July hasn’t been a big month for football fans for a long time. In college football you get media days and in the NFL you get the beginning of camp, but for the most part fans are still firmly in offseason mode until August when camp ramps up and preseason games happen.
However, the return of the EA Sports College Football franchise has made this July far more exciting for football fans, as this week brought the release of the game (early access for the Deluxe Edition began Monday, with the full release coming on Friday). It has been everything fans hoped the game would be, and it’s not just those of us who sit on our couches and watch football that have been locked in since it released.
Everyone from LeBron James (who has been playing at his hotel in Abu Dhabi with USA Basketball) to Patrick Mahomes have been dialed in. As Mahomes arrives at Chiefs camp, he said he’s doing something new with his training camp routine by bringing a TV for the first time in his career. Why? Cause that Texas Tech dynasty isn’t going to build itself.
Why #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes brought a TV to training camp for the first time. #ChiefsKingdom @EASPORTSCollege pic.twitter.com/b9dDfkLcTd
— Rob Collins (@RobCollinsTV) July 16, 2024
It really is incredible how many people are so excited for this game after it was gone for a decade, especially among current football stars who are just excited to take their alma maters back to glory. It’s just an itch that Madden couldn’t scratch, and now that it’s back it is filling that void we’ve all missed — and is going to require everyone, including NFL greats, to figure out how to manage their time in building a virtual program and getting their actual work done in real life.