Keeping the Legacy Alive: How Fans Updated NCAA Football 14 and Influenced College Football 25
For many college football enthusiasts, NCAA Football 14 wasn't just a video game; it was a lifeline to a beloved sport during a period of absence. When the series went dormant, fans stepped up to keep the game alive, most notably through updated rosters. This dedication not only prolonged the game's lifespan but also influenced the development of College Football 25.
The Spark: Outdated Rosters and a Need for Accuracy
When NCAA Football 14’s rosters became outdated, fans took it upon themselves to create updated roster files. Erik Vallow, like millions of other college football junkies, downloaded an updated roster file, put together by an anonymous fan on a Discord server. These files, however, weren't always perfect. Vallow, for example, noticed discrepancies in player ratings, such as Isaiah Simmons’ speed rating being a 79, which bothered him. He said Simmons’ speed was just one of many small things he took issue with in fan-made roster files. He had to do something about it.
The Excel Revelation: A Formulaic Approach to Ratings
Vallow, then a freshman at Indiana, decided to take matters into his own hands. He realized that his intro to Excel class provided the tools he needed to create his own updated rosters. Vallow went to work with his rudimentary Excel skills and built out player generation models to determine player ratings formulaically. He wanted to be methodical with his ratings. He didn’t want to base complex receiver ratings off two-dimensional statistics like receptions and yards. He didn’t want to gloss over the intricacies of offensive and defensive lineman skill sets. What he wanted was tangible data.
The PFF Advantage: Data-Driven Ratings
The turning point came with the advent of Pro Football Focus (PFF). Around 2020, PFF - a sports analytics company that uses a grading system to evaluate every player on every play during a football game - started sharing its college football data publicly with its subscribers. Vallow, a sophomore majoring in finance and business analytics, dived into the data. This allowed him to move beyond subjective assessments and ground his ratings in real-life numbers. Some extra time from living back at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic helped too. Vallow later realized track and field statistics from a player’s high school and offseason training can give him even more information for rating physical traits.
Community Feedback and Refinement
Vallow's meticulous approach gained attention when he started sharing his updated rosters publicly. When he started sharing his updated rosters publicly, people were shocked by the detail of the players’ physical attributes, even if there were naysayers who felt their school and favorite players were underrated. The attention wasn't always positive, with some questioning his ratings, but Vallow used the feedback to refine his work. There’d be some guys from some MAC schools saying, ‘Hey, so and so (isn’t rated right)’ and I’d just say sorry and get to it in the next update,” he said with a laugh.
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From Fan to EA Sports: A Dream Job
Vallow's dedication and expertise eventually led to a part-time job with EA Sports. He was soon hired as an independent contractor to work with their roster team. He got on a call and showed them, ‘Hey I could generate Alabama’s whole recruiting class right now just based on the data I have, just input and calculate,’ and I think they were like, ‘Oh, this is actually valuable.’ Now 24, he parlayed a passion project of creating updated NCAA 14 roster files into a part-time job with EA Sports, where he applies his custom-made rating algorithms as a member of the roster creation team for College Football 25 - the first college football video game released in 11 years.
A Thriving Community: Operation Sports and Beyond
The community around NCAA Football 14 thrived in the absence of new releases. At Operation Sports, thousands of users flock to hundreds of video game forum threads on a daily basis. The site’s college football community is among its most frequented destinations, and it’s a place where genuine relationships have formed over the years. Chase Becotte, senior editor of Operation Sports, noted the positive atmosphere, contrasting it with more negative online forums. In the decade-plus of the college football community going without a new game, something different happened with the people who kept NCAA 14 alive. That community thrived on both the nostalgia of NCAA 14 seeming like the last game of the series and also that it was a really well-made title, Becotte said. Roster updaters like Vallow had hundreds of fans giving feedback on ratings. Streamers like Yeboah have thousands of YouTube viewers watching him rebuild East Carolina in Dynasty mode.
The End of an Era? College Football 25 and the Future of NCAA 14
The release of College Football 25, complete with real player names and NIL deals, marks a new chapter for college football gaming. While some view it as bittersweet, many are excited about the new features and advancements. Becotte called it bittersweet. Yeboah said he’ll have a hard time putting NCAA 14 away for good.
Vallow was 13 years old when NCAA 14 was released. His younger brother was around 13 years old when Vallow was back home during COVID-19 making his roster updates. Now their youngest brother is 13 years old with College Football 25 coming out.
Even with the new game, NCAA Football 14 is likely to retain a dedicated following. The community kept the game alive for as long as it needed to be,” Yeboah said, “and even when College Football 25 comes out, I feel like there’s still going to be a bunch of people that play NCAA 14 because that’s just how good the game is.”
Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile
Fan Influence: Shaping the Next Generation
The dedication of NCAA Football 14 fans has had a tangible impact on College Football 25. He said he has no idea if his younger brothers will appreciate the new game like he has for the past decade, but Vallow cherishes that the spirit of NCAA 14 will live on because fans have gotten to influence the next generation of college football games. EA Sports listened to its fan base over the past decade and are giving its community the features they’ve clamored for.
Read also: The Return of College Football Gaming
tags: #ncaa #football #14 #updated #rosters
