Set to release in under ten days, the football-based video game “EA Sports College Football 25” has sports fans clamoring for more free time to spend crafting their own NCAA team. Since the franchise went dormant in 2013 due to athlete name, image, and likeness lawsuits, there’s a lot of college football lore this release can pull from.
… And the Oregon Ducks are left off a recent announcement from EA Sports, in regards to "Legends" in "Ultimate Team" mode.
EA’s latest announcement addresses their absence from the football culture in their new “Ultimate Team” announcement. “Ultimate Team” allows a player to choose any of the 134 participating university football programs to manage, recruit, and play against other users or artificial intelligence.
This mode of gameplay will include the 134 teams’ playbooks, player items and abilities, an ICYMI (in case you missed it) feature glossing over previous college football history, live events, available “Legends” from prior seasons, and more.
There’s just one thing missing from this announcement: any sign of an Oregon athlete or uniform. The Mighty Oregon doesn’t make an appearance in any visual for this mode, including available athletes (while former University of Washington quarterback, Michael Penix, is heavily featured) except for a small fictional athlete cameo for team lineups. It’s worth noting there are no discernible uniform designs in these lineups.
There are no Oregon Ducks mentioned as legacy players.
Texas Tech/Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, Stanford/San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey, Wyoming/Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen, Oklahoma/Dallas Cowboys' Ceedee Lamb, Maryland/Houston Texans' Stefon Diggs and LSU/Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow are among the active NFL players listed as being available in Ultimate Team mode.
Oregon’s lack of major inclusion in EA’s announcement seems to be par for the course. In May, the Oregon Football Team released a teaser for the videogame. Unlike several other teams that included their athletes and uniforms, Oregon seemed to be one of very few programs opting for a different visual. Instead, they used a quick clip of the Oregon Duck riding through Autzen Stadium on the Oregon Harley motorcycle.
Oregon Football quarterback Dillon Gabriel is one of many Oregon players to announce their involvement with the title, but the visual he used on social media doesn’t include his picture or in-game footage. Simply a green canvas of ripped paper with the game’s title, his name, and basic information like his position and number.
We also shared video of how Autzen Stadium will appear in the videogame. There are no athletes or uniforms seen in these videos
Fans may wonder why Oregon seems to be “hush hush” about their uniforms and athlete likenesses for the videogame, but a recent incident may explain the Ducks’ secrecy. In a video published to their Instagram on Tuesday, July 9th, the Boise State Football Team released a teaser video for their new uniforms. In that video, were clips of Boise State playing various universities including Oregon State.
Many online were quick to comment that the footage Boise State used might include the new uniform designs for the Beavers. Popular student-run social media account @barstoolbeavs posited this same accusation, before promptly deleting their post, pinning a post from 2022 dissing the Broncos, and reposting a video from Oregon State Athletics teasing a big announcement.
One may assume Oregon is purposefully being coy about their visuals for EA Sports College Football 25 because of their “Generation O” uniform plan. Generation O has been hyped up by the program through several sneak peeks, their first “Fly Era” uniform release with former Oregon Football legend De'Anthony Thomas and senior linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, and an over 20-minute Youtube documentary about the university’s relationship with Nike.
If you’re wondering why Oregon isn’t visually commanding the EA Sports College Football 25 stage, there are worthwhile theories to explore. For now, we just have to wait till July 16th for pre-order purchasers to receive their game and July 19th for the public exclusively on XBOX Series X/S and PlayStation 5.
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ALLY OSBORNE
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