Devin Lewis Fuller (born January 24, 1994) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

. Fuller was converted from

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

to receiver as a freshman, and was the Bruins' second-leading receiver in 2013 and 2014. He was also a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

with UCLA.

Early life

Fuller was born in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

, to Bart Fuller and Cindy Mizelle. His mother became a touring singer when she was 17. She was on tour with

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

when she found out she was pregnant with Fuller. After he was born, Fuller accompanied his mom when she would perform with Vandross, who encouraged his tour members to also bring their children along on his tour bus. Fuller grew up in

Norwood, New Jersey Norwood is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,711,Northern Valley Regional High School in

Old Tappan, New Jersey Old Tappan ( ) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,750,quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

as a freshman. He led Northern Valley to back to back state championship appearances as a junior and senior. As a senior, he passed for 2,247 yards and 20

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, and also ran for 1,326 yards and 17 touchdowns. For his career, he compiled over 10,000 yards of

total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...

(6,148 passing, 4,589 rushing) and scored 118 touchdowns (58 passing, 60 rushing).

College career

Devin Fuller against Dion Bailey (cropped)

Fuller was recruited to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

as a quarterback. However, he was behind several players including

Brett Hundley Brett Alan Hundley Jr. (born June 15, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, where he was the school's career leader in both total ...

on the Bruins' depth chart. Wanting to get Fuller's skills on the field, they moved him to wide receiver five games into his freshman year in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Playing at the slot position, Fuller had 20 receptions for 145 yards in eight games. He continued to improve, finishing with 43 catches, which ranked second on the team, for 471 yards in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. He also threw a touchdown pass to Hundley against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. As a junior in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Fuller was again second in receptions, catching 59 passes for 447 yards and a touchdown. He had at least four receptions in nine games, and his 93-yard touchdown against Utah was the second-longest in UCLA history. In his senior year in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Fuller was moved from the slot to the outside to give him more matchups against

man-to-man coverage A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnov ...

. The Bruins also lost Hundley, who had left for the NFL, and replaced him with freshman

Josh Rosen Joshua Ballinger Lippincott Rosen (born February 10, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, receiving Freshman All-American and ...

. Fuller had his best game of the season against

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, when he caught seven passes for a career-high 100 yards and two touchdowns. However, he was hampered by injuries to his head and ankles that year, and his production fell to just 24 catches for 259 yards and three touchdowns. He still excelled as a kick returner, ranking sixth in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

with a 24.2 yard average. He finished his college career with 146 receptions for 1,322 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Professional career

Fuller was disappointed that he was not invited to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

. However, he drew attention at the Bruins Pro Day, where he impressed NFL scouts with his

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

time of 4.37 seconds and

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

. Fuller was drafted by the

in the seventh round (238th overall) in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 31, 2016 after injuring his shoulder during the preseason. He missed the entire 2016 season, when the Falcons advanced to

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

, losing 34–28 in overtime to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. On July 28, 2017, Fuller tore his ACL in training camp and was placed on injured reserve for the second year in a row. On June 29, 2018, Fuller was waived by the Falcons.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Devin 1994 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football return specialists American football wide receivers Atlanta Falcons players People from Englewood, New Jersey People from Norwood, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey UCLA Bruins football players