Sam Keller Might Not Have Many Allies

Exactly one month ago today, former Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller made a splash on the national news scene by pursuing litigation against EA Sports.

The Former Devil and Husker claimed that the video game company illegally uses names and likenesses of college football players, including his own, on their NCAA Football series of simulations.

We all kind of stood back and scratched our heads at the move…mainly because this kind of erratic play behavior was downright expected out of our former saving grace.

At the time, I said a picture of this case “appeared next to the word ‘frivolous’ in Webster’s Dictionary.” I still believe that. I personally don’t believe that there is anything harmful about using college players likenesses in these games for the reason that if EA Sports didn’t, it would certainly take some of the allure and fun out of playing these games.

Over the past month, no one has really stepped up to bat for Keller and backed him up with his case against Electronic Arts. Yesterday, though, in a story in the Detroit Free Press, Keller’s first dissentor popped up.

Current Detroit Lions QB Drew Stanton was one of the most prominent college QB’s of his time while playing for Michigan State earlier this decade. He’s now on the record saying that he’s got no problem being featured in the NCAA Football series.

“Most people are excited that they’re in a video game,” Stanton said. “It could be the fact that this player found a loophole in the system, but I think the majority of people in the game are happy to be in it. The reason you go to college isn’t to be in a video game and get paid for it.”

Stanton went on to say that he felt no college athlete should feel taken advantage of by the company or the video game.

I couldn’t be more in agreement. Frankly, I don’t know Sam Keller; I haven’t spoken with or interviewed him since he left the ASU program in 2006. In fact, the last time I spoke to him was two days before that infamous Sunday night practice, held the day before classes started, after which Dirk Koetter announced that “he’d made a mistake” and that Rudy Carpenter would start and Keller’s status was “up in the air.” Sam, of course, transfered to Nebraska just about a week later.

Keller’s pro career never panned out; he had fleeting moments in training camp with the Oakland Raiders and a brief stint with the Los Angeles Avengers. When you Google Image search “Sam Keller,” nearly half of the first crop of pictures that come out are the infamous party shots that he became known for. The fact of the matter is after the Sun Devils lost to USC in 2005 and his subsequent thumb injury against Oregon a week later, Keller’s career became irrelevant; a joke; a punchline.

This whole EA Sports thing just adds icing to the cake.

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