During Saturday’s contest at Princeton, football captain and quarterback Marcus Fuller ’15 made history, doing something nobody in Ivy League history had ever done before. The star player chucked a conference-record 71 pass attempts, part of an impressive aerial attack that came close to leading the Bears (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) to a comeback over the Tigers (3-2, 1-1). But Fuller wasn’t just attempting passes, he was completing them to the tune of 454 yards — the sixth highest total in program history — and as Princeton effectively shut down the Bruno rushing game, Fuller adapted with career-high totals through the air.
In his first season as a starter, the senior has improved each game, and he will be the focal point of any run the Bears make in the second half of the season. For setting an Ancient Eight record and obliterating his career high, Fuller has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.
Herald: How did you get into football?
My dad actually played ball back in the day. He had a brief stint in the NFL, and he coaches as well. He coaches at my high school, so from a very young age I knew that I was going to be involved with football.
Have you always wanted to be a quarterback?
I did. I have seen home videos of myself running around the house with the touchdown hands up. Offense has always been a focus of mine. My dad was a defensive guy, so that was strange for him at first — me being the enemy, the guy he seeks to kill on every play. But he was very supportive of whatever I wanted to do.
Are there any professional quarterbacks who you model your game off?
(New Orleans Saints quarterback) Drew Brees is the first guy that jumps off the page. I’m a shorter guy by quarterback standards, so anytime you see a shorter cat like myself — Drew Brees or Russell Wilson — excel at the NFL level, it’s something special. I look at their game and try to model some of the things that they do. Brees was actually very close to coming here — Purdue offered him last minute, he was about to take an official visit to Brown.
After throwing an Ivy League record in pass attempts last week, was your arm tired?
A little bit. I’ve definitely never done anything like that. I ran a 5-wide, empty offense in high school, so I threw the heck out of the ball, but 71 is a new personal record for me. It was fun.
What are you studying academically?
Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations, with an Organizational Studies focus.
Do you know what you want to do next year after graduation?
I want to stay in sports and work in the business side. Be it with a team, agency, marketing, I don’t really know, but this past summer I interned doing market research and business strategy with the New England Patriots. That was a good entry point into the business for me.
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