Speaker 1: What's Good Command is Familey Brian Cooble Junior here, and
Speaker 1: this is the Next Man Up Podcast.
Speaker 2: Our next Man Up is no other than our starting
Speaker 2: corner Kendall Fuller.
Speaker 1: Kendall talks about being from Baltimore, Maryland and how growing
Speaker 1: up with three brothers helped him form to be the
Speaker 1: player that he is today. He talks about almost committing
Speaker 1: to Clemson for backing out last minute, and also what
Speaker 1: it's been like being a leader for such a young secondary.
Speaker 2: All that and more starts right now.
Speaker 1: What's Good Command is Familey Brian Coole Junior here, and
Speaker 1: this is the Next Man Up podcast where we talk
Speaker 1: to your favorite command as players. Not so much about
Speaker 1: X and o's more about the man behind the helmet.
Speaker 1: And our next man Up is no other than our leader,
Speaker 1: Kendall Fuller.
Speaker 2: Can How you doing today? Brother?
Speaker 3: Pretty good? How you doing?
Speaker 2: Thank? I now? I'm doing real good. Course. Man's happy
Speaker 2: to have you. Man.
Speaker 1: You know we're fresh off the bye weekend. I asked
Speaker 1: you this off camera and I wish I would have waited. Man,
Speaker 1: how did you spend your abide week?
Speaker 2: Man? Tell us about it.
Speaker 3: Took a took a little getaway trip to Mexico ended
Speaker 3: up proposing to my girl, which was which was amazing,
Speaker 3: have the whole family down there to celebrate with us
Speaker 3: and things like that. So it was definitely a good
Speaker 3: goodbye week for me.
Speaker 2: That's awesome that I'll see.
Speaker 1: I recently just got engaged as well, so I know
Speaker 1: how much goes into planning that. How nervous war you
Speaker 1: during this whole process of planning this could it takes
Speaker 1: some time?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it wasn't. Honestly, it wasn't too bad. I had
Speaker 3: a lot of people that was helping me out, a
Speaker 3: lot of friends that were helping me out and things
Speaker 3: like that. So the biggest thing is getting the ring. You.
Speaker 3: Once I kind of figured out that I can get
Speaker 3: the ring in time, I was able to kind of
Speaker 3: set it up with the help of some friends, but
Speaker 3: really just holding holding a surprise because I had all
Speaker 3: our family come down there, so holding a surprise was
Speaker 3: mainly the big thing. But executed on that so it
Speaker 3: was it went as good as plann.
Speaker 1: I'm happy for you and I'm glad, she said, yes, man, congratulations, man,
Speaker 1: I can't wait.
Speaker 2: To see what happens.
Speaker 1: You know, what your wedding and all that stuff and
Speaker 1: like I said, man, we don't talk so much football
Speaker 1: on the show. We really want to go back to
Speaker 1: who this person is, right, who is Kendell Fullest. So
Speaker 1: let's start it from the beginning.
Speaker 2: Baltimore, Maryland. That's home for you, man. What does Baltimore
Speaker 2: mean to you?
Speaker 3: That means a lot, man, just everything that you know,
Speaker 3: me and my brothers did growing up. We played a
Speaker 3: We were a sports family, so we grew up all
Speaker 3: around Baltimore playing sports and things like that. The people
Speaker 3: that you meet, the connections that you have, it was
Speaker 3: it was a blessing for us to be able to,
Speaker 3: you know, just grow up in that type of culture,
Speaker 3: that type of environment. It was a blessing, man. And
Speaker 3: you know, we definitely tribute a lot of that to
Speaker 3: our dad, who just got us around the right people.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of coaches that that have a hand
Speaker 3: and that's being where we are now. So it was
Speaker 3: definitely a blessing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, And you mentioned your three brothers. Three brothers,
Speaker 1: all four of y'all have played college football.
Speaker 2: All four of y'all have been in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I can't imagine growing up in a household like that.
Speaker 1: Were three older brothers that are that talented as well.
Speaker 2: It was easy? Was it? Was it easy? Was it?
Speaker 2: Was it a little tough? No?
Speaker 3: I mean it was as you're the baby, right, you're
Speaker 3: the youngest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: As I always tell people, the summers were the worst
Speaker 3: because your parents, parents are gone out of the house.
Speaker 3: Older brothers are kind of getting some get back. There's
Speaker 3: a younger brother. Always. I always knew we had our basement.
Speaker 3: We were mainly be down there, and if I made
Speaker 3: it up the steps to Pops, I'm good, he'll get
Speaker 3: he'll get my big brothers off me.
Speaker 2: But you had to make it up.
Speaker 3: But I had to make it up them steps, which
Speaker 3: I did a good amount of times. But uh, in
Speaker 3: the summers where I ain't had nobody to run to,
Speaker 3: they definitely they definitely got their get back. So it
Speaker 3: was definitely tough, but it was fun, you know, just
Speaker 3: kids being kids.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I read that you're the you're the spoiled
Speaker 2: one out of all the kids. Man, is that true?
Speaker 2: Would you say that's what?
Speaker 3: That's what? Probably? Corey was Older siblings say the younger
Speaker 3: siblings are the most spoiled, But I say the younger
Speaker 3: siblings just learned the most because they watched the older
Speaker 3: siblings mess up and they just like, I'm gonna just
Speaker 3: not do what you did. So now I don't think
Speaker 3: I'm spoiled. I think I just I learned. I had
Speaker 3: a coach that said, you either learned the smart way
Speaker 3: or the wise way. Smart way is learning from your
Speaker 3: own mistakes. Wise way is learning from somebody else's mistakes.
Speaker 3: I tried to learn the wise.
Speaker 1: Way, and clearly these brothers, man, they paved a big
Speaker 1: way for you, right, You guys kind of all followed
Speaker 1: it like same trajectory, the same path, but as that
Speaker 1: kid as a youth, right before you even made it
Speaker 1: to college. We even made it as like a high
Speaker 1: school star. What were you getting from those moments where
Speaker 1: you had to fight to get upstairs to your dad,
Speaker 1: where you had to maybe you know, fight for that
Speaker 1: first meal or that last piece on the plate.
Speaker 2: What did those things do for you as a person?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think really it's just the toughness
Speaker 3: and just like that competitive nature. You know, it's just
Speaker 3: you're competing against For me, my brother's being older than me,
Speaker 3: and even my dad he'll always have us play up
Speaker 3: a age group just to where like when we got
Speaker 3: to our age group. It wasn't something that was like
Speaker 3: it was almost easier for a little bit, but just
Speaker 3: creating that competitive household, that competitive nature in you, which
Speaker 3: definitely did lot for all of us. And you know,
Speaker 3: it's it's something that you know, when I'm thinking about
Speaker 3: having a family in my future, that's something that I
Speaker 3: want to you know, have in my household.
Speaker 2: That's really cool. Man. Did it? Did it put a
Speaker 2: chip on your shoulder?
Speaker 1: Being the youngest, being the baby of the household, being
Speaker 1: the smallest one you know, growing up?
Speaker 2: Did it put a chip on your shoulder at all?
Speaker 3: Not too much, because I mean when you're young, you're
Speaker 3: just playing sports. Yeah, you know, you're not thinking about
Speaker 3: necessarily college or NFL. You just want to go out
Speaker 3: there and play with your friends. But I think for me,
Speaker 3: kind of when I started getting recruited in high school
Speaker 3: and started going to camps, it created that chip because
Speaker 3: you know, guys will kind of look at me and say, oh,
Speaker 3: you're only getting offers or people only pay attention to
Speaker 3: you because of your brother's success. So that kind of
Speaker 3: put that chip on my shoulder, like all right, let
Speaker 3: me let me show you why so and that competitive
Speaker 3: nature that I have with my brothers, that that created,
Speaker 3: you know, definitely helped me with going through things like that.
Speaker 2: When did you realize that it was really for you? Right?
Speaker 2: Like you said, you know your brother's are talent and
Speaker 2: you know they're going on.
Speaker 1: When did you realize as kindle yourself that you know,
Speaker 1: I'm really good at this football thing and it's not
Speaker 1: just my brothers.
Speaker 2: I'm good because I got this skill set.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean I knew I was pretty talented in
Speaker 3: high school, you know, just we had a ton of
Speaker 3: athletes come out of my high school. But in terms
Speaker 3: of the NFL, I would probably say after my freshman
Speaker 3: year of college just being able to go out there.
Speaker 3: I think had a great freshman year, had like six
Speaker 3: interceptions as a freshman. That off season, I went and
Speaker 3: watched my brother get drafted in the first round. So
Speaker 3: for me, it was just like, all right, I saw
Speaker 3: how he prepared for the game. I saw how he
Speaker 3: studying the off seasons, how he went about just his
Speaker 3: off season and just training, and like the sacrifices that
Speaker 3: he made to get himself to that level. And I
Speaker 3: was like, I got the blueprint. That's that's what I'm
Speaker 3: gonna do so. I think after my freshman year was
Speaker 3: when I was kind of just like, like, I I
Speaker 3: can have a career in the NFL.
Speaker 1: It's awesome, man, And you choose to go to Virginia Tech.
Speaker 1: Your three older brothers went to Virginia Tech as well.
Speaker 1: So I got to ask, was it even an option
Speaker 1: to go to Virginia Tech at this pot or was
Speaker 1: it just like, hey, brou you're going to Virginia Tech.
Speaker 2: You're following the family legacy.
Speaker 3: Honestly, and most people are surprised, but they didn't say
Speaker 3: anything to me.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: The only thing that I remember happening is my brother
Speaker 3: when he was at Virginia Tech and I was getting recruited.
Speaker 3: He had got asked with if he would take it,
Speaker 3: if he would take it personal if I went to
Speaker 3: somewhere else, and the school that I was really close
Speaker 3: to going to was Clemson, and I think somebody asked
Speaker 3: him like, would you take it personal if he went
Speaker 3: to Clemson? And I think he was just like yeah.
Speaker 3: He didn't tell me about the interview, but I had
Speaker 3: just saw it, but it was yeah, Virginia Tech was home,
Speaker 3: but I didn't feel pressure. I think that was the
Speaker 3: only moment, and then I think on my official visit
Speaker 3: to Clemson, my mother was with me and she's in
Speaker 3: Coach Sweeney's office just talking about Virginia Tech in front
Speaker 3: of him. So like that kind of told me how
Speaker 3: bad she wanted me to go to Virginia Tech. But
Speaker 3: besides that, they kind of let me make the decision
Speaker 3: for myself because they knew that, like I would be
Speaker 3: the one living.
Speaker 2: In Yeah, and I heard this story.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it is true, and I ain't
Speaker 1: trying to snitch all you, but I heard that you
Speaker 1: actually picked up the phone to commit to Clemson, but
Speaker 1: as the phone started ringing, you hung up.
Speaker 2: What was that feeling.
Speaker 1: That you had, because that's such a big decision to
Speaker 1: even pick up the phone and make the call and
Speaker 1: then it just back out of it like that.
Speaker 2: What was going on?
Speaker 3: I know, I loved Clemson. It was a beautiful campus.
Speaker 3: I knew when I was in high school, I was
Speaker 3: it was we had a ton of athletes, a ton
Speaker 3: of good talent that was going D one every single year.
Speaker 3: So my thought process about Clemson was, I think at
Speaker 3: that time, they had Sammy Watkins, Martavius Brian, DeAndre Hopkins,
Speaker 3: at a squad. I was I'm gonna go against the
Speaker 3: best receivers year and the year out, and so I
Speaker 3: think that was like my biggest thing. I don't know
Speaker 3: what exactly told me to hang up that phone. The
Speaker 3: only thing I can think of is God, And in
Speaker 3: hindsight I see why. But something told me to hang
Speaker 3: up that phone, and I think it may be about
Speaker 3: like a month or two later, I ended up committing
Speaker 3: to Virginia Tech.
Speaker 2: Wow, I don't I don't.
Speaker 3: Know the feel The only thing I can genuinely, the
Speaker 3: only thing I can say is probably just God, and man.
Speaker 2: God is good. Man, Clearly you made the right decision.
Speaker 2: So let's go to that freshman year Virginia Tech.
Speaker 1: Right, You get on campus and you have three older
Speaker 1: brothers who have already made a name for themselves on
Speaker 1: this campus, have built their own legacy.
Speaker 2: Is there a shadow there for you? Man?
Speaker 1: Was it kind of hard to get past the shadow
Speaker 1: that your brother is in the legacy they had built already?
Speaker 3: Not really, just because like me and my brothers, we
Speaker 3: weren't we were we were all football, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean? So like we weren't big part of yours,
Speaker 3: we weren't big big anything. It was just the only
Speaker 3: thing we knew how to do was work. It's kind
Speaker 3: of something that I father instilled in us was just
Speaker 3: always work, always grind, always do whatever you need to
Speaker 3: do to be successful. So even for me when I
Speaker 3: came into Virginia Tech, it was just like and even
Speaker 3: watching my brother Kyle, that's all he was doing.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: It wasn't out doing this, out doing that. It was just, hey,
Speaker 3: I'm here for football. And the best I think the
Speaker 3: best piece of advice that my oldest brother ever gave
Speaker 3: all of us was you know, he kind of told
Speaker 3: us like, hey, like there's a lot of people when
Speaker 3: they go to college, they want college to be the
Speaker 3: best four years of their life. Yeah, and he was like,
Speaker 3: he was like, you leave college at twenty one years old.
Speaker 3: You got the rest of your life ahead of you.
Speaker 3: He was like, I want you to have the mindset
Speaker 3: of like you want the best four years of your
Speaker 3: life to be after college, and like whatever you do
Speaker 3: in college, that's what's going to set you up for
Speaker 3: your future.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So like him being able to even have someone like
Speaker 3: give us that type of advice and set that mindset
Speaker 3: for us was.
Speaker 2: Big, and you know, being a little brother.
Speaker 1: Like you know, things are always different as you're growing up, right,
Speaker 1: Like you know, things are different. You probably communicate differently
Speaker 1: with your brothers in middle school, differently in high school.
Speaker 1: But once you're in college and you really made it
Speaker 1: to that point that they have all made it to
Speaker 1: as well, did the conversation between you and your brother's changed,
Speaker 1: Like was it more about like we're more peers now
Speaker 1: and like getting that game?
Speaker 2: It was tho conversations like with your brothers, it.
Speaker 3: Was just more so just it was definitely more conversations
Speaker 3: in terms of like like my oldest brother's a thirteen
Speaker 3: year old age gap.
Speaker 2: Wow, So like.
Speaker 3: The more I kind of moved up in each level,
Speaker 3: it was more in depth conversations we were able to have,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean now compared to high school
Speaker 3: and college. Now it's like we can really have in
Speaker 3: depth conversations about football, how to break down film, Like
Speaker 3: my brother played safety smart, so like just different things
Speaker 3: to look for and things like that. Even my brother Corey,
Speaker 3: just being able to talk to him at this point
Speaker 3: he was an NFL receiver, so being able to get
Speaker 3: his outlook from a receiver standpoint and things like that,
Speaker 3: and then I mean Kyle, I was just whatever he did,
Speaker 3: I was doing, so I was right behind him and everything.
Speaker 3: I think my senior year of my senior year of
Speaker 3: high school, Kyle was calling me to kind of watch
Speaker 3: tape with him from springball. Wow, you know what I mean,
Speaker 3: just kind of showing me, teaching me little things like that.
Speaker 3: So it definitely got easier. Started just more in depth conversations.
Speaker 3: That was definitely helpful for me and just impacted you
Speaker 3: know how well I could could see the game.
Speaker 2: And clearly your parents they mean a lot to you
Speaker 2: and your brothers.
Speaker 1: How did they manage having for successful kids playing sports
Speaker 1: at different areas, different places, at different points in their career,
Speaker 1: because it seems like your parents are very involved, right,
Speaker 1: It seems like they want.
Speaker 2: To be at your guys and stuff. How did they
Speaker 2: handle that?
Speaker 1: What was that like to your parents go from place
Speaker 1: to place trying to sports you guys.
Speaker 3: I mean, when you're in it, you don't think too
Speaker 3: much of it. You're kind of thinking like, hey, this
Speaker 3: is what we got to do. But I know for them,
Speaker 3: you know, my father started with my father, his main
Speaker 3: thing was just like y'all are going to college. I
Speaker 3: don't care what it's for. I don't care if it's academically,
Speaker 3: I don't care if it's for sports, But like you're
Speaker 3: going to college, and he just did his best to
Speaker 3: put us in and give us the opportunity to do that,
Speaker 3: get us around good coaching and whether that means sometimes
Speaker 3: we would have to travel thirty forty minutes away to
Speaker 3: go play a sport to where we could have just
Speaker 3: traveled five. But he was like, you know, there's better coaches,
Speaker 3: better team here, So like we're going to make this sacrifice.
Speaker 3: And that's what they did. They sacrificed a lot for us.
Speaker 2: Even my mom.
Speaker 3: I remember my mom just kind of working nine to five,
Speaker 3: get home, She calling us before we leave the practice,
Speaker 3: just saying like, hey, like can y'all take the chicken
Speaker 3: out so I can cook it later? And we forget that.
Speaker 3: I forget, I mean, but like she go work all day,
Speaker 3: we go to practice, come home, and like she has
Speaker 3: dinner ready for us and things like that. So just
Speaker 3: it's a ton of sacrifices that they made and just
Speaker 3: you know, we were fortunate that they made those sacrifices,
Speaker 3: that they cared enough to kind of invest in us
Speaker 3: and invest in our future that young they've definitely been
Speaker 3: been a blessing.
Speaker 1: That's so cool, man, And clearly their their sacrifices paid off.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: You were the fourth fuller to make it into the NFL. Man,
Speaker 1: you got drafted here by Washington, And I mean you've
Speaker 1: stayed pretty close to home, or you stay closer to
Speaker 1: the DMV. It's not you know, Virginia is in Baltimore,
Speaker 1: but DMV, you know it's pretty pretty close together. What
Speaker 1: did it mean to you to get drafted by like
Speaker 1: not your hometown team, but a team that was very
Speaker 1: close to home.
Speaker 3: It was I think honestly because of my situation, you know,
Speaker 3: kind of being protected early having my injury. I think
Speaker 3: I was just kind of upset fall into the third round.
Speaker 3: So once I once I got the call, at that point,
Speaker 3: I didn't care where it was going to be. And
Speaker 3: I would say probably around my second years when I
Speaker 3: really started like appreciating being able to be so close
Speaker 3: to home, because I would tell people I would after games,
Speaker 3: instead of driving all the way back out here with FedEx,
Speaker 3: I would just drive home. I would stay with my parents,
Speaker 3: stay with my parents at their game. I was telling
Speaker 3: my mom like, hey, you only have to come. You
Speaker 3: can just make Sunday dinner. Yeah, go out after the game,
Speaker 3: go home, get some dinner, stay the night, and then
Speaker 3: in the morning and drive back out here. So and
Speaker 3: just especially going to Virginia Tech. There's a ton of
Speaker 3: hokies out here in this area. Yeah, exactly. So I
Speaker 3: think the more the more time I spent out here,
Speaker 3: the more I was able to, like really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned being that moment where you got picked
Speaker 1: in the third round. You know, those kind of moments
Speaker 1: can shape a person's whole outlook on life. You said,
Speaker 1: you know you were expecting to go a lot higher,
Speaker 1: and you know you did it because of the injury.
Speaker 1: What did that do for you that third round selection? Man,
Speaker 1: how did that change your mindset? And how did that
Speaker 1: affect the rest of your career?
Speaker 3: I mean, it just motivated me, honestly. And as a competitor,
Speaker 3: there's a lot of things that you probably shouldn't take personal,
Speaker 3: but you make it personal. And for me, that was
Speaker 3: something that I took personal because I was telling somebody
Speaker 3: the other day, like when you like you did what
Speaker 3: you needed to and you put into work to achieve
Speaker 3: a hurtain goal, and you and you feel like you
Speaker 3: should have earned that and you didn't. It sticks with you,
Speaker 3: and that's something that's always going to stick with me. Yeah.
Speaker 3: One of my best friends, he made a comment to
Speaker 3: me the other day just kind of talking about some
Speaker 3: of the guys that were d drafted before me. It's
Speaker 3: just it's something that and all of those guys earned it.
Speaker 3: But as a competitor, that's just something that motivates, you know,
Speaker 3: and things like that. So that definitely motivated me. Just
Speaker 3: put that fire fire in me. And uh, you know,
Speaker 3: at that point, once you're no matter where you get drafted,
Speaker 3: once you're in your end. Yeah, and but it definitely
Speaker 3: it motivated me a lot.
Speaker 1: And then you know, you're in in the NFL, you
Speaker 1: have one of the best seasons of your young career,
Speaker 1: and then you get the call said, hey, hit it
Speaker 1: to Kansas City.
Speaker 2: How did that affect you?
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't hear a lot of cornerbacks in
Speaker 1: stuff of getting traded within the NFL at that level,
Speaker 1: right for like a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 2: How did that affect you?
Speaker 3: It was tough. I think genuinely, I was just as
Speaker 3: confused as anybody and just I mean at that point,
Speaker 3: you just go with the flow.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, I loved football, and like,
Speaker 3: no matter I think my mentality was when that happened,
Speaker 3: was like, no matter where I'm playing at, I get
Speaker 3: to play football. I get to play the game that
Speaker 3: I love. I get to honor and worship guy with
Speaker 3: my play, no matter what city that's in. So like
Speaker 3: for me, it was just kind of playing football. The
Speaker 3: tough part is just you build relationships. You know, the
Speaker 3: guys that we had on that team, we had a good,
Speaker 3: good group of games, good bond and things like that,
Speaker 3: so that's always tough. But I mean at the end
Speaker 3: of the day, I was young too, so you kind
Speaker 3: of just go with the flow. You still learning the NFL.
Speaker 3: People kind of ask me now when things happen. I'm
Speaker 3: just like, man, nothing surprises me in the NFL. You know,
Speaker 3: you never know, and I think that happening to me
Speaker 3: early on kind of had that impact. But at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, I was fortunate, you know, to
Speaker 3: go to another franchise, a good franchise, win a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3: So I was definitely grateful for the opportunity.
Speaker 1: And God always has a plan, man, and clearly had
Speaker 1: one for you because in that Super Bowl you got
Speaker 1: the game ceiling in exception. I don't know if this
Speaker 1: is true, but I don't think any other fuller can
Speaker 1: say that. I think you're the only full of the youngest.
Speaker 1: But the only fuller that can say that. Is there
Speaker 1: a little pride there?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: Do you call your brothers and kind to say your
Speaker 1: brother's like, hey, man, I got me one yet?
Speaker 2: Not? Yeah, it's too early.
Speaker 3: Thinking right now you're still working to get another one.
Speaker 3: But I think when I finished my career and like
Speaker 3: we started getting older and having those conversations football talks,
Speaker 3: that will definitely probably come up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are you guys, who's the most competitive out of
Speaker 1: all the brothers?
Speaker 2: Since we're on the tope, all of the all of
Speaker 2: you guys. Yeah, yeah, I heard you're the trash talker.
Speaker 2: Though I heard you talk the best trash.
Speaker 3: All right, I would say that, yeah, but granted none
Speaker 3: of us are trash talkers. Yeah, Like, I don't think
Speaker 3: anybody will ever see me talking on the field, but
Speaker 3: my brothers are probably the only ones I talked trash too,
Speaker 3: so I probably I probably am the biggest trash talk
Speaker 3: out of us.
Speaker 1: For Yeah, you guys do like a a well I
Speaker 1: heard I don't know if you'll do anymore, but like
Speaker 1: a fifty yard race every summer where y'all stay up
Speaker 1: the young line and then race. I even seen photos
Speaker 1: of this man, how does that come about?
Speaker 2: And like how cool is that? Though they have something
Speaker 2: like that with your face.
Speaker 3: It used to be fun because I mean, we would
Speaker 3: just have talks about like who's faster, everybody saying like
Speaker 3: I'm faster, like and it's kind of like, bro, like
Speaker 3: you wouldn't beat me. So we just started saying, like,
Speaker 3: all right, let's just race. And at the time, Vinnie
Speaker 3: was retired, but me, Corey and Kyle we were still
Speaker 3: all playing, so our schedules were all the same. So
Speaker 3: we would just start going out, go back home, and
Speaker 3: we're all just race. And it's been a while since
Speaker 3: the last time we raced. But genuinely, I think we
Speaker 3: stopped because the last time.
Speaker 2: I won is that one they sitting down not doing this.
Speaker 3: I genuinely think that's why, Like I had a conversation
Speaker 3: with somebody the youngest ship. When you're getting beat up
Speaker 3: growing up, they win in all the fights. But as
Speaker 3: you start getting bigger, now it's like they don't want
Speaker 3: to fight. It's like you're being a kid around. So
Speaker 3: I think for them it's kind of just like like man,
Speaker 3: like now we're not trying to race, no more, like
Speaker 3: nobody trying to nobody want to.
Speaker 2: Race this childish.
Speaker 3: But ultimately I think it was because, like I won,
Speaker 3: they probably knew that, like they weren't gonna beat me anymore.
Speaker 1: So you can hear the competitor insu as you even
Speaker 1: say that, Man, how good did it feel?
Speaker 2: Is that your first time winning the race? Yeah? What wow?
Speaker 3: First time winning it?
Speaker 2: That felt good? Man? It did?
Speaker 1: Huh felt well? Chess was out the rest of the holiday. Well, man,
Speaker 1: like back to football. Man, So you make this, you know,
Speaker 1: game saving play essentially for the Chiefs, right, steal the
Speaker 1: game up for them, win your Super Bowl, and then
Speaker 1: right after you decide to come back here, you decide
Speaker 1: to come back to Washington. I can't say that's something
Speaker 1: we see a lot where a guy gets traded for
Speaker 1: Francis and they they I'm going to go back.
Speaker 2: Well went into that decision.
Speaker 3: I mean genuinely, I think we we had a lot
Speaker 3: of talent when I was here that I never felt
Speaker 3: I felt like we'd never seen the fruit of all
Speaker 3: the talent that we had and always I think the
Speaker 3: first thing I told somebody, I was like, I couldn't
Speaker 3: imagine a Super Bowl be porde in DC. I was
Speaker 3: just like, and like being able to experience it in
Speaker 3: Kansas City, which was like crazy as I don't know
Speaker 3: what it is amazing. I was just like, man, I
Speaker 3: couldn't imagine that in DC. So just kind of wanting
Speaker 3: wanting to see that, wanting wanting to experience that, and
Speaker 3: then just being able to be home, h being able
Speaker 3: to drive, be able to see my mom, drive, be
Speaker 3: able to see my brother, my nephew, you know, just
Speaker 3: all your family and friends that you have in this area.
Speaker 3: It means a lot to be able to, you know,
Speaker 3: have people that you know, friends, family, to be able
Speaker 3: to come out and support you and things like that.
Speaker 3: So I think those were the two biggest reasons.
Speaker 1: So it's fair to say you feel like you have
Speaker 1: some unfinished business in Washington, Yeah for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Man. And then now you're back year eight. You're not
Speaker 2: even thirty yet.
Speaker 1: You are a very young eight year veteran, but you
Speaker 1: also are in a secondary room with a lot of
Speaker 1: young players.
Speaker 2: Extremely young players.
Speaker 1: How has it been turning into that savvy veteran leadership
Speaker 1: role that you've been able to wear, especially for these
Speaker 1: young guys.
Speaker 3: Now, yeah, it's been fun. I think, like especially being
Speaker 3: in year eight but only being twenty eight. It's like
Speaker 3: I'm not at that point in my career to where
Speaker 3: like I can't play, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 3: to where like they can listen to me in the
Speaker 3: film run, but they can also watch me out on
Speaker 3: the field. And I think that's been like the biggest,
Speaker 3: the biggest thing in the biggest help even for me
Speaker 3: and for them. And I'm always always been a guy,
Speaker 3: and I always try to be the type of leader
Speaker 3: of just doing things the right way, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. I'll definitely pull guys aside and have conversations.
Speaker 3: But for me, my biggest thing with my brothers was
Speaker 3: like it wasn't always what they said, but it's what
Speaker 3: they did. They showed me how to be a professional.
Speaker 3: They showed me what it looked like to be a professional.
Speaker 3: They showed me what it looked like to invest in
Speaker 3: your body. They showed me what it looked like, you know,
Speaker 3: just even in terms of little things of how off
Speaker 3: season should look so just all of those different things.
Speaker 3: And I think that's something that I've kind of just
Speaker 3: attributed from watching my brothers to being that for the
Speaker 3: young guys, just showing them like, hey, like like this
Speaker 3: is how you do things, This is the right way
Speaker 3: to do it, this is how you look, and this
Speaker 3: is how you be a professional, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: And we have so many talented guys, so many guys
Speaker 3: that are that are young, and once you get to
Speaker 3: this level, there's so many guys that do so many
Speaker 3: different things well. And I always tell them like, hey,
Speaker 3: take this and pieces from everybody around you that you
Speaker 3: can learn and apply to your game. And so we
Speaker 3: gotta we gotta do man. We got a good close group.
Speaker 3: So our biggest thing right now is just finishing the year.
Speaker 3: Are strong. We feel like we haven't done the things
Speaker 3: that we're capable of doing. But at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, you can't get those games back, can't get
Speaker 3: those plays back. All you can do is just go
Speaker 3: focus on, you know how we want to finish these
Speaker 3: last couple of games.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you making an impact with the young guys.
Speaker 1: Because the first interview I did, like here, like when
Speaker 1: I moved here. The first thing I do is the
Speaker 1: may Or fours Union, and he heralded your leadership and
Speaker 1: how much you meant to him. I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: in your words how it's been playing the big brother
Speaker 1: role for him and be in there and watch him develop.
Speaker 3: This first shit, it's been good. It's been fun because
Speaker 3: he's gonna he's gonna have a heck of her career,
Speaker 3: just his skills that he has. But it's been fun
Speaker 3: just being able to see him grow and watch him grow.
Speaker 3: I would tell people just certain things that certain things
Speaker 3: that would happen in the game to where like it
Speaker 3: can be one little thing that you say to somebody,
Speaker 3: and just like that confidence that he feels from us,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, especially as a corner. You're
Speaker 3: gonna go through ups and downs in his career. That's
Speaker 3: never gonna change. And to see him kind of, you know,
Speaker 3: take all the criticism that he was getting, all the
Speaker 3: hate that he was getting, and still see him come
Speaker 3: to work, still see him competing. And I told him,
Speaker 3: I was like, dog, like, you're gonna keep on working,
Speaker 3: put your head down, keep on working, and keep on grinding,
Speaker 3: and it's gonna show. Yeah, you know, I think he
Speaker 3: kind of took that well because he understands that that
Speaker 3: all of us have been through the same thing. And
Speaker 3: he took that well. And even the couple of games
Speaker 3: that he came back, he balled out. And you know,
Speaker 3: the more he gets healthy, the more he you know,
Speaker 3: gets back to himself physically. I know that it's gonna show.
Speaker 2: Up, kidder Man.
Speaker 1: We appreciate your impact on the field. We appreciate your
Speaker 1: impact in the locker room.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: One thing I do to always in the show is
Speaker 1: I have people look at that isl camera right there
Speaker 1: and either say something about themselves or say something to
Speaker 1: the fans. But talking to you right now, man, and
Speaker 1: if you're comfortable, got a feeling, man, I want you
Speaker 1: look at the Isico camera and talk to your parents.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: You know you are hitting a big point of your life.
Speaker 2: You're about to be a husband.
Speaker 1: You know, your fiance now, your eight year, nine year,
Speaker 1: ten those things are on the cusp. Your parents are
Speaker 1: a big part of that, clearly.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: You're looking at him right there, and just say whatever
Speaker 1: you feel in your spirit right now to your parents, man,
Speaker 1: whether it's taking them with just a message to them, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Mom, Dad, I just you know, appreciate everything that you
Speaker 3: guys have did for me, Corey, Kyle and Benny, you know,
Speaker 3: for just Karen, just loving us and most importantly just
Speaker 3: investing in our future to take the time make the
Speaker 3: sacrifices that you guys did, and you guys know those
Speaker 3: sacrifices that you made. We're just appreciative of that. It's
Speaker 3: been a blessing to have you guys be able to
Speaker 3: call you mom and dad, and I just want both
Speaker 3: of you know that that I love you well.
Speaker 2: Man, Kendall Man, your parents did an amazing job.
Speaker 1: Man, It's been a pleasure talking to you, and I
Speaker 1: could keep talking to you, and we're gonna let you go.
Speaker 1: You're a busy, busy man, command this family. This is
Speaker 1: the next Man Up Comcast. I'm Brian Coole with JR.
Speaker 1: And I am with no other than Kendall Fuller.
Speaker 2: Brother. Thank you so much for time in. I can't
Speaker 2: wait to see how y'all finish out the year. And
Speaker 2: I know you got a long career ahead of you, brother,
Speaker 2: so we're gonna keep watching. Man.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Love podcasts.
Speaker 1: We have a lot more for you on the Commander's
Speaker 1: podcast Network.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: We have the command Center Podcast with Logan Paulson, Fred
Speaker 1: Smooth and Santanta Mars. It's like hanging out with your
Speaker 1: best friends, but you're talking all Commander's football. Then we
Speaker 1: have the Players Club with legends London Flusher and Santana
Speaker 1: Mars and they sit with your favorite Commanders players and
Speaker 1: they talk football in the way that only those who
Speaker 1: played the game could. Then, of course we have to
Speaker 1: get Loud podcasts with Mike Jenkins and Fred Smooth doing
Speaker 1: what they do best. Didn't Loud? That show is a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. And then of course we have the
Speaker 1: Next Man of podcast. We'll be back next Tuesday with
Speaker 1: another one of your favorite Commander's players. All that and
Speaker 1: more can be found on The Commander's Podcast Network, streaming
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts, or you can watch us
Speaker 1: on the Commander's YouTube page.