Texas A&M coach called team meeting because players were playing too many video games

The upcoming release of “College Football 25” is sure to have a stranglehold on gamers who have waited more than a decade for the series to return. And that likely includes some of the student-athletes featured in the game. But Mike Elko knows what’s coming — he’s been through this before.

On Tuesday, Bryan-College Station Eagle reporter Travis Brown asked the Texas A&M head football coach if Aggies players seemed excited for the new video game. In response, Elko explained how he navigated the release of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” in October 2022, while he was the head coach at Duke.

“In full disclosure, because I’ve been a part of this before, you can’t imagine how much the release of a hot new video game can impact your football team,” Elko said. “I remember going all the way back to when the second ‘Call of Duty’ came out, and it got released in October in the middle of one of our football seasons. 

“We literally were having meetings with our defense about why it was not good to stay up until 4 in the morning playing ‘Call of Duty.’ We had practice at 7 o’clock the next morning.”

The last release of EA Sports' popular series was in 2013. And now things are very different (literally). College Football 25 will be the first version of the game to be released in the NIL era.

Because players couldn't use their actual names, previous versions only featured loose representations of the athletes. But now, for the first time ever, players can be compensated for their likeness in the game – if they choose to do so.

RELATED: Clemson OL Walker Parks doesn't like EA Sports making him look super fat in the 25th college football game

So if Elko's players thought Call of Duty was cool, then being a real character in your own video game must be MUCH cooler. Maybe even cool enough to keep you up all night if you have a morning workout.

You may want to schedule another one of these team meetings, Coach.