MANSFIELD — The very first thing Anthony Hawkins did when he opened his copy of NCAA Football 14 was head right to the lab.
The 2019 Mansfield Senior grad was just a young teenager at the time but his football dreams were as big as the stars. So, he fired up his game counsel, spun in his copy of his favorite video game and made himself a part of it. He would create himself, jack up his attributes to the point he was the absolute best player in the entire game and put himself on his favorite college football team.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL 25:Full EA Sports lists of team ratings for College Football 25 and, oh yeah, when does it come out?
More than 10 years later, Hawkins can skip a few of those steps. After EA Sports announced the return of a NCAA football video game thanks to a newly passed Name, Image and Likeness rule that allowed college athletes to benefit from themselves, College Football 25 was born and Hawkins, who is the captain of the Bowling Green State University football team, will be in the game.
"It is unreal, to be honest," Hawkins said. "We came up playing this game so much. We spent a lot of hours on that game and with this being the first game released in 10 years and not having to create myself is a very cool feeling. To see my face and all of that will be surreal."
A senior defensive lineman, Hawkins has played in 42 career games with the Falcons and is entering his final year of eligibility. He has 110 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, a forced fumble and four pass deflections in his career. While his rating in the game is unknown, he will soon be the best defensive lineman in all of College Football 25 when he receives his copy of the game as part of an agreement with those players opting into the game.
And the Falcons will be the favorite to win the National Championship with Hawkins calling the shots.
"I absolutely will," Hawkins said of picking Bowling Green as his team of choice. "But first, I am putting myself at a 99 overall. I will also go get all of my friends out of the portal and put them on my team. We will be solid. I will for sure be playing offensive and defensive line as a 99 overall.
"I would always play in dynasty mode. I would be the head coach of any team I wanted in the country and I was in control of recruiting and playing the actual game. I just remember taking a bunch of different teams like MAC schools and winning multiple national championships with them. They were national powerhouses."
There is one player he won't have to pick out of the portal. Myles Bradley, a 2022 Mansfield Senior grad, is also a Falcon and will be featured in the game. He had a similar experience with the famous college football game of his youth.
"It is crazy, especially with this game," Bradley said. "We used to play NCAA 14 all the time. Everyone played that game. It was more prevalent than Madden in our house. With the hype behind this game, it is just a blessing to be a part of it. I can't wait for it to come out."
The game is scheduled to be released on July 19. It will bring back Bradley's memories of his childhood when he and his brothers would spend countless hours playing each other or on the same team. The 2014 version of the game came out around the time the 2013 Mansfield Senior Tygers polished off one of the most successful seasons in program history when they went 10-0 and finished the year 11-1 under Chioke Bradley, Myles' father, who would go on to be named the state coach of the year.
"The NCAA Football 14 was around the time of the undefeated Tygers in 2013," Myles Bradley said. "We went in and created our own team and made guys like Malon Samuel, Chekiah Washington, Asante' Wilder, Jalen Reese, Antonio Sanderfer, Keon Johnson, Tyquan Vickers, we created the whole team. That team was loaded."
And of course, he would create himself and his brothers to play on the team. And just like Hawkins, he won't need to do that when College Football 25 comes out.
"Usually I would pick Oregon because their jerseys were so good and my big brother would create a team and we would just play each other with a bunch of 99 overall players," Bradley said.
Bradley used the 2022 season as a redshirt year before appearing in three games in 2023 when he recorded four tackles at outside linebacker.
He isn't the only Bradley who will have his name and image associated with the groundbreaking video game. His younger brother, Keontez, will be a part of Arizona State's team on the video game. The redshirt freshman cornerback opted into the game and will be excited to see his name and face in pixels.
"Just to think that there are kids who went to Mansfield Senior High are in this game is crazy," Keontez said. "We used to create ourselves and other kids we played football with when we played the game as kids and now, we don't have to create them."
He is talking about Angelo and Aveon Grose who will be in the game as members of the Michigan State Spartans. Angelo is a senior safety for the Spartans who has appeared in 40 games during his MSU career. He has 231 total tackles to go with eight tackles for loss and three interceptions and two forced fumbles. Aveon is a redshirt sophomore who found his way to East Lansing after a year at Charlotte and another at Southern Illinois. In his previous two stops, he played in 10 total games and made 21 tackles and will have three years of eligibility left with the Spartans.
One of the first matchups Myles will cook us is his Falcons against the Grose's Spartans.
"I will definitely have my team right for sure," Myles said. "I will have Michigan State right, too. I definitely will be user lurking with Angelo."
Ahmaan Thomas, who will play at Buffalo in the Fall, and Elias Owens, BGSU, are 2024 Mansfield Senior grads who could also find themselves in the game. Lexington's Jacob Dennison is a lineman at Ohio University and could be featured, as well.
As part of the agreement with EA Sports, any college football athletes who accepted the deal will receive $600 and a free copy of College Football 25, but for Keontez Bradley, he is more happy about being in the game.
"I am more excited to just be in the game," Keontez said. "It is more about being in the game. It isn't about what comes with it."
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