WASHINGTON — The University of Louisville football team responded to their call of duty when preparing for the University of Pittsburgh last weekend — not their responsibility on the gridiron, but their dedication to the newest video game.
The Cardinals’ head coach Charlie Strong blames the team’s 21-14 loss to the Panthers on the newest installation of the “Call of Duty” game series, “Modern Warfare 3.” Strong says the video game was at the forefront of the team’s discussions in the days leading up to their scheduled game.
“It’s young people. We’re dealing with young guys who see something new, they want to try it and it just engulfs them,” Strong told CardinalSports.com. “I heard them talking about it all week.”
“Young people are dealing with so much,” he continued. “I told them Tuesday. I get them off the practice field and we weren’t sharp, so you’re thinking you come back on Wednesday and we weren’t sharp then. There’s a new video game that came out.”
The team let the video game “take control,” Strong told the team. It became obvious to the coach after checking their social media accounts.
“They don’t realize you can read everything they’re saying and they’re all talking about the video game,” he said. “I told them, ‘I can find out anything I want to about you guys, all I have to do is go to my Twitter page.'”
“It’s all about maturity, but when you’re dealing with young people everything is new and exciting to them and they’re going to go try it as much as you talk about it,” Strong said. “We had guys miss class because they stayed up all night playing that video game. It’s such a big deal.”
Much of his team had missed classes after staying up all night playing the game, he said, adding their three-game winning streak may have also gone to their heads.
Strong told CardinalSports he hasn’t yet tried the new first-person shooter, which sold 6.5 million copies and reeled in $400 million during its first week on the shelves.
Check out the official trailer for the game here:
and a spoof where you might recognize slimmed-down comedian Jonah Hill:
WTOP’s Agnes Phua contributed to this report.
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