Sarah Fuller gave a passionate speech at half-time to her team at Vanderbilt, that is, her team, on Saturday.
It’s an impressive revelation on a day full of hyperboles.
Fuller’s audacity in a team he joined five days ago was pretty incredible. The fact that she talked about the old difference of fitting in the first woman to play in a Power Five school football game put her on top.
ESTES: History discovered Sarah Fuller from Vanderbilt football, and it turns out she’s the best for that Estes
Vanderbilt led Missouri 21-0 in a mediocre performance.
Fuller, a Vanderbilt archer who won the name of the SEC women’s soccer tournament last Sunday, did not like the language of the framework and the lack of enthusiasm of her new football teammates.
And his voice and competitive spirit just weren’t going to be silenced out of ignorance.
“I went in and asked some other people if I could talk, and they said, “Yes, go ahead. “And then I ceded everyone’s attention,” Fuller said. “(I told them that) we have to inspire others because that’s the only way I’ve noticed it works.
“I used my goalkeeper’s voice in the locker room (football). “
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The speech of halftime didn’t work. Vanderbilt lost 41-0 in Columbia, Missouri. But Fuller has inspired the Commodores and, well, countless people, from civil rights icon Billie Jean King to soccer superstar Carli Lloyd and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
But more than just women have paid attention. Before the game, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who has four daughters, whispered to the rival kicker who thought his involvement was incredible.
“Women dads came up to me and said, ‘You motivate my daughters. I need them to know that they can do anything and that you can do it,” Fuller said. “That’s the coolest thing. “
So why did Vanderbilt’s coach, Derek Mason, get Fuller on the team?
He said it wasn’t an exhibition trick, it was out of necessity. Fuller’s strength and availability made him the most productive option for a team that lost its other kickers due to the search for COVID-19 contacts.
STORY ? Sarah Fuller of VandyFootball is the first in school football history to play in a Power Five game. Pic. twitter. com/zhSaLqa3Bg
But Mason, who has two daughters, missed the significance of Fuller’s feat.
“There are times in time that no one can predict,” Mason said. “I think there was something bigger in the paintings here. “
Fuller nevertheless took the box, dressed in the number 32 with “Play Like a Girl” on the back of her helmet. She broke the barrier by ripping off the kick-off to start the moment. He never had a chance to score because Vanderbilt did not get into the diversity of purposes of the area or the finish area to establish an additional kick.
The squib through design, as Mason said, was a “natural kick in his arsenal. “Missouri covered it at 35 without a refund.
WATCH: Watch the video of Vanderbilt’s kicker Sarah Fuller interview after a game in Missouri
Fuller, a 6-foot-2-inch athlete from Wylie, Texas, never made contact with a Missouri player. His father, sitting in the stands, didn’t care about his safety.
“She’s capable, ” said Brandon Fuller. ” The fact that I play the game doesn’t fear me at all. It’s just crazy and everything I’m worried about. “
Fuller, the first woman to play in a Power Five convention game, adding the SEC. She followed Katie Hnida of New Mexico (2003) and April Goss of Kent State (2015), any of whom scored problems as kickers at FBS games still at the Group of Five Conventions.
Women have made some school football appearances since 1997, when Liz Heaston scored two more issues for Willamette, then an NAIA program.
Quarterback Mike Wright was one of the first players to congratulate Fuller on the bench after the start. It wasn’t a surprise, watching his Tweet on Friday to combat the “unpleasant things that were said about Sarah” on social media.
“Believe me when I say no one on the team is angry or upset. We are very happy that Sarah is part of our team.
MORE: Twitter reacts when Sarah Fuller becomes the first to play football in SEC, Power Five
Fuller has been highlighted by an avid news team. Neither that attention nor his impromptu speech at half-time provoked resentment, Wright said.
“You can eliminate a leader of their sport. But at the end of the day, she’s still a leader,” Wright said at Zoom’s post-game press conference. “We love that you were able to enroll in the team.
“Sarah’s on this team. Sarah is a Vanderbilt football player. “
Vanderbilt will face Georgia No. 10 on Saturday and then compete with Tennessee on December 12 or 19.
Searching for COVID-19 contacts can prevent Vanderbilt’s kickers from being unavailable for at least a week, so Mason said he looked for Fuller to keep kicking.
“If you need to kick and it’s available, I’d like to have it,” Mason said.
Fuller accepted the be offer because he said, “I love this team and I’m having a lot of fun. “
Therefore, Fuller might have some other chance of scoring in an additional kick or basket. He said his longest kick in 38-yard practice.
“Oh, yes, she showed us that she can just hit the ball, ” said supporter Ethan Barr.
Vanderbilt has a 0-8 record and a 12-game loss streak in the SEC. The Commodores are in a lot of pain, but Fuller said he just lost.
“(We) just want to bury him, move on,” Fuller said, emerging from his seat. “You want to focus on what you can next: the next practice, the next meeting, whatever. “
It seems that a fiery speech comes from the goalkeeper-turned-kicker who played proudly as a child.
Contact Adam Sparks on asparks@tennessean. com and Twitter @AdamSparks.