Bridgewater State Running Back Fuller Happy for Another Chance

Justin Fuller of Berkley fell just short of school records by gaining 1,375 yards on the ground and scoring 19 rushing touchdowns to earn All-East Region third-team honors as a junior.

That production earned Fuller a spot on a pair of preseason Div. 3 All-America teams in 2010, which was supposed to be the final year in his collegiate career.

On the first day of training camp in 2010, though, Fuller suffered a left hamstring injury while running a 40-yard sprint, forcing him to miss nearly all of the preseason practices.

He was able to play in the opening two games, gaining 117 yards with three touchdowns against Mount Ida and 124 yards with one TD against UMass-Dartmouth, but the hamstring was still a problem.

After sitting out the third game against Plymouth State, Fuller returned to gain 75 yards on Framingham State, but it was obvious something was wrong.

Fuller had a partially torn left hamstring and a sore right hamstring, and he was forced to miss the remaining six games.

Unless he could receive a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to return for a fifth season this fall, Fuller’s career was going to be over.

Fuller and the BSU athletic department applied for that waiver last October, and it wasn’t until April when he learned than the NCAA would allow him to return in 2011 as a fifth-year senior.

“A lot of long days, a lot of tough days,’’ said Fuller of the seven-month waiting game he went through.

“I tried to stay involved with my teammates and the coaches as much as possible. It was tough. You’re sitting around just waiting.

“You don’t know if you’re football career has ended, and it’s definitely not the way you wanted to go out. There were a lot of people that made it easier, especially my family.’’

Fuller, who will graduate in December, is happy to have the chance to go out on his own terms this season.

He enters tonight’s home opener against Westfield State University at Swenson Field with a team-high 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go with six receptions for 86 yards through three games.

“It would have definitely been tough not playing again,’’ said Fuller, who gained 547 yards in 14 games for Springfield College in 2007-08 before transferring to BSU. “Football is something I love and I’ll always be a part of it the rest of my life.

“It’s almost like it was taken from me for a few months there. Once I got that back, it was really a special moment in my life. I learned a lot about myself through this, how to handle different situations, how to overcome adversity, how to keep my head high.’’

Though he has played just 16 games at BSU, Fuller ranks 10th on the Bears’ all-time rushing list with 1,877 yards on 325 carries and is 10th with 156 points.

The hamstring injury that nearly brought his career to a halt is in the past now as a long, frustrating stretch.

“I tried to come back too early,’’ said Fuller of last season. “I played in the first game and made it worse. I played in the second game and made it worse than that, and I took the third game off. Then, against Framingham, both hamstrings were bruised up bad. It got to the point where I woke up and couldn’t even walk in the morning.’’

Fuller, who gained 114 yards in a win over Plymouth State two weeks ago, still remembers that April day when Sue Crosby-Tangen, the associate director of athletics, called him with the news that the NCAA had granted the waiver.

“I was pretty excited when I got that phone call,’’ he said. “It was a big relief. The not-knowing factor was so tough. I’m so thankful that I’m playing again and getting another opportunity to fulfill my dreams and what I want to accomplish in college football.

“I feel very lucky and very blessed to have another opportunity to go out and play again. I’m coming into this year with a totally different attitude.’’