FITZGERALD IS FINALLY COVERED The NCAA® Football 2005 Cover Athlete Dishes on the New Game, the Draft and Catching the Ball After a tremendous sophomore campaign that led to his being selected third overall in this year's NFL draft, former University of Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has been selected by Electronic Arts™ to appear on the cover of the newest iteration of EA SPORTS'™ best-selling college football franchise, NCAA® Football 2005. Fitzgerald is entering the NFL after two record-breaking seasons at University of Pittsburgh and his image will appear on all of the game?s packaging and merchandising. ?It?s a huge honor to represent NCAA Football 2005, since this is the game my teammates and I always competed on in the dorms,? said Fitzgerald after the announcement. ?To grace the cover of the most intense and exciting college football videogame is a dream come true for me. I am fired up to be part of the EA SPORTS family.? Larry was at the EA headquarters recently, checking out an advance copy of NCAA Football 2005, and we got the chance to chat with him about video games, football and the NFL draft.

Larry checks out the new game EA SPORTS: You?re one of the very first people to get a chance to play NCAA Football 2005. What are your thoughts so far? Larry Fitzgerald: I?m a huge fan of EA SPORTS games in general, and college football definitely. It?s great to be able to come here and get an early look at a game that you?ve been playing your whole life. You get to help to rate your teammates too, so that?s a lot of fun. It?s a great experience. EA SPORTS: What?s it like being selected to be on the cover of a video game? Larry Fitzgerald: You work your entire career to put yourself in the position to do something like this ? be on the cover of such a prestigious game, a game that will sell over two million copies. It also creates a lot of attention for my school as well; it will help recruiting, and help my team as well, so it?s just great for all parties. EA SPORTS: Is this something that you would thinking about when growing up ? looking at a video game and saying ?man, that could (or should) be me on the cover someday?? Larry Fitzgerald: Yeah, always. That?s something I always aspired to do, I aspired to be on the cover one day. I always thought I would be on the Madden cover one day, but it?s great to be on NCAA, and later in my career, maybe I can get on Madden. EA SPORTS: Would you characterize yourself as a video gamer? Do you play a lot of different games? Larry Fitzgerald: Nah, I?m just strictly a football guy. I play NCAA, I play Madden, I just got the new NFL STREET football game and I play that a little bit too. I?ve missed a few classes playing video games in my day. Early on (in the year), I play a lot of NCAA; later on in the year, I play a lot more Madden. I?m probably better at Madden. EA SPORTS: And now you?re going to be in Madden 2005, with your name on the jersey and everything. What?s that going to be like? Larry Fitzgerald: I was just begging people around here to make sure my rating?s not too low on the game, or I?ll get beat up out there. I?m just hoping I?m 85 and above, that?s all I want and I?ll be happy.

Larry on yet another cover EA SPORTS: You?ve got the NFL Draft coming up, and you?ll probably be one of the top three players selected. What?s going through your mind right now as you prepare for the draft and your NFL future? Larry Fitzgerald: I?ve been ready to get it over with, to be honest with you. It?s been a long process; it?s been like the slowest three months of my life. I?ll be looking forward to finally knowing where I?m going to be, so I can get out there and get acclimated with the area and the coaching staff and the system that I?m going to be running next year. This is an exciting time, but it?s also a time that?s taken a while. EA SPORTS: The team that drafts you ? what will they be getting? Larry Fitzgerald: First and foremost, they?re going to get a great player, a difference-maker. They?ll get a person that?s going to be a standout in the community, that will do his part as well in the community and the football field. They?re going to get an all-around good person. EA SPORTS: One of the most impressive things about you is that you do your job ? catching balls and scoring touchdowns ? without calling too much attention to yourself with ridiculous celebrations. Where does that particular ethic come from? Larry Fitzgerald: It?s your job. They pay you, in the NFL, to score touchdowns; whatever your job is, they pay you that money to do that. It shouldn?t be that big a deal ? that?s your job to get in the end zone, and I take it like that. I was a big Barry Sanders fan growing up, and when Barry Sanders got in the end zone, it was his duty to get into the end zone. That?s how I take it ? a business approach. EA SPORTS: You have a lot of different strengths and facets to your game. Are there any current pro players that you look up to or try to pattern your game after? Larry Fitzgerald: I wouldn?t say pattern, but there are a lot of guys that I really like to watch tape on: T.O., Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison. I like Eric Moulds? there?s a lot of guys that I like to take a lot of their material. I like to watch a lot of different tapes and just take bits and pieces of what a guy?s strengths are, and try to put that in my game. EA SPORTS: For guys coming up into high school and college, what?s the best advice you can give them on getting better at all aspects of receiving? Larry Fitzgerald: I think the biggest thing when you get to college is just accept the coaching, because a lot of guys in high school don?t get coached that well. Your college coaches, they?ve been around the game, they know what they?re doing, so just accept the coaching that they?re teaching you, and it will help you.