Skipping NFL draft was tough lesson for Texas A&M's Jeff Fuller

By Carlos Mendez

cmendez@star-telegram.com

MOBILE, Ala. -- Most of the time, Jeff Fuller lets negative thoughts float away.

But 2011 was different.

His leg didn't feel right. He never felt fast. He couldn't find a way to click with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

That's no way for the leading touchdown receiver in Texas A&M history to feel. He still caught 70 balls, six for touchdowns, and earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl, where he is practicing this week with the South squad for Saturday's game.

But it didn't matter.

The season was an overall disappointment, hardly what he was aiming for when he opted to return to A&M after a junior year that could have landed him in the first round of the NFL draft.

"This season, I did hold on to a lot of negatives," he said. "Because I was under the impression that my leg was OK, and I just needed to work through it."

It turned out the leg was not OK. He was playing with a hamstring problem for five weeks when he thought he had merely tweaked it. A magnetic resonance imaging test showed he had a fluid buildup in his knee. He got it drained, but the next week, he got turf toe.

"It was on the same leg, so it was hard to explode, so it was kind of a double whammy," he said. "But I'm not here to make excuses. I'm just here to show everybody I'm the same player I was in my junior year."

That player was one of the top receivers in the Big 12. As a junior, Fuller caught 72 passes for 1,066 yards and a school-record 12 touchdowns, breaking his own record of nine touchdown catches two years earlier, as a freshman.

It was the finest receiving season in A&M history, and with 233 catches, 3,092 yards and 34 touchdown catches in his four seasons at College Station, Fuller is considered the school's best receiver ever.

Still, he wonders.

"I came back to accomplish a lot of things, but I didn't get it accomplished," he said. "Battled with a lot of injuries. It was a hard season. It was a learning experience. But I feel like I'm a stronger player because of it."

Now he hopes NFL teams notice. He'll need to raise his stock with a good performance Saturday.

"I didn't think you saw the best of Fuller this year," ESPN analyst Mel Kiper said. "He's a big, talented, physical kid. But the consistency against smaller cornerbacks, I didn't see the level of consistency needed. I thought last year maybe a late first or early second round. Right now, I'm thinking maybe Day 3."

The choice to return to A&M as a senior might not have produced the desired results for Fuller.

But he almost didn't come to A&M at all.

He committed to Oklahoma as a high school player at McKinney Boyd. But when Mike Sherman was hired at A&M and promised to bring a pro-style passing attack, Fuller came on board, signing to play at the school where his father also played.

Arkansas receiver Joe Adams, a teammate at the Senior Bowl, remembers almost convincing Fuller to stay at Oklahoma. Both players had committed to the Sooners for receivers coach Kevin Sumlin, who recruited them before he left for Houston (and is now the new coach at Texas A&M).

"Landry Jones used to call me and Jeff all the time, and Landry and I used to call him all the time, trying to get him to come to OU," Adams said.

Adams has stayed close to his former near-teammate.

"He's a great guy. He's funny. I loved hanging with Jeff," Adams said. "We just try to keep each other laughing, talking about the old days, how we played against each other."

Fuller has a tiny blemish on his résumé.

In January 2010 in Allen, he was cited for underage drinking when he was in a car driven by a teammate who was stopped and charged with a DWI.

But Adams said Fuller won't be a character problem.

"He's no trouble or anything like that," Adams said. "He's not a problem-causer."

Fuller credits his network of friends for helping him get past the disappointment of the season. He said Tannehill and running back Cyrus Gray especially helped.

"We're all close. It's a complete family atmosphere at A&M," he said. "I don't even regret coming back because they're like my brothers."

But finally, the year is over. College football is behind him, except for one more game. Then it's on to the uncertainty of the NFL draft on the last weekend in April.

"I can't wait to put in the work, and then be able to look forward to April," he said.

Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7760

Twitter @calexmendez

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