• Kirk Herbstreit Wants NCAA Football Series to Return

    One of the in-game commentators in the NCAA Football franchise has now become one of the first - if not the loudest - voices in trying to get the franchise to return.

    Analyst Kirk Herbsteit is not only hoping the series returns, he puts the blame squarely at the feet of Ed O'Bannon, whose class-action lawsuit helped lead to the (temporary?) end of EA SPORTS' NCAA Football franchise. In an interview with SECcountry.com, Herbstreit issued the following comments: “I was probably as devastated or more devastated than anybody in the country. I’ll do anything I can do to help be a part, to lead a cause, bring that game back.” ... "I can’t believe Ed O’Bannon took that game away from us.”

    If Herbstreit is serious about helping to see NCAA Football return - which we believe he is - he should use his connections and weekly in-season meetings with Athletic Directors and athletic departments to push for schools/conferences to actually use their highly clamored for autonomy and establish player likeness rights for student-athletes. Since acquiring the rights to make some of their own rules, the Power Five conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC) and the NCAA have continued to punt on finally addressing this long-term issue. Until that issue (and likely all litigation) is settled, there is no little to no hope for the franchise returning.

    Continue on to read an excerpt of SECcountry.com's interview with Herbstreit.



    Kirk Herbstreit’s friendly tone was gone. It was mid-November, and the upbeat ESPN analyst just finished discussing Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin and Alabama’s College Football Playoff hopes.

    Then he go [sic] quiet; angry silence brought about by a simple question: Are they bringing the NCAA Football video game back?

    There’s a rustle on the other end of the line.

    Then, Herbstreit spoke.

    “They better,” he said. “I can’t believe Ed O’Bannon took that game away from us.”

    There’s plenty to unpack here. “They” is a conglomerate of the NCAA, EA Sports and a coalition of former players headed by O’Bannon, an ex-UCLA and NBA forward who filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against the NCAA demanding payment for commercial use of amateur athletes’ images.

    One of the lawsuit’s consequences was the demise of NCAA Football, EA Sports’ beloved video-game franchise that used tens of thousands of players’ likenesses in its run from 1993-2013.

    Herbstreit, a senior Ohio State quarterback when the inaugural version of NCAA Football dropped, would play marathon sessions with wide receiver Joey Galloway.

    “I can’t even tell you how many hours we put in on that game,” Herbstreit says.

    Within a decade, Herbstreit was featured on the game as an analyst, teaming up with play-by-play man Brad Nessler and peppy former coach Lee Corso to become an unforgettable video game trio.

    When EA Sports discontinued publishing the game two years ago, Herbstreit was floored.

    “I was probably as devastated or more devastated than anybody in the country,” he says. “I’ll do anything I can do to help be a part, to lead a cause, bring that game back.”

    Herbstreit contends that — pay or no pay — athletes want the franchise to return.

    “Every single college football player,” he said. “You know what they’d love for their compensation to be? Just give ‘em a free game. That’s the compensation that they would take.

    “I’ve never met one player in college football that’s like: ‘They can’t use my name and likeness! I need to be paid!’ They’re just thrilled to be on the game. They love being on the game. It’s like the biggest highlight of their life, is to be on the game.”


    Courtesy: SECcountry.com
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Kirk Herbstreit Wants NCAA Football Series to Return started by cdj View original post
    Comments 60 Comments
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Loved the Penn & Teller Bullshit show, especially the smack-down they did on Peta, something every "Peta member" should be forced to watch.

      Still thinking Giorgio Tsoukalos, minus the suit and with a couple young Asian boys screaming from a closet. The first sixteen seconds, it's like Ram saw this video years ago and replaced "Extra Terrestrials" with "NFL Script."

    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Quote Originally Posted by bdoughty View Post
      Loved the Penn & Teller Bullshit show, especially the smack-down they did on Peta, something every "Peta member" should be forced to watch.

      Still thinking Giorgio Tsoukalos, minus the suit and with a couple young Asian boys screaming from a closet. The first sixteen seconds, it's like Ram saw this video years ago and replaced "Extra Terrestrials" with "NFL Script."


      Yep. I always loved Bullshit. I think I've seen just about all of them (the Peta one is great, btw) but I recently started going through them one by one and I'm going to watch the whole series as I'm certain there are a few I haven't seen.
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      Quote Originally Posted by ram29jackson View Post
      another millions/billion dollar company doesnt make mistakes like that. It has nothing to with a conspiracy. They wouldnt do that on facebook and then have Kirk comment unless the ball was already rolling.
      I wasn't aware that a billion-dollar company, operated by humans, was infallible. They make so much money that they become perfect and are incapable of making mistakes.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Quote Originally Posted by souljahbill View Post
      I wasn't aware that a billion-dollar company, operated by humans, was infallible. They make so much money that they become perfect and are incapable of making mistakes.
      They don't make mistakes. Not ever. Never.

      Spoiler: show
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      Almost every time I watch an old episode of Penn & Teller Bullshit, I think of ram.

      I watched one the other day about alien abductions and they showed some REAL moron who was looking for aliens in the crowd at a UFO convention. He was clearly the most disturbed person in a room full of dozens of idiots and he just made me think "that must be what ram is like, a complete fucking moron who is totally out of touch with reality".

      You've probably seen it but watch it again. It's in Season 1 (free* on Prime).

      *with paid subscription
      Love that show!

      Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -


    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Quote Originally Posted by ram29jackson View Post
      another millions/billion dollar company doesnt make mistakes like that. It has nothing to with a conspiracy. They wouldnt do that on facebook and then have Kirk comment unless the ball was already rolling.
      I promise you, with 100% certainty, you have no idea what you're talking about in this instance.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      I promise you, with 100% certainty, you have no idea what you're talking about in every instance.
      Tweaked for 100% accuracy.
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      I promise you, with 100% certainty, you have no idea what you're talking about in this instance.
      Ram's response: Either you're lying or EA just isn't ready to tell you yet.

      I get something similar to that every time I use my athletic trainer expertise to rebuke his claims.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      NFL Tour was pretty fun actually
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      I had the 1st 2 NFL Streets games and the 1st 3 NBA Streets games
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      Quote Originally Posted by souljahbill View Post
      Ram's response: Either you're lying or EA just isn't ready to tell you yet.

      I get something similar to that every time I use my athletic trainer expertise to rebuke his claims.
      Nah, G's just been bought off by EA. How do you think they guys keep getting games and codes from EA to giveaway?
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      I promise you, with 100% certainty, you have no idea what you're talking about in this instance.
      Do you think my idea of rating position groups could work for a randomized roster?
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Quote Originally Posted by baseballplyrmvp View Post
      Do you think my idea of rating position groups could work for a randomized roster?
      It likely wouldn't sell very well.

      Until EA can either pay players (either a stipend or a trust for after they graduate) or are allowed for players to sign an optional waiver to release their rights, I don't foresee this game coming back.
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      Quote Originally Posted by gschwendt View Post
      It likely wouldn't sell very well.

      Until EA can either pay players (either a stipend or a trust for after they graduate) or are allowed for players to sign an optional waiver to release their rights, I don't foresee this game coming back.
      Are they absolutely sure that people are buying the game for the names on the back and not the names on the front? Did they survey that?
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      Thinking it over, I'm of the opinion that if they put out a game with generic rosters at this point it would sell VERY well.

      In year 1.

      People are starved for NCAA and I think the next version that comes out (if that happens) will shatter sales records for the series, no matter what the content is. But I think sales would dry up after year one if there were generic rosters.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Rosters aren't much of a big deal for dynasty players. They main names are mostly gone after a year or two.

      Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by souljahbill View Post
      Are they absolutely sure that people are buying the game for the names on the back and not the names on the front? Did they survey that?
      That has always been the selling point for me. I wanted play as OU the team far more than as the players currently enrolled at OU. Rosters were icing on the cake but I could have lived with making my OU starting roster and having everything else generic. As JB mentions, roster names are pretty useless for dynasty owners after a couple years.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      NFL Tour was pretty fun actually
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      Quote Originally Posted by bdoughty View Post
      That has always been the selling point for me. I wanted play as OU the team far more than as the players currently enrolled at OU. Rosters were icing on the cake but I could have lived with making my OU starting roster and having everything else generic. As JB mentions, roster names are pretty useless for dynasty owners after a couple years.
      Exactly. I play to play as my school, not the guys at the school. Generic NCAA rosters isn't the same as generic Madden rosters. I can't see people buying the game just to play "as" Leonard Fournette as long as generic LSU RB #2 (his real number is #7) is a beast. You can even name the default roster so he can be LSU RB #2 Joseph Jackson.