10,000+ Athletes Opt Into EA CFB 25, While First Major Holdout Emerges

[cdj]

Monday morning, the EA SPORTS College Football 25 social media accounts shared that in just 12 days after offering them contracts, over 10,000 student-athletes had already opted in to appear in the game ahead of the reported April 30 deadline to decide.

To put this number into perspective, if EA offered 85 players (as rumored) on all 131 teams (service academy players are not yet eligible to opt-in), then 11,135 contracts were offered in total. If 10,000 opted in, that would mean nearly 90% of players will be in the game as of today. Two other ways to put this number into scale: it would be the equivalent of all but 12 full teams being in the game or an average of just 8-9 holdouts per school with over eight weeks to go. Later in the day, VP of Global Marketing, Communications, and Partnerships for EA SPORTS John Reseburg tweeted that more players "are joining every hour."


However, on Monday evening Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods.com tweeted that multiple people had told him that Texas QB Arch Manning would be opting out of appearing in the title in order to 'focus on playing football on the field.' Partaking in NIL deals has been very rare for the former highly coveted recruit. To date, his only accepted agreement has been with Panini America where proceeds from an event ($100,000) went to a Central Texas non-profit.

In a December Sports Illustrated article, Manning stated that "I'm not involved with my NIL. You would have to ask my dad about that." ('That' referring to reports he was making more through NIL deals than Brock Purdy earned with his rookie contract with the NFL's 49ers.) If that remains the case, it is a possibility that the 'no' decision may have came from father Cooper and not Arch.

[CLW]

No Arch NO BUY

[NatureBoy]

JMO, of course, but I don't think the Manning family want him in the game riding the pine like he does in real life.

[cdj]

JMO, of course, but I don't think the Manning family want him in the game riding the pine like he does in real life.

I think you're right. Yesterday, ESPN had an article with this new quote:

Manning, a sophomore backup for the Longhorns and the nephew of former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli, is among the players who have opted out of being included in the video game, a source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

Manning, who attempted only five passes in one game as Quinn Ewers' backup in 2023, wanted to wait until "he was the guy" at Texas, the source said.

Link: https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...rts-video-game


The new "the guy" quote seems like an attempt to wipe out the 'focus on playing football on the field' line that got ridiculed Monday night.

Over 2/3 of the QBs who opt in will ride the bench (at least in year one of Dynasty,) so even this reasoning rings a bit hollow. One would have to think Manning would have a high (hidden) Potential rating and be a star in years 2-3 of Dynasty Mode. Respectfully to them, it almost feels like the Mannings need to be sat down and explained how this process works. He's going to get clowned more for the rationale given and not appearing than he would be a cyber-backup for one year IMO.

[CLW]

I think you're right. Yesterday, ESPN had an article with this new quote:

Manning, a sophomore backup for the Longhorns and the nephew of former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli, is among the players who have opted out of being included in the video game, a source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

Manning, who attempted only five passes in one game as Quinn Ewers' backup in 2023, wanted to wait until "he was the guy" at Texas, the source said.

Link: https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...rts-video-game


The new "the guy" quote seems like an attempt to wipe out the 'focus on playing football on the field' line that got ridiculed Monday night.

Over 2/3 of the QBs who opt in will ride the bench (at least in year one of Dynasty,) so even this reasoning rings a bit hollow. One would have to think Manning would have a high (hidden) Potential rating and be a star in years 2-3 of Dynasty Mode. Respectfully to them, it almost feels like the Mannings need to be sat down and explained how this process works. He's going to get clowned more for the rationale given and not appearing than he would be a cyber-backup for one year IMO.

nah the mannings are only about that money ea wasn’t willing to play ball and pay the savior millions so he refused to be put in the game.

kids a BUST anyway but he made his seven figures holding a clipboard in that cesspool known as Austin