Sarah Fuller - The Orphan

SOCCER GOALKEEPER - FOOTBALL KICKER - VANDERBILT

ARCHETYPE: THE ORPHAN

Day 88/135

Athletic Accomplishments

Sarah Fuller made history in 2020, as the first woman to play NCAA football for a Power Five conference. Look, we all know that Vanderbilt's football team was—how do I say this?—absolutely terrible. But you know what wasn't terrible? Vandy's women's soccer team, who won the SEC championship.

That's why and where Sarah Fuller really made her mark, as the starting goalkeeper for the Commodores. It's easy to steamroll through this part so we can get to the history-making football, but I don't really think that's doing a service to Fuller, her soccer teammates, or women in sports. Because hell yeah, it's dope that Vandy's football team pulled Fuller onto their roster as kicker for two games. And hell yeah it's cool that in just 6 days, she was on the field, doing squibb kicks and kicking extra points.

But you know what else is cool? That she's played soccer her whole entire life. That she has been so successful in her dominant, primary sport. That she worked her way up from the bench to starter in her senior season. That she even recorded an assist, after effortlessly blasting the ball like 85 yards on a fucking GOAL KICK. That shouldn't be the footnote. That should be the story. But we didn't hear that story or know her name until the boys noticed her.

Character Archetype: The Orphan

As a character archetype, “the orphan” emerges into the story as a hero that no one saw coming. Who is this? Where did she come from? Can she save the day?

In the narrative of Vandy's 2020 football season, Sarah Fuller played the orphan, plucked from obscurity—which is somehow Vandy’s SEC Championship women’s soccer team—to prominence—which is somehow Vandy’s abysmal men’s football team, which needed a kicker. Enter Sarah Fuller and her golden leg.

As the first woman to play NCAA football for a Power Five conference, Fuller demonstrated that she can meet the moment. From squibb kicks to extra points, she did everything asked of her on the field, but then also held onto the spotlight to deliver her message to girls and women in sports. You belong here.

She commanded and controlled what she wanted people to take away from this experience. She wanted you to see her as an athlete. To not second guess her, or anyone else, simply because of their gender. And you know what? You owe that to her.

But that’s only one part of the story. I know it's tempting to skip to the history-making football, but that does a disservice to Fuller. It's incredible that Vandy's football team pulled Fuller onto their roster as kicker for two games. But it's more impressive that she won an SEC Championship, working her way up from the bench to starting goalkeeper in her senior season. That she recorded an assist, after effortlessly blasting the ball 85 yards on a goal kick.

That shouldn't be the footnote. That should be the story. But we didn't hear that story until the boys noticed her.