I doubt Desmond Howard knew, when he struck that infamous Heisman pose in the end zone after a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown against arch-rival Ohio State in 1991, how long that celebration pose would linger in sports fans’ minds. Or at least the minds of those that market to sports gaming fans. Here we are 14 years later, long enough for an entire generation of gamers to have grown up without ever seeing that particular Ohio State/Michigan game--and that famous image is returning to the spotlight of sorts as the cover image of NCAA Football 06.

　　A lot of gamers may be scratching their heads at the choice of Howard as cover athlete for NCAA 06 but as a guy who is only one of four players to ever win both a Heisman Trophy and a Super Bowl MVP award, Howard’s football career speaks for itself. How does Howard feel about making it on the cover nearly a decade and half after his college career ended?

　　“You grow up playing video games and seeing things progress and the next thing you know, you’re actually on the cover of the game. It’s an honor, I’m actually flattered.” Still Howard admitted, when EA came calling, it caught him off-guard. “It’s a surprise when they come to you you’re like ‘Okay so what’s going on? What’s the catch?’ But it’s just an honor.”

　　So if it’s “the pose” that got Desmond Howard on the cover of the game, how did “the pose” come to be? Here’s what the man himself had to say about it:

　　“So going into the Ohio State game--I’m a kid who was born and raised in Cleveland so I understand the magnitude of the rivalry--I said, ‘Look, if I get into the end zone today I gotta do something special.’ This is like the hugest rivalry as far as [Michigan players] are concerned in any sport, college or professional. So I wanted to do something special, something that was deemed classy as opposed to deemed class-less, and so I wanted to do the Heisman pose so I just struck it and I got a lot of positive feedback. You know in college you can’t really do much, you can’t spike the ball but you want to enjoy yourself, you want to have fun. I was just a kid trying to have fun.

　　Howard admitted that while Michigan fans loved the unique celebration, Ohio State fans were not nearly as complimentary. “First and foremost because I’m a Cleveland guy who went to Michigan [so OSU fans wonder] how did I get away? How did I escape? So I get a lot of flack about that.”