A missed NCAA entity
Five years ago this month, one of the most popular video games, NCAA Football, was released for the last time.
The EA Sports game, sort of a little brother to the Madden football series, was a major hit from its inception in 1993 under the name Bill Walsh College Football.
The last edition, NCAA Football 14, was released on July 9, 2013, and a void has grown every year since for college football fans who played the game religiously.
The game improved each year and thousands of video game players have held onto old playing systems just so they can continue to play NCAA Football 2014 in career mode.
So why was the popular game discontinued?
NCAA athletes are not allowed to accept money for their likenesses, and for those who played the NCAA Football games, knew who each player was because each player on the game resembled their real-life counterpart.
Lawsuits followed, with the initial being by former UCLA and NBA player Ed O鈥橞annon.
In July 2009, O鈥橞annon filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company alleging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
He was the lead plaintiff after seeing his likeness from the 1995 national championship team used in a video game without his permission.
Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company, both original co-defendants with the NCAA, departed from the case and finalized a $40 million settlement.
In fact, one player could be standing in the way of the popular football game, as well as college basketball games, from returning.
More than $208 million is sitting in a bank account waiting to be distributed to at least 50,000 current and former college athletes and the lawyers who represented them in a case that was settled over a year ago.
The former player, Western Michigan wide receiver Darrin Duncan, and his attorney objected in part on the attorney蘑菇视频 fees and costs awarded to the plaintiffs鈥� lawyers.
Once the appeals are ruled on and players are paid up to $1,500 per season that their likeness was used, could the popular game return, even without the NCAA being a part of it?
All it would take is for the 130 FBS schools to be content with the game.
EA could get the schools to agree to license their logos, uniforms and stadiums.
Instead of the game being called NCAA Football 2020, for example, it could be called College Football 2020, or whatever EA would want to call it.
Until then though, college football fans will have to wait until IMackulate Vision Gaming releases Gridiron Champions in 2020.
The game will use fake school names and players, but it could work until EA is able to release another college football game.
Recent radio appearance
It is three weeks after the fact, but I wanted to share a link to a radio interview I did on June 18.
The interview was on the show Double Coverage on WWL Radio 870 out of New Orleans.
WWL is the Saints Radio Network, and the Double Coverage show airs in 38 states and is on from 9 p.m. to midnight here on the East Coast.
They saw my college sports column on the NCAA taking away the guaranteed day off for student-athletes and reached out.
I appreciate the gesture, and it was great to speak with Seth Dunlap, who is one of the show蘑菇视频 hosts.
The interview can be heard at https://wwl.radio.com/media/audio-channel/bill-hughes-ncaas-new-rule-change.
Special interview next week
In next week蘑菇视频 column, we will look at Mark Diethorn, the Director of Player Personnel with the Virginia Tech football program.
A Belle Vernon Area graduate and Virginia Tech alum, Diethorn had recently been working for the Pitt football program before heading back to his alma mater last month.
When we spoke after his move, I congratulated Mark and he was excited for the new challenge.
鈥淭hings have been great and I just started,鈥� Diethorn said last month. 鈥淚t was tough to leave Pitt but it was time to advance my career.
鈥淚 have been analyzing the recruiting board and learning the current roster. It is like getting on a moving train.鈥�
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Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.