TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — An excited Roq Montgomery popped out of his seat and started cheering at the television screen.

“Let’s go Roq, go get him,” the Alabama offensive lineman said, rooting on the video-game version of himself with a controller in his hands.

Montgomery is one of several Crimson Tide players who have had the opportunity to play as themselves in EA Sports’ new College Football 25 video game, which became available through early release on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday, Alabama held a couple of gaming parties inside its players’ lounge, as several members showed off their skills behind the controller.

Montgomery’s biggest moment was when he broke a long run while playing as Alabama. While it was his teammate, Jam Miller, who picked up the big gain in the game, Montgomery was more concerned with his own characters’ ability to provide a few crucial blocks downfield during the play.

“My guy got to the second level,” Montgomery said with a smile. “I do that in real life, so seeing me do it on the game, it’s like ‘OK, it’s real.’ It’s good to see myself represented in the video game. Before you’d have to wait to be in the NFL to play as yourself. That’s not the case anymore.”

After an 11-year hiatus due to NIL restrictions, EA Sports’ College Football video game is back. For the first time, it will include players’ real names, as more than 11,000 players opted in to allow for their name, image and likeness to be used.

EA Sports paid every player who opted in a minimum of $600 while also providing them with a copy of the game. While that’s a sweet deal, most of Alabama’s roster claims they would have taken the opportunity to be a part of the game regardless of the paycheck.

“It’s definitely surreal,” Alabama offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor said of seeing himself in the game. “I grew up playing College Football on the Xbox 360. To have a game right now with me in it, my name, number, everything. It has my stats and that I’m from Des Moines, Iowa. To be able to represent my city is a really cool experience.”

Proctor’s character currently dons the No. 71, as the game hasn’t updated to reflect Alabama’s latest roster change which saw him retain his No. 74 from last year. Other than that, the five-star lineman seems happy with how EA Sports represented him.

After starting all 14 games as a freshman last season, Proctor currently has an 87 rating, ninth among Alabama players. While he missed the cut for EA Sports’ top-100 list, the left tackle did receive the X-Factor designation handed out to the game's top players.

“That’s really what I was looking for,” Proctor said. “I needed that X-factor. I know they’re going to do it like Madden where they update the rankings. You’re fixing to see, I’ll be at 90-something by the end of the season.”

While Proctor is satisfied by his in-game attributes, other Alabama players feel a bit slighted by EA Sports’ rating system. Montgomery, who played in just two games while redshirting in his first season last year, was handed a humble 70 rating in the game.

“I love EA Sports, I love College Football, but honestly, I feel like I got disrespected in a way with my overall,” Montgomery said. “I knew I was going to be in the 70s, but I didn’t know I was going to be 70. Like, that’s almost 60s. To me, I feel like that’s too low. But with the weekly game updates, I’m hoping my overall goes up.”

According to early reviews, Jalen Milroe is one of the hardest players to stop in the game. The Alabama quarterback was given a 90 rating and ranks No. 71 overall among all players. His 91 speed and 93 acceleration are nearly impossible to stop on scrambles, and anyone who overpursues his running ability usually falls victim to his 96 throwing power on deep balls. Another popular weapon has been running back Jam Miller, who was given an 86 rating and generally takes multiple defenders to bring down in the game.

“I saved a clip last night of a play that I got with Jam,” Montgomery said. “It was a run play to the left, outside zone or a sweep, and I stomped on the go and snapped back. The defender went right across Jam’s face, and then I kept running and scored a touchdown.”

Running back Justice Haynes was also given an 86 rating ahead of what many are projecting to be a breakout season. Like Proctor, the sophomore expects his rating to rise throughout the year. He also feels several of his teammates are in the same boat.

“We definitely have some underrated guys,” Haynes said. “August 31 [the season opener against Western Kentucky ] is getting closer and closer every day. When it gets here, it’s going to be their time to shine. We’ve got a lot of great guys in this group, a lot of explosive guys. We have a lot of guys who are under the radar, a lot of guys who are going to make a lot of noise this year.”

Haynes cheered on his video game character while weaving through defenders as himself for the first time Tuesday. The 19-year-old back grew up playing the College Football video game but was coming up on his ninth birthday when EA Sports released its last version of the game in July of 2013. Tuesday, he watched kids of that age control his video game character, as Alabama hosted Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

“It’s very surreal. It’s a true blessing,” Haynes said. “These kids, these fans, everyone in this community gives so much. It means the world that they look up to me. Anyway we can give back. That’s what God put us in this position for is to give back to these kids, show them the way of life so they can pass it forward when they become us one day.”

For those who didn’t elect to pay the additional $30 to get early access to the game, the standard edition will be released on Friday at the price of $69.99. As for Alabama players, they’ll continue to hit the sticks as themselves in their downtime as they count down until the beginning of preseason camp on July 31.

“Seeing this really gets you ready for the season,” Haynes said. “I remember waiting for them to release Madden every year and thinking, ‘The NFL’s getting ready to start up. Well, now college football is getting ready to start up. We’re only six weeks away from the start of the season. We can’t get ready to get out there for real.”