COLLEGE TOWN, FL — EA SPORTS is helping college football players explore what comes next after their playing days end, and a group of Florida State Seminoles got an inside look at careers tied directly to the sport they know best.
Earlier this month, FSU's Ashlynd Barker and Jalen Anderson traveled to EA Tiburon Studios in Orlando for EA SPORTS' 2nd annual Career Tour. Over three days, the players got a behind-the-scenes look at how games like Madden NFL and EA SPORTS College Football are made.
Barker said the experience opened his eyes to opportunities he had not previously considered.
"When football ends for a lot of people, it just ends like that, and there's no more coming back to it. So being able to stop play and being able to come back and work in a different setting not playing physical is great," Barker said.
Anderson described the visit as both fun and meaningful.
"It was so fun and, like, such a unique experience...a lot of people there, you know, they were former football players that, you know, maybe it didn't work for them or worked for a little while for them whatever and they ended up working there like really finding a passion and love there — especially giving it back to the same community that their a part of. So it felt really personal at home for me," Anderson said.
EA SPORTS says athletes already have skills that naturally fit the gaming industry, from breaking down film to understanding football strategy.
"I think that the career tour shows these athletes that their future can still be rooted in the game — this game that they have spent so many years playing, so much time invested in. It's just in a different way. It's going to take a different curve," EA SPORTS University Relations Manager Shawnna Oldenburg said.
"Their years studying film and reading defenses and those things can translate directly into roles across EA," Oldenburg said.
EA SPORTS says its timing is intentional. Last month's NFL Draft serves as a reminder that less than 2% of all NCAA football players ever make it to the professional level, according to NFL data.
Beyond exploring future career opportunities, Barker and Anderson helped FSU place first in the program's video game development competition.
"It was definitely cool, honestly. I didn't even know jobs, like, that existed before going on the tour, and then the way that they talked to us about their jobs. It just made it seem like, honestly, like a dream job other than playing football," Barker said.
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