Long before he became the voice of college football Saturdays on FOX, Joel Klatt made a decision that only makes sense to anyone who grew up playing EA Sports College Football.
During his freshman season at Colorado, Klatt was given No. 14 as a walk-on quarterback. He eventually had the opportunity to change it before becoming the Buffaloes’ starter the following year. He never did. The reason? He knew the video game would have Colorado’s starting quarterback wearing No. 14.
Joel Klatt had the option to change his jersey number before his sophomore season, but chose not to, knowing the game would feature him wearing No. 14. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Now, 23 years later, Klatt is the new color commentator in EA Sports College Football 27.
Our team at FOX Sports caught up with Klatt to get a behind-the-scenes look at how he became the voice of the game.
What’s the story behind you becoming the voice of the new EA Sports college football game, and what was the process like from that first conversation to officially landing the role?
The process was actually painless. EA contacted my agency, and they did a great job of fostering that relationship. It was pretty well set before I even knew about it. I was incredibly excited. We had a Zoom with some of the executives at EA, and from that point, we signed the deal and started scheduling recording sessions.
You’ve spent years calling college football games. How different is it recording commentary for a video game versus calling a game in real-time on a college football Saturday?
It’s so different calling games for the video game. I would spend all day in one recording session just calling touchdowns. You’re not actually calling a game in sequence. You’re just trying to just take each situation for its own and give a line for that situation. Typically, each situation will have variables. You can talk about the defensive perspective, the offensive perspective, or the player perspective. It was very different and very compartmentalized, but it was certainly a cool experience.
What was your familiarity with this game and was there a “this is actually happening” moment for you?
I’m very familiar with the game. I’ve got three boys — 14, 12 and nine. They play the game. I played the game when it had its previous version. In fact, when I was playing at Colorado, they just gave me the number 14 when I walked on, and I had the option to switch my jersey number before my sophomore year, which was going to be my first year as the starting quarterback. But I didn’t change my number because I knew the game would have my No. 14 as the starting quarterback at Colorado. I’ve loved the game for a long time, and there was certainly part of me that, as I was recording, was thinking to myself, ‘I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.’
What actually went into becoming the voice of the game — from the recording sessions, to the scripting, to trying to make reactions sound natural for so many different in-game moments?
We did a lot of hard work. My first question to the folks at EA was if there was going to be AI support. They made it very clear that this was all going to be essentially manual. I would have recording sessions two hours at a time, and since they were based in Orlando, they came out and set up a little sound booth in my house. I would get on Zoom two to three times per week, typically at 6 a.m., and we would go through our sessions.
I wanted to get in as many sessions as I could possibly get in before the game went to market. This was a lot of hard work. I think we ended up doing close to 90 hours of recording and thousands of lines, but it was certainly fun. They would send me a script, and the script was basically just situations.
I didn’t think I would do well just reading lines, so I started just getting situations. I would talk about the offensive line, the running backs fighting for extra yards and being able to move the chains. And that’s how it went.
With everything you learned working on the game, if you had to pick one team right now to win a national title in EA Sports College Football 27, who are you taking and why?
From what I know about the game and some of the player ratings after the transfer portal, I know that Ohio State is going to be very good in the game. I think Indiana is going to be very good. I know Oregon is going to be very good, and Texas. Basically, they kind of nailed what a preseason top 10 would look like. So, any of those teams, I think, will have a great chance to win a national championship.
Where does becoming the voice of this game rank among the coolest experiences you’ve had in your career covering college football — and did it hit you at any point just how big of a deal this is for fans?
I’ve been so fortunate in this career, and done a lot of incredible things, even outside of college football. I got to call the U.S. Open and interview the players after they finished 18 at Pebble Beach. That was incredible. I’ve done studio shows at the Super Bowl when I was a host. I’ve called Big Ten championship games and Michigan vs. Ohio State. I will tell you that this absolutely ranks up there as one of the highlights of my career. It’s such an iconic brand and game. They do such an incredible job honoring college football. They love college football, and to be a part of that team and to further something that is really special in our space is a real highlight. It’s certainly one of the best things that I’ve ever done in my career. This is very cool.
