If the copies of Electronic Arts' NCAA Football '10 that we received are the same that hit stores at midnight, the damages against the video game company and the NCAA could grow in the suit against them.
The two are currently defendants in a lawsuit brought by former University of Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller that states that the college football game over the years has used the likenesses of the college players without them sharing in the profits. Keller has maintained that although the faces aren't the same, the bio information and the dressing tendencies of the star players are nearly exact. The NCAA has said that the lawsuit is without merit.
I reviewed the top 10 players in college football as recently classified by the SportingNews.com with Chris Littmann, a senior editor for the site's blogs.
Here's what we found.
Every single one of the top 10 college players was within two inches of their real height and 10 pounds of their real weight in the game. Four athletes -- Sam Bradford, Jahvid Best, Jeremiah Masoli and Randall Hunter -- were listed at their exact heights and weights. Every single one of them had the correct eligibility status and 9 out of the top 10 players had the correct birthplace listed on the in-game bio page.
All jersey numbers were accurate, including Masoli, who switched his number from 2 to 8 in the offseason.
None of the faces look like the players (Sam Bradford has red hair in the game), but that doesn't mean that players don't look like they do on the field.
As you see below, Tebow is wearing a big wristband on his right arm in the game, as he does in real life. Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant has gloves on both hands and bands on both elbows in the game, exactly like Bryant likes to wear them.
