TEXAS NATIVE FULLER EMBRACING UW EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING THE HONOR OF WEARING NO. 2

By Rich Myhre

By Washington Huskies

October 16^th, 2018

As a young football player growing up in McKinney, Texas, a city just outside Dallas, Aaron Fuller was a big fan of the University of Texas.

Hardly a surprise, of course. The Longhorns cast a large shadow over the entire Lone Star State, and generations of young football players have dreamed of wearing UT uniforms of burnt orange and white.

Fuller came of age watching Texas teams that were among the best in college football. He was in elementary school back in 2005 when quarterback Vince Young, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, led the Longhorns to an undefeated national championship season.

“I watched (Texas) football when Vince Young was there,” Fuller said, “and I saw the national championship game against USC (on Jan. 4, 2006, won by Texas 41-38). I was a big fan after that.”

But a few years later, and as Fuller was developing into a promising wide receiver, Texas recruiters never showed much interest. The coaching staff reached out, but in a halfhearted way, and there was never a scholarship offer. It was the same with Texas Christian University, the University of Baylor, and some of the state’s other elite college programs.

TEXAS NATIVE FULLER EMBRACING UW EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING THE HONOR OF WEARING NO. 2

Yet in the midst of those disappointments, there were overtures from the University of Washington, a program Fuller admits he knew almost nothing about. Still, the Huskies kept in touch and eventually offered a scholarship, followed by an invitation to make an official recruiting visit.

Fuller’s flight from Texas arrived at nighttime, and as the plane descended into Seattle he remembers looking out and being awed by how “the city was all lit up. It was just beautiful.”

There were more wide-eyed moments to come, including a get-acquainted session with head coach Chris Petersen, who was preparing for his third UW season. And by the end of that weekend, the young man from Texas who had known little about Washington was suddenly sure of one thing – he couldn’t wait to be a Husky.

“When I visited, I got to meet Coach (Pete) and I got to know the guys and I saw the facilities and things like that, and then I had a chance to explore Seattle, and (at that point) I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s over,’” Fuller said.

He arrived on campus in the summer of 2016, and in those early months “I got a little homesick,” he confessed. “But then I had to a chance to explore (the Seattle area) and meet some of the great people out here.”

Two years later, he said, “the rain still gets me a little bit. Coming from the South, I love the sunshine. But I also like exploring the environment (in the Pacific Northwest), going on hikes and things like that. I never got to do any of that in Texas.”

Meanwhile, he had no trouble getting acclimated on the football field. Though his first two UW seasons were somewhat overshadowed by NFL-bound wide receivers John Ross and Dante Pettis, Fuller still made an early impact. He played in all 27 games of his freshman and sophomore seasons, starting eight times while totaling a combined 42 receptions for 475 yards and three touchdowns.

Now a junior, and in the absence of Ross and Pettis, Fuller has emerged as Washington’s No. 1 receiver. He had 37 receptions for 589 yards with two touchdowns through his first seven games, including four games with 100 or more receiving yards, and he has also replaced Pettis as the team’s primary punt returner.

“On the day he got here,” said UW offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, “his natural instincts (for football) were at a very high level. I think sometimes that can be overlooked in recruiting. People look at size and speed, but they sometimes lose sight of (the fact that) a football player is still a football player.

“I think what you’re seeing now with Aaron Fuller is that he’s turned himself into one of the better physical players on this team. And then from a speed standpoint and a strength standpoint. when you start mixing those things in, that’s when you get the magic going.”

Given his expanding role, the Huskies decided to bestow a big surprise – and an even bigger honor – on Fuller this season.

Upon arriving at Washington, Fuller had asked about getting No. 2, which he wore in high school. But that number once belonged to UW legend Chuck Carroll, who played from 1926-28 and was a two-time All-American, and it was subsequently retired by the Huskies (other players have worn No. 2 over the years, including Kasen Williams in 2011-14 and before that his father Aaron Williams in 1979-1982).

This past summer, and with the blessing of the Carroll family, the Huskies unretired No. 2 with the understanding that it will be given to players that possess the same attributes of excellence and determination, on and off the field, for which Carroll (who died in 2003) was known.

“Husky football is built on tradition, and Chuck Carroll was the epitome of what our program is about,” Petersen said in a statement last summer. “We are grateful to the Carroll family to allow a Husky football player to wear the No. 2 jersey, and we couldn’t think of a better way to honor the legacy of Chuck Carroll.”

It was Petersen who broke the news to Fuller after a summer practice. “Coach Pete pulled me aside, and he had a little smirk on his face,” Fuller recalled. “I was (thinking), ‘Oh, I messed up. What did I do?’ But he said, ‘I’ve been thinking about unretiring No. 2 and I’d like to give it to you if you’d want it.’

“I was at a loss for words,” admitted Fuller, who had previously worn No. 12. A few weeks later, he debuted his new number in the season opener vs. Auburn.

Fuller later did some research and learned that Carroll “went on to be a lawyer and then a (King County prosecutor from 1949-71), which was amazing,” he said. “Football and law school, that’s pretty cool. And he was great on the field, too. So knowing the things he did, (wearing No. 2) is a tremendous honor.”