It's been tough to be a Michigan State football fan in recent years. First, Mel Tucker misses a bowl game in 2022, the year after winning 11 games, including the Peach Bowl, and then he gets fired at the start of the 2023 season, leading to Harlon Barnett taking over and Michigan State missing a second straight bowl game.
And then Jonathan Smith gets hired ahead of the 2024 campaign, the Spartans start hot with promise from a young quarterback and then they fizzle out, missing a third straight bowl.
On top of that, two quarterbacks who transferred out of the program experienced a ton of success in 2024 as Katin Houser led East Carolina to a bowl berth (and win) after starting the season as the backup and Sam Leavitt went to Arizona State, beat out a former five-star for the starting job, and led the Sun Devils to their first-ever College Football Playoff.
Leavitt became a household name near the end of the season and in the playoff as many fans around the country were rooting for the underdog Sun Devils.
This has led to even more opportunities for the former Michigan State quarterback.
In fact, he may be one of the featured cover athletes for the latest EA Sports College Football video game that's getting set to release this summer, according to a leak from Hayes Fawcett.
An early look at the EA College Football 26 Deluxe Edition Cover 👀
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 13, 2025
The cover consists of players such as DJ Lagway, Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith, True Freshman Bryce Underwood + more
Also features a few head coaches and mascots
(via tubbycfb/IG) pic.twitter.com/kE9TtniEk8
While Fawcett claimed that to be the Deluxe Edition leaked cover, it's not set in stone yet. Pete Nakos of On3 reported that there were a handful of athletes at the photoshoot as well as coaches. They include:
Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
Ryan Williams, Alabama
DJ Lagway, Florida
Bryce Underwood, Michigan
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
Caleb Downs, Ohio State
Dylan Stewart, South Carolina
Ryan Day, Ohio State
Kirby Smart, Georgia
James Franklin, Penn State
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Dan Lanning, Oregon
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
There's a lot of Ohio State representation because, well, the Buckeyes earned it by winning the national title. Also, Arizona State is the only other school with multiple names included.
EA Sports plans to release multiple covers, per Nakos, which means that Leavitt could get his own or he could be on one with a group of players. It'll be interesting to see if the former Spartan makes the cover of the next game.