“You can’t expect it to be easy. It’s never going to be a straight shot,” Fuller told CNN a few days after her performance with Vanderbilt’s Football team.

Athlete Sarah Fuller made history when she became the first woman to play in a college football game for a Power 5 team. 

Fuller is a Senior at Vanderbilt University and is the starting goalkeeper for the Women’s Soccer team – a team that claimed the 2020 National Championship. The Vanderbilt Football Program recruited her to assist the Football team after many of their specialists were out due to restrictions with the Coronavirus. 

Former head coach Derek Mason was impressed by her willingness and told reporters, “She could have easily said no, but instead, she prepared all week and did what she was supposed to do.”

Before Fuller was set to be put in, she gave a pep talk at halftime in the locker room in an attempt to get team spirit up. The Washington Post attributed Commodores quarterback Mike Wright as saying, “I mean, you can take a leader out of their sport, but at the end of the day she’s still a leader.”

Fuller kicked off to start the second half against Missouri with a low squib kick designed by the team’s coaches. 

Missouri went on to beat Vanderbilt 41- 0. Even with the team’s lack of offense not allowing for her to attempt a PAT or field goal, she wasn’t short on pride due to her achievement.

“I just want to tell all the girls out there that you can do anything you set your mind to; you really can,” Fuller stated in an after-game interview, “And if you have that mentality all the way through, you can do big things.”

When Sanderson High School football player Jaqui Coates was asked if he thought Fuller’s involvement was important or not, Coates stated, “I think it’s important because the sport of football has always been a ‘mans’ sport, so to diversify the sport is very big. It’s a massive jump not only for sports but for equality movements in today’s world.”

Vanderbilt Football made sure to comment on Fuller after the game by taking to Twitter and saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, you have witnessed history.”