Like any kid who used to play EA Sports College Football, Peter Woods would build his own avatar with unbelievable abilities.
On the 1-to-99 scale, the virtual Peter Woods possessed 99 speed, 99 power, 99 agility. His character in the video game was literally unstoppable — because why not? It wasn't the real Peter Woods, anyway.
But that is about to change.
Woods has grown into a 6-foot-2, 300-pound defensive lineman for Clemson with, arguably, 90-plus power. With the name, image and likeness (NIL) revolution, it became possible for EA Sports to reboot its college football franchise — which has been in hibernation since 2013 — and put true-to-form representations of players like Woods into the game.
Will the Tigers' sophomore have an eye on his speed and power ratings when the video game, scheduled to be released in July, reaches consoles nationwide?
"Everybody cares," Woods said, laughing, "but I'm not gonna send them a nasty email or anything."
EA Sports has long said "If it's in the game, it's in the game," but it used to be up to the user to edit rosters to rename the Texas A&M quarterback with the No. 2 jersey as Johnny Manziel. This current generation of athlete grew up adding themselves to the game, playing out football dreams on an XBox or PlayStation.
But college sports video games haven't been updated for years, because even nameless avatars with accurate jersey numbers pointed too directly to players who weren't being fairly compensated for their likeness, prompting a lawsuit from former college basketball player Ed O'Bannon in 2014.
In 2021, the NCAA did away with NIL prohibitions, but it's taken three years for EA Sports to roll out a new football game. That means current Clemson and South Carolina athletes will be pioneers on the digital gridiron.
"I feel like it should have come even faster than it has," South Carolina safety Jalon Kilgore said. "I'm glad that we are back in the game and I feel like it's going to be real fun for all the guys — to finally see themselves in the game."
What's in the game
While it's been more than a decade since a fresh version of EA Sports College Football was released, it hasn't been quite as long since the Clemson Tigers appeared in a virtual football stadium.
Clemson was one of 10 schools featured in the "Face of the Franchise" mode in EA's Madden game, released in 2020, which allowed users to follow a player's story arc from high school to college and, finally, the NFL.
But if fans wanted to simulate full Clemson or South Carolina seasons, they had to stick with College Football 14 and update rosters manually. Clemson lineman Marcus Tate used to add himself as a kid, though he wasn't blocking anybody.
"I was definitely the quarterback, running back," Tate said, "and I was winning the Heisman (Trophy) every year."
Tate, the blocker, didn't have a game to be featured in when his Clemson career started in 2021. But the Supreme Court's stiff arm in the case of NCAA vs. Alston — stating the NCAA was probably violating antitrust laws by prohibiting student-athletes from profiting off of their name, image and likeness — opened the floodgates for NIL that year.
Schools came together for a reboot of EA Sports College Football in 2021, according to South Carolina's director of trademark licensing, Matthew Bridges, but there were initial discussions about the game's potential return as early as 2020.
In 2022, college licensing directors received requests for the stadium reference images and sound clips EA Sports would need to put everything that's in the game "in the game."
Rendering a venue like Clemson's Memorial Stadium or South Carolina's Williams-Brice Stadium is a painstaking process. The instructions sent to universities outlined where 20 cameras should be placed along a stadium's sideline, plus one at midfield. The sideline cameras rotate 45 degrees after each shot, which means eight photos to get the full 360, while the camera at the field's center rotates 22.5 degrees. That's another 16 images.
Next, there were 20 points where cameras were set at the top of each seating deck, taking images picture by picture, 45-degree turn by 45-degree turn.
All "unique features" of the stadium have to be captured, as well, which could mean everything from a video board to a manhole cover in a tunnel.
Clemson sent well over 1,000 images to help EA Sports render a virtual Death Valley, including a detailed scan of Howard's Rock atop the stadium's hill and updated shots of a recently added video board and tunnels. A couple dozen audio clips were also recorded, including what plays over the PA system when team buses arrive at the top of the hill, what the band plays on third down, and the crowd chanting "Let's go, Ti-gers" during timeouts.
There's also a clip of coach Frank Howard's famous pregame reminder that "If (they're) not going to give 110 percent, to keep their filthy hands off my rock."
A major piece for South Carolina, of course, would be the Williams-Brice crowd going wild for its pregame hype-up song, "Sandstorm," which added a new light show during the 2023 season.
Sandstorm will certainly be in the game, with or without the light show.
"That was not in the original design, but there's more to come on that," Bridges said. "If not in the initial release, I'm sure they would add that in."
EA doesn't pay schools for the rights to stadium images or audio, or the work it takes to collect them. But schools earn a 10 percent cut of EA's revenues from the game, Bridges said, which are split between the participating institutions.
Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods won't send EA Sports a nasty email if his ratings in College Football 25 aren't good enough, but the sophomore obviously cares what they say. Travis Bell/Sideline Carolina
Being in the game
Universities can't confirm or deny if specific players are in the game, because athletes "opting in" via the group licensing company OneTeam Partners are essentially signing a contract with a third party.
But EA announced in early March, about a week into the opt-in process, that more than 10,000 players — or about 87 percent — had already said "yes" to being in the game. Players are reportedly receiving $600 and a copy of EA Sports College Football 25 for granting use of their NIL.
South Carolina expects its full roster will be in EA Sports College Football 25, while Clemson would go as far as to say "a large majority" of its team has opted in. In fact, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik was one of several athletes who signed an NIL deal with EA to promote the game. South Carolina passer LaNorris Sellers confirmed he has opted in, as well.
Nationally, only one player of note, Texas quarterback Arch Manning, has said he does not want to be in the game.
For most players, it's not even a question.
"Why wouldn't I?" South Carolina running back Oscar Adaway said. "Bro, I am so excited for it."
The terms of the deal appear lopsided to Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter.
"Just the fact I can see defensive (jersey) No. 0, and it's actually me in the video game, that's all I need," Carter said. "Money, that's not appealing to me."
Even coaches like South Carolina's Shane Beamer want to be in the game.
"I grew up playing the game in high school and college. So I would love that," Beamer said. "But no one has asked me for anything. If they want to, they certainly have my permission."
Most everything from Clemson and South Carolina football should be "in the game," as EA Sports promises. But one curiosity remains: how will EA rate the Tigers and Gamecocks' players on a 1-99 scale?
"As far as overall (rating) goes, I don't really care," said Carter, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker. "But speed, I should be a 92. At least."
"I'm gonna end up being a 99 the moment I download it," Clemson defensive end T.J. Parker said. "I could be a 75 overall in the game, but, on my version, I'm a 99. Just gotta keep it real."
Clemson linebacker Wade Woodaz doesn't intend to manually edit the athletic traits of the virtual Wade Woodaz.
But he thinks EA's rating could be useful.
"If my ranking isn't what I want it to be, alright, I got a vendetta for the NCAA or EA Sports, whoever makes the game," Woodaz said, "to prove them wrong."
Everyone will handle their entry into the video game realm differently.
The one constant seems to be everyone's enthusiasm to jump right in.
"Growing up playing that game and just to be able to have that opportunity to be in the game," South Carolina receiver Mazeo Bennett said, "that’s something I couldn’t pass up."
