• EA SPORTS and NCAA Football to offer fellowship

    Are you a former college football player who didn't quite make the NFL cut?

    If so, EA Sports has a new fellowship opportunity that might just get you started on a new career.

    The program is looking for two post-graduate former football student-athletes to work at the EA Tiburon studio in Orlando so they can learn the ins and outs of game development, working on future versions of the "NCAA Football" franchise. The paid fellowship kicks off in January 2012 and will last 16 weeks.

    UPDATE - The inaugural selections for the fellowship are former MIT QB Richard Mancuso and former Colorado State OL Clint Oldenburg. Congrats to both individuals.

    "These candidates will be integrated into our team here in the EA Sports Football group," says Cam Weber, GM of Football, EA Sports. "They should expect to meet lots of great people, get immersed in a strong football culture, be a part of a world class development team, and learn a lot along the way. We have a lot of fun making our games. We love football and come in to work every day to try to make our games better.

    "The sport of football is complex. There are things about the game that you can only experience on the field in the middle of a game, during the long weeks of practice, in the locker room at halftime, or in the film room during game week. We are always striving to deliver the most authentic football experience possible, and having people on our development teams that have been through a college football career has always helped us to deliver authenticity in our products."

    And potential candidates don't have to worry if they didn't attend a big school or are not well known. According to Weber, fame and stats have nothing to do with who they are looking for.

    Says Weber: "We are interested in candidates from engineering through to art, audio, and game design. The evaluation requirements will include academic performance, talent in the candidate's area of expertise, along with a knowledge and passion for the sport of football and football games.

    "We are looking for talented candidates who combine intelligence and academic excellence with passion, knowledge, and experience from their time on the football field."

    Interested candidates can reach out to the EA Sports University Relations Manager at URFellowships@ea.com.


    Story courtesy ESPN Video Games.
    Comments 9 Comments
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      Good move.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      An interesting idea.

      Here's the official NCAA blog about it: http://www.ea.com/ncaa-football/blog...me-grad-school
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson -
      Just an extension of what theyve done from the beginning . From Madden to other coaches to players, theyve always done some form of this. Now a couple guys will get 4 months pay for it. Sounds like fun....fun and football
    1. JerzeyReign's Avatar
      JerzeyReign -
      They need to speak to one from EVERY position. Just because you played line in college doesn't mean you know every little thing the WR does. I do applaud the effort though, good move by the dev team.
    1. Dr Death's Avatar
      Dr Death -
      Quote Originally Posted by JerzeyReign View Post
      They need to speak to one from EVERY position. Just because you played line in college doesn't mean you know every little thing the WR does. I do applaud the effort though, good move by the dev team.
      No, they need to add coaches too. I have so much football knowledge I could share w/ them and I could take their miniscule idea of the R&S and Air Raid offenses and have them fully implemented in the game and completely accurate. Coaches also know more than just one position. When I played I was a RB first, then a TE, then a WR and also a QB. And on defense I was a FS.

      Don't get me wrong, they are doing something good, but to exclude coaches is a massive mistake, IMHO.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Quote Originally Posted by Dr Death View Post
      Don't get me wrong, they are doing something good, but to exclude coaches is a massive mistake, IMHO.
      Coaches could probably join the team through other avenues. I don't know too many football coaches that would fit the criteria they've listed here.
    1. blkkrptnt819's Avatar
      blkkrptnt819 -
      Quote Originally Posted by JerzeyReign View Post
      They need to speak to one from EVERY position. Just because you played line in college doesn't mean you know every little thing the WR does. I do applaud the effort though, good move by the dev team.
      I agree with this completely. They need someone from every single position.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Press release announcing inaugural selections:

      REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & LEXINGTON, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and NCAA Football today announced that Richard Mancuso and Clint Oldenburg will join the EA SPORTS™ NCAAź Football development team as a part of the inaugural EA SPORTS NCAA Football fellowship, a sixteen-week full-time, paid opportunity for former football student-athletes to apply their skills and knowledge of the sport to the development of the NCAA Football videogame.

      Mancuso, a computer science and engineering graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a three-year starting quarterback, New England Football Conference Rookie of the Year, and was awarded the Boston Globe Golden Helmet Award. Oldenburg, a technical journalism graduate of Colorado State University, was a starting offensive lineman for three years and a fifth round NFL draft pick in 2007.

      “We put a premium on identifying individuals that combine real-world experience and knowledge of football with talent and passion for video game development,” said Cam Weber, GM of Football, EA SPORTS. “This first-ever fellowship program provides the fantastic opportunity to help us find experienced football student-athletes, such as Richard and Clint, to add to our development teams and help take our game to the next level.”

      For the past 18 years, the NCAA Football videogame franchise has delivered the pride and pageantry of game day by connecting players to the emotion of the college football experience. From fight songs to school specific traditions, all 120 Division I FBS college programs are recreated with unparalleled authenticity. The fellows will both contribute to engineering and design development to further enhance the NCAA Football gameplay experience.

      “The inaugural fellows program continues to strengthen our relationship with EA, and it gives former football student-athletes an opportunity to turn their passion and skills for the game into a meaningful professional experience,” added David Bertram, Executive Director of NCAA Football, the coalition established to promote college football, which is managed by IMG College, a division of IMG Worldwide.

      The fellowship term will run from January 17 to May 4, 2012. Both positions will be based out of the EA Tiburon studio in Orlando, Fla.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Technical journalism? Wasn't aware of such a program. Good on EA to pick guys that have the right skill set, rather than going for big names on the first group.