Michigan Wolverines senior running back Donovan Edwards made history with the reveal he would be one of the cover athletes for EA Sports College Football 25, the revival of the beloved video game series set to hit shelves on July 19.
Edwards joined Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast Wednesday to discuss gracing the cover and said he was approached about the opportunity in February.
However, the game developers initially revealed the Michigan star’s speed rating to him, which he says was somewhere in the 70s range – EA rates traits on a 40-99 scale – and that it took him by surprise. He would say in a separate interview that he found out he was being trolled on the set.
“I said, ‘Oh, for real? let’s do it!” Edwards told Jansen. “I’ll be there and I’ll be there in a heartbeat. When I heard the cover, I said I don’t care what my overall is. They told me what my speed was. I disagree with the speed but like the cover.”
“Like, 70-something is disrespectful. Which is cool, we’ll get it up. Now they’re challenging me. They’re challenging me and I’m gonna rise to the challenge, but it’s like, dang.”
Edwards, who became the fourth Michigan player to don the cover, along with Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard and Denard Robinson, kept to himself about the video game cover. He says he is honored by the recognition, but will not allow himself to have a big head over it.
“I just kept my mouth shut. Don’t need to say anything,” Edwards said. “It’s just carrying that Michigan tradition. It’s beautiful that I’m able to continue the legacy and the foundation, but I’m definitely very humbled. I’m not having a big head. I’ve been humbled by that. That’s why my season wasn’t great in 2023. People say it was great. I did what I had to do off the carries that I had. But I’m like very humble now though. I don’t care. It’s beautiful and great. But I’m not just going to gloat about it or smile about it whenever I see it or hear it.
“I’m going to keep working hard. I’m going to lead my team the way the best way that I can. I’m gonna go out and perform the best way that I can. And I’m not gonna put expectations on myself anymore. That’s what I learned from my season last year. It’s gonna become, it’s gonna become even greater because I’m gonna be a better football player and a better man because of the experience that I’ve had.
“These things now, they excite me, but they don’t excite me as much [in terms of] I’m on the cover of EA and I’m the best player in the country. I’m gonna keep working hard. I’m gonna stay humble and bring people up and make people better around me so we can all be successful.”
Edwards is on the cover along with Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, and the three of them got along during the shoot.
There was not any Michigan vs. Texas trash talk either, it appears. The two programs will meet on Sept. 7 at noon in Ann Arbor in a matchup of playoff teams from last year.
“Great people,” Edwards said. “It was just the three of us just vibing. We were there for two, three hours, just for one cover photo there for that long.
“I knew Quinn was there. But it was like… we’ll save that for later.”
EA Sports College Football 25 will be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. The standard edition retails for $69.99, the deluxe edition for $99.99 and a bundle of the game and Madden 25 for $149.99.
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