Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller makes Power-5 college football history after giving halftime speech in her ‘goalkeeper voice’

Here is a look at Vanderbilt football placekicker Sarah Fuller practicing. Fuller helped Vanderbilt women’s soccer win the SEC tournament this fall. Nashville Tennessean

Sarah Fuller gave a passionate halftime speech to her Vanderbilt team — her football team, that is — on Saturday.

It was an eyebrow-raising revelation on a day that featured plenty of hyperbole.

Fuller’s boldness on a team she joined five days ago was incredible enough. That she spoke up with the historic distinction of becoming the first woman to play in a Power Five college football game put it over the top.

ESTES: History found Vanderbilt football’s Sarah Fuller, and it turns out she was perfect for it | Estes

Vanderbilt was trailing 21-0 to Missouri in a lackluster performance.

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Fuller, a Vanderbilt goalkeeper who won the SEC women’s soccer tournament title last Sunday, didn’t like the body language and lack of enthusiasm of her new football teammates.

And her voice and competitive spirit simply weren’t going to be silenced by unfamiliarity. 

“I just walked in and asked a few people if I could talk, and they said, ‘Yeah, go ahead.’ And then I got everybody’s attention,” Fuller said. “(I told them that) we need to cheer each other on because that’s the only way I’ve seen it work.

“I just used my goalkeeper voice in the (football) locker room.”

SARAH FULLER: 5 things to know about the Vanderbilt kicker, women’s soccer goalie

The halftime speech didn’t work. Vanderbilt lost 41-0 in Columbia, Missouri. But Fuller made an impression on the Commodores and, well, countless people from civil rights icon Billie Jean King to soccer superstar Carli Lloyd to Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

But more than just women paid attention. Before the game, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who has four daughters, whispered to the opposing kicker that he thought her participation was incredible.

“Girl dads have come up to me and said, ‘You are inspiring my girls. I want them to know they can do anything, and you are proving that point,’” Fuller said. “That’s the coolest thing.”

Derek Mason wanted best kicker, not just a social statement

So why did Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason add Fuller to the team?

He said it wasn’t a publicity stunt. It was out of necessity. Fuller’s strong leg and availability made her the best option for a team that lost its other kickers due to COVID-19 contact tracing.

But Mason, who has two daughters, didn’t miss the significance of Fuller’s feat.

“There are moments in time that no one can really forecast,” Mason said. “I think there was something bigger at work here.”

Fuller finally took the field, wearing No. 32 with “Play Like a Girl” on the back of her helmet. She broke the barrier by squibbing the kickoff to start the second half. She never got an opportunity to score because Vanderbilt didn’t get into field-goal range or into the end zone to set up an extra-point kick.

The squib was by design, as Mason said it was a “natural kick in her arsenal.” Missouri fielded it at the 35 with no return.

WATCH: See video of Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller interview after Missouri football game

Fuller, a 6-foot-2 athlete from Wylie, Texas, never made contact with a Missouri player. Her dad, sitting in the stands, wasn’t concerned about her safety.

“She’s quite capable,” Brandon Fuller said. “The act of her playing the game doesn’t worry me at all. It’s just the insanity around and everything else that I’m worried about.”

Fuller became the first woman to play in a Power Five conference game, including the SEC. She followed New Mexico’s Katie Hnida (2003) and Kent State’s April Goss (2015), who both scored points as kickers in FBS games, though in Group of Five conferences. 

Women have made a few appearances in college football games since 1997, when Liz Heaston kicked two extra points for Willamette, then an NAIA program.

‘Sarah is a Vanderbilt football player’

Backup quarterback Mike Wright was one of the first players to congratulate Fuller on the sideline after the kickoff. That wasn’t a surprise, considering his supportive tweet on Friday to combat “mean stuff said about Sarah” on social media.

“Trust me when I say no one on the team is offended nor upset. We are excited Sarah is a part of our team. … And to the people who believe this is an issue … look in the mirror and you’ll see the actual problem,” Wright tweeted.

MORE: Twitter reacts as Sarah Fuller becomes the first woman to play football in SEC, Power Five

Fuller was given the spotlight for a team starved for positive news. Neither that attention nor her impromptu halftime speech triggered harsh feelings, Wright said.

“You can take a leader out of her sport. But at the end of the day, she’s still a leader,” Wright said in the Zoom postgame news conference. “We love that she was able to join the team.

“Sarah is part of this team. Sarah is a Vanderbilt football player.”

Will Fuller keep kicking for Vanderbilt?

Vanderbilt plays No. 10 Georgia next Saturday and then rival Tennessee, either on Dec. 12 or Dec. 19. 

COVID-19 contact tracing could keep Vanderbilt kickers unavailable for at least another week, so Mason said he wants Fuller to keep kicking.

“If she wants to kick and she’s available, we’d love to have her,” Mason said.

Fuller accepted the offer because she said, “I love this team, … and I’m having so much fun.”

So Fuller could have another chance to score on an extra-point kick or field goal. She said her longest made kick in practice was a 38-yarder.

“Oh yeah, she’s proven to us that she can kick the ball,” linebacker Ethan Barr said.

Vanderbilt has a 0-8 record and a 12-game SEC losing streak. The Commodores are struggling mightily, but Fuller said she won’t settle for losing.

“(We) just need to bury it, move forward,” said Fuller, rising in her seat. “Need to focus on what you can control next — the next practice, the next meeting, whatever it is.”

Sounds like another fiery speech is coming from the goalie-turned-kicker who proudly played like a girl.

Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.