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