California (Europe Brief News): EA Sports unveils College Football 26 covers featuring Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Williams, and Reggie Bush, who graces the deluxe edition as a Trojan icon.
On Tuesday, EA Sports unveiled the cover for their college football game, which stars Ryan Williams of Alabama and Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State, both of whom are sophomore wide receivers.
This past season, the former five-star recruits from the 2024 cycle more than lived up to the hype. Smith led the Buckeyes to their first national championship in ten years and looked like a man among boys during his rookie campaign.
Playing his rookie season at just 17 years old, Williams may not have been old enough to cast a ballot last year, but he immediately made a name for himself as one of the sport’s most captivating players. His first two receptions resulted in touchdowns of 84 and 55 yards.
A significantly larger cast of current and former athletes, including the renowned running back Reggie Bush of the USC Trojans, were featured on the cover of the deluxe version.
Over the past year, Bush’s fortunes in college football have changed.
In April 2024, 14 years after he surrendered the sport’s most coveted individual award due to serious NCAA sanctions against the Trojans for allegedly receiving inappropriate financial perks from 2003–05, he was reunited with his Heisman Trophy. Additionally, a duplicate of the trophy was given back to USC.
Bush has inspired a whole generation and is among the Trojans’ most decorated athletes in their legendary history.
The San Diego native won two Pac-10 offensive players of the year awards in 2004 and 2005, was unanimously selected as an all-purpose player in 2005, and was named to the First Team All-American in 2004. Bush won the Doak Walker Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year, and the Heisman Trophy in 2005.
Bush led the Trojans to consecutive national titles in 2003 and 2004 and a berth in the 2005 national championship, which helped spark the team’s strong run in the 2000s.
Other legends from this century are included in the deluxe edition, such as former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson and Tim Tebow, a two-time national champion and winner of the Florida Heisman Trophy.
Running back Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame, quarterback DJ Lagway of Florida, quarterback Bryce Underwood of Michigan, running back Nick Singleton of Penn State, safety Caleb Downs of Ohio State, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier of LSU, quarterback Sam Leavitt of Arizona State, and quarterback Cade Klubnik of Clemson are among the current players featured on the deluxe edition cover.
Kirby Smart of Georgia, Ryan Day of Ohio State, James Franklin of Penn State, Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame, Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss, Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State, and Dan Lanning of Oregon are among the coaches featured on the cover.
Due to the evolution of collegiate athletics with name, image, and likeness, the video game made a comeback last year for the first time in over ten years. On July 10, the most recent version will be made available.
What does the inclusion of Reggie Bush on the deluxe edition suggest about EA Sports marketing strategy?
Renowned for his thrilling achievements at USC and his subsequent restoration as a Heisman Trophy winner, Reggie Bush is a famous figure in college football. His inclusion with contemporary celebrities appeals to fans’ sentimentality and emotional attachment to the sport’s history, which makes the deluxe edition particularly alluring to die-hard supporters.
EA Sports frames the deluxe version as a celebration of the whole college football ecosystem—not just the current season, but the sport’s enduring spirit and history—by featuring Bush among contemporary players, coaches, mascots, and traditions.
By bridging the gap between younger fans who know Bush as a legend and older fans who followed his career, Bush’s presence promotes cross-generational engagement and may boost sales among both groups.
