Andrien "Andy" Fuller (born September 8, 1974) is an American former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

, primarily for the

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

team

Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

of the

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Auburn.

Early years

Fuller attended J.O. Johnson High School in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

before signing to play at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. Fuller enjoyed success at Auburn, including being a member of the undefeated 1993 team and receiving first team

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

honors in 1994 and 1995. He is perhaps best known for his part in Auburn's upset versus No. 1 ranked Florida on October 15, 1994, where he had 7 receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. During his career at Auburn (1992–1995), he caught 33 passes for 513 yards and five touchdowns.

Professional career

Fuller entered the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

but went undrafted and subsequently signed as an unrestricted free agent with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

in April 1996. He was waived by the Dolphins later that year and spent the 1997 season with the

Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons: * Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) The Barcelona Dragons were an American football team that was a part of the World League of American Football and later in the res ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

, who were the World Bowl Champions after defeating

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

in World Bowl V. Fuller's next stop brought him back home to Alabama to spend the 1999 season with the Mobile Admirals of the

Regional Football League The Regional Football League (RFL) was an American football minor league formed to be the self-styled "major league of spring football." Established in 1997, the league played a single season, 1999, and then ceased operations. History The RFL s ...

. In 2000, Fuller joined the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

, where he played five seasons and was a key offensive and defensive player in a five-year run that saw the club post a 63–17 record. Tennessee Valley won four straight division titles, made the playoffs each season, and competed in the ArenaCup finals in 2000. Fuller played in 73 games and caught 54 passes for 573 yards and 28 touchdowns on offense, and as a defensive lineman recorded 95 tackles, 14.5 tackles-for-loss of 53 yards, 15.5 sacks for 88 yards, two interceptions, eight pass break ups, nine forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. These statistics have cemented his place in Tennessee Valley history, currently ranked third all-time in sacks and second in forced fumbles, prompting the franchise to retire Fuller's number (#82) on June 11, 2005. On October 1, 2006,

WHNT-TV WHNT-TV (channel 19) is a television station in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Florence-licensed CW owned-and-operated station WHDF (channel 15). The two stations share stu ...

announced Andy Fuller would co-host a weekly discussion with former

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

tailback Chris Anderson showcasing upcoming Alabama/Auburn games.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Andy 1974 births Living people Players of American football from Huntsville, Alabama American football tight ends Auburn Tigers football players Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) players Regional Football League players