2010, EA Sports experimented with multiple covers, featuring different athletes on different console versions of the game.
Read also: The Return of College Football Gaming
NCAA Football 09 featured:
- DeSean Jackson - California (PS2)
- Matt Ryan - Boston College (PS3)
- Owen Schmitt - West Virginia (PSP)
- Darren McFadden - Arkansas (Xbox 360)
NCAA Football 10 featured:
- Brian Orakpo - Texas (PS2)
- Brian Johnson - Utah (PS3)
- Marc Sanchez - MSC (PSP)
- Michael Crabtree - Texas Tech (Xbox 360)
The graphics didn’t inspire critics, but the sheer possibilities of the new Team Builder mode, where you could put together high school teams, college teams from the past, and quite a bit more. Normally the game featured just one cover athlete for the game across all consoles. But for two years, the game featured an athlete for each console. That’s how Johnson made the cover.
The Final Years: Tebow, Ingram, and Robinson
NCAA Football 11 featured Tim Tebow of the University of Florida. 11 featured online Dynasty Mode play, new animations, better movements and lighting, and much more.
NCAA Football 12 featured Mark Ingram II from the University of Alabama, after the Heisman Trophy winner won another fan poll, but EA included two alternate covers as well: Nick Fairley (Auburn), DeMarco Murray (Oklahoma), Jake Locker (Washington). NCAA Football 12 boasted a much deeper version of Dynasty mode, and while critics appreciated its refinements all around, consumers were rather more divided and expressed disappointment over the lack of new features.
NCAA Football 13 featured Robert Griffin III of Baylor, along with Barry Sanders from Oklahoma State, who was decided by fan voting. Critics expressed similar views as consumers and faulted the game for doing too little to differentiate itself from NCAA Football 12.
NCAA Football 14 featured Denard Robinson of the University of Michigan, closing out EA’s NCAA run. Robinson broke several records and received multiple honors while attending the University of Michigan from 2009 to 2012-both on and off the football field. Because of his quickness-he ran the 40-yard dash in just 4.35 seconds-Robinson stated after his final season at Michigan that he was open to playing any position in the NFL. Robinson was the only Wolverine from the 2012-2013 team who was invited to participate in the NFL Combine. In April of 2024, Michigan suspended Robinson indefinitely after the former quarterback was arrested for driving while intoxicated, which resulted in a single-vehicle crash in Ann Arbor.
The Hiatus and the Return of College Football
Due to legal issues surrounding name, image, and likeness rights, NCAA Football 14 was the last installment of the video game franchise for several years. During the series' hiatus, Madden sporadically made use of college football teams. NCAA Football 14, the last edition of the game released prior to the series' hiatus, continued to be played by fans, including actual college football players.
EA Sports College Football 25 was released on July 19, 2024 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It is the first installment in the resumption of the series after an 11-year hiatus. EA Sports College Football 25 will feature Donovan Edwards, who plays for the University of Michigan as a running back, alongside Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers and University of Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter-on its cover.
EA Sports College Football 26 was released on July 10, 2025. With Delaware and Missouri State joining the FBS level, they were added to the game.
Cover Athlete Selection and NCAA Rules
Similar to the honor of the Madden NFL cover athlete tradition, each year, one former college football player is selected to become the NCAA Football cover athlete for the popular American football video game series. The honor has often gone to the player who wins the Heisman Trophy earlier in the year, but has also been given to other top players from the previous season.
Unlike Madden NFL, the NCAA Football video game series cannot legally use the name, image or likeness of active players under NCAA rules. Because of this restriction, generally the player, or players, on the cover of the game is a standout player who just finished their final season of college football and is heading into the National Football League. Similarly, players within the game are not named, but are build based on the characteristics of real players.
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