Pictured above: Vanderbilt Football Stadium in 2010 . Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
By Gigi Picard ’22
Sports Editor
Sports history was made last Saturday as Vanderbilt University Commodores football took on the Missouri Tigers with the debut of Vanderbilt’s senior goalkeeper on the women’s SEC championship soccer team, Sarah Fuller.
With a limited number of kicking specialists due to COVID-19, Vanderbilt needed a new kicker on the field. The Chicago Tribune reported that Vanderbilt does not have a men’s soccer team that the football team could have borrowed a kicker from, and the football staff still needed to find a suitable athlete who was already observing Vanderbilt’s COVID-19 protocols. Thus, Fuller was found and traded her shin guards for football pads.
Fuller took on the role of Vanderbilt’s starting and only kicker with her parents, best friend and boyfriend watching in the stands. She was able to practice with the team days before the game, and her farthest successful field goal kick was from 38 yards.
Fuller’s football jersey number is 32, the same as her soccer number. She also sported a “Play like a girl” sticker on the back of her helmet in honor of the organization of the same name. “Tomorrow I will be wearing ‘Play Like a Girl’ on the back of my helmet. @iplaylikeagirl is [a] nonprofit that encourages girls to play sports and get exposure to STEM opportunities. Check them out,” she tweeted on Friday.
Before the game, Fuller received praise and wishes of good luck from former American tennis player Billie Jean King, the Dallas Cowboys from her home state of Texas, New England Patriots kicker Nick Folk, Lakers star LeBron James and many more.
Fuller didn’t get much action on the field as her only play was a 30-yard kick-off to open the third quarter of the game. She would have had more playing time if Vanderbilt attempted a field goal or an extra point after a touchdown.
Fuller’s performance made her the first woman to play in a Power Five conference game. The Power Five consists of five top-tier athletic conferences in Division I of the NCAA, including the SEC, Big Ten Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference and PAC-12 Conference. However, Fuller is not the first woman to play in college football. Katie Hnida, Tonya Butler, April Goss, Ashley Martin, Liz Heaston and Toni Harris have all taken the field before her. All of these women played on non-Power Five conference college teams.
At the end of the game, Fuller said to the SEC Network, “I just want to tell all the girls out there that you can do anything you set your mind to, you really can. And if you have that mentality all the way through, you can do big things.”
Since Missouri shut out the Commodores 41-0, giving Vanderbilt a 0-8 season, Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason was released from his coaching position on Sunday.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Fuller will continue kicking for the team.