RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Voice acting is just a hobby for Riverview native Marcus Sloan.
He began voice-over work about six years ago, primarily on home healthcare tutorials.
But in January, he saw an unusual job posting.
“It didn’t say anything about EA Sports,” Sloan said. “It was just some nondescript name. We need a referee's voice, and there was the script.”
He went to his home studio — a small upstairs closet — and got to work on his audition. The script called for several referee calls such as “first down,” “offsides, defense.”
A week later, he was hired as the voice of the referee in the iconic EA Sports College Football 25 video game.
“Then they told me who they were. I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I floated all the way to Orlando to their studios,” he said. "A huge studio, and they treated me like a king.”
He scored more than sixty referee calls at the Electronic Arts studio.
“There was this cartoon character, this animated referee, who would say the commands,” he said. “I had to time my voice with his lip movements. We had to be in perfect sync.”
Now, when a call doesn’t go your way, you have a face to go with that booming voice.
“Millions of people are listening to me. Probably half the room is getting upset because I am calling ‘touchdown.' The other half is excited because I am calling ‘touchdown,’” he said. “I think it’s fantastic. It’s wonderful to be able to say that’s my voice.”
