Joel Klatt on being in EA Sports College Football 27: ‘I can’t believe I’m actually doing this’

Joel Klatt is the new color commentator for EA Sports College Football 27, and the opportunity is very special for him. In an interview with FOX Sports, Klatt talked about his love for the game, which dates back to his days as a quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes.

“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,” Klatt said. “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.’”

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Klatt takes over for ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who was a color commentator for the two previous editions of EA Sports College Football. The FOX Sports college football commentator joins Chris Fowler in the booth for the big college games and the College Football Playoff.

Joel Klatt discusses getting the deal done with EA

But how did Klatt become the new voice of EA Sports College Football 27? He explained.

“EA contacted my agency, and they did a great job of fostering that relationship,” he said. “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.”

Klatt isn’t the only new member of the broadcast team. ESPN’s Holly Rowe is part of the video game as a sideline reporter and will provide updates tied to injuries, weather, player performance, and game flow. Fans can start listening to Klatt and Rowe when EA Sports College Football 27 launches worldwide on July 9 (early access starts on July 2).

As Klatt makes his EA Sports College Football debut, he is gearing up for another season with FOX Sports. He has been part of the network since 2013 and has been the lead college football game analyst since 2015. As a quarterback at Colorado, Klatt set 44 school records as the starter from 2003 to 2005.