After 10 long years, college football is back on all major gaming platforms this week.
This week on July 19, EA Sports College Football 25 — the newly revamped version of NCAA Football 14 — will be released, and with it comes a unique opportunity that was not available during the last iteration of the game.
This time around the players’ names are shown on the roster.
The NCAA, player representatives, and EA all came to an agreement on name, image, and likeness with the new NIL deals available allowing compensation for the student-athletes to appear in the game.
Each player will receive $600 and a copy of the game. The only player exceptions are the cover athletes who will make more money.
Many college athletes will make their first appearance in a video game after a decade of dormancy, including two athletes from Pueblo on a Division I roster — Jace Bellah for the Colorado State University Rams and Kain Medrano for the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins.
Check out Bellah and Medrano’s ratings, stats and background here:
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Kain Medrano
- Rating: 79
- Grade: Senior
- Position: Linebacker
- Jersey number: 20
- Height: 6-3
- Weight: 230 pounds
Medrano is a graduate of Pueblo East High School and has been playing at UCLA for four years. In his senior year, he is slated to be the starting linebacker for the Bruins and has the chance to show off his playmaking ability for the scouts this coming fall as his team enters the Big 10 conference.
Medrano has amassed 73 tackles, two sacks, and one interception in his career at UCLA.
Jace Bellah
- Rating: 54
- Grade: Sophomore
- Position: Free Safety
- Jersey number: 37
- Height: 5-11
- Weight: 190 pounds
Bellah is a recent graduate of Pueblo South High School and is a sophomore for the Rams of CSU. Bellah plays free safety for the team and has seen limited time on the field. He appeared in three games as a freshman and accrued a solo tackle and assist.
Although Bellah hasn’t seen much time yet as a redshirt freshman, many believe that his time will come for the Rams and that he will be a contributing factor to their defense for years to come.
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Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @chowebacca. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com