Donovan Edwards reveals how he became an EA Sports College Football cover athlete

INDIANAPOLIS — During a loose, freewheeling half-hour podium session at Big Ten Media Days, it would’ve been hard to tell Michigan running back Donovan Edwards had this summer gotten the honor of a lifetime for most college football players.

With the highly-anticipated rollout and release and the new EA College Football 25 video game, Edwards wasn’t just another player who gets to be in the game: He’s a face of the game, joining Texas‘ Quinn Ewers and Colorado’s Travis Hunter on the cover.

But the initial reach out from EA almost went unnoticed by the Michigan running back.

“So I got a DM from one of the people at EA. And I don’t respond to DMs, you feel me? Because like, I don’t know, I don’t know who you are, you feel me?” Edwards said. “But then one of my representatives called me and he told me that EA wanted to do a deal with you. I said, ‘What’s the deal?’ They said, ‘You’ll be on the cover of the game.’ I said, ‘Ooooooooooooooo-ho-ho, oooooweeeee.’ So you know I had to take that deal.”

Being picked to be on the cover of the video game earned Edwards an NIL deal with EA, plus the notoriety that comes with gracing the art for such a popular title.

But he’s adamant it hasn’t changed who he his or how he lives his life in any really noticeable ways.

“It hasn’t changed my life at all,” Edwards said. “I still go into Chipotle, you know what I’m saying? I don’t DoorDash or anything. I still walk in there saying ‘Wassup everybody.’ Show love to all the people in there. Hasn’t changed my life at all besides you know just more eyes are on me now. Which, you have to embrace that because I have a voice now and people listen to me, so I’m going to use my voice for righteousness and positivity.”

Edwards’ position as a cover athlete also means more eyes inside the Michigan program are on him, not that they already weren’t for the senior running back expected to shoulder a significant workload.

He’s aware of the dynamic. And Edwards, knowing this, has set out to show his younger teammates that no matter what they have going on in terms of NIL or marketing, one can still remain laser-focused on what’s important when the time comes.

“I also look at it as a great obligation for me to represent the program and to be a leader amongst my team and do my absolute best every single day to uplift our standard,” Edwards said. “And my thing, too, is I want guys to see like ‘Yeah, Donovan has a lot going on for him right now, but you could be in this same situation, too.’ But when you’re in this situation, what are you going to do with it? You can either be rude and you can be mean or you can be a good person. And I want people to choose being a good person.”

Of course, Edwards’ 91 overall player rating was addressed. He’s tied for the 8th best running back rating the game in a five-way tie. In general, Edwards is OK with the rating, though he certainly thinks he can get it bumped up during the season.

Regardless of his ratings or the prestige that being in the game brings, Edwards has mostly enjoyed the perch he’s been given without it changing much about his life. Although there has been one difference that Edwards has noticed so far.

When asked about what the status of being a cover athlete brings, he paused for a few seconds.

“Questions like that,” Edwards said, bringing on laughs from the gathered media members.