The gator-head thing is an iconic tradition in Florida. Players touch the gator head before running onto the field at The Swamp, and it has been confirmed by the EA’s developers to be fully animated into the game! This is the authenticity that players have been craving since the announcement of bringing the title back after 10 years.
But wait, what was I saying? Oh yes, the gator-head thing. So EA Sports had tweeted this with plenty of hype emojis and all the makings of a big announcement. The community’s response was… well, rather split. A few were very excited: “Go Gators!!!” expressed a user, the enthusiasm expected from a hardcore fan. On the contrary, numerous others said it was a feature from NCAA Football 14. “This was in ea college football 14…” was one comment, sort of questioning the need to promote it as new content.
The real juice starts spilling shortly thereafter with other comments calling out EA for separate issues. Several comments called for roster updates, with one reading, “UPDATE THE ROSTERS AND LET US CHOSE OUR UNIFORMS BEFORE ROAD TO THE CFP GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” as if they’re about to blow a gasket over it. Then there are the issues with certain players not being in the game, huh? Several comments mention that Trinidad Chambliss isn’t included, one stating, “Yet @TrinidadChambl1 isn’t in the game,” and the other commenting, “But Trinidad Chambliss isn’t,” which seems to be a recurring complaint.
It is honestly as clear as day that the community is fragmented regarding this reveal: one half celebrating the display of good detail and tradition, the other highlighting the missing features and inaccurate roster details. One commenter threw in, “It’s crazy how shitty the player models look side by side,” and that just had to hurt coming for the people that worked on it.
Then there was the whole thing about rankings?? Somebody said, “Lemme guess you’re gonna keep them rated super high until December,” which all seems like a jab toward EA constantly changing team ratings during the season. It’s like they’re accusing them of favoritism or something, which is pretty spicy if you ask me.
Very interesting timing when EA follows the reveal with yet another tweet about some Campus Pregame thing happening in Gainesville this weekend. So real-world activation is definitely going on alongside the game, which is a pretty great option for building hype. You just wonder, however, if they shouldn’t be much more focused on fixing the real issues the player base is complaining about instead of just icing them with cool animations.
It’s insane that this isn’t even the first time these traditional pregaming rituals have found their way into a football game. Madden has had team-specific entrances for years. But for college football? These traditions hit differently because they’re so deeply interwoven in each school’s identity. The Gator head touch is basically one of the things that make Florida games special and the virtual players will be able to enjoy that now as well.
Things get even more specific in the replies with one saying, “Btw Jadan Baugh wears gloves,” as if they were keeping track of every detail. And then there’s another mention concerning a missing mouthpiece in the animation? They posted a side-by-side comparison showing that the real-life version has a mouthpiece, but the game version does not. That’s some pretty serious nitpicking.
This, in the end, proves that there is some attempt to capture college football on a somewhat authentic level by EA itself. The Swamp is one of the iconic venues in all of sport, so these little things matter. Even if some of these things did appear in other games somehow, and there are legit gripes about rosters and player models… just the freedom to tie these traditions into the gameplay environment is a huge step forward.
Depending on who you speak to, College Football 25 is either going to be the triumphant return everybody has been waiting for or another EA misfire. That gator head touch is pretty dope, but really, players are more about updates, fixes, and concretes. When the game drops, we’ll find out, though. Florida fans, on the other hand, have one good thing to look forward to: Touching the gator’s head digitally before running onto the field at The Swamp, which is a pretty cool thing to be able to do, honestly.
