Steve Fuller (American football)

This article is about the American football player. For the philosopher-sociologist, see Steve Fuller (sociologist).

Stephen Ray Fuller (born January 5, 1957) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, where he was twice named ACC Player of the Year, and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 1979 NFL draft. Fuller played his first four seasons with the Chiefs and was a member of the Los Angeles Rams during his fifth season. He joined the Chicago Bears in 1984, where he spent four seasons as a backup and was a member of the team that won the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XX. In his final season, Fuller was a member of the San Diego Chargers.

Steve Fuller

Fuller with the Clemson Tigers in 1975
No. 4
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Born:	(1957-01-05) January 5, 1957 (age 68) Enid, Oklahoma, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	198 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High school:	Spartanburg (Spartanburg, South Carolina)
College:	Clemson (1975–1978)
NFL draft:	1979: 1st round, 23rd pick
Career history
Kansas City Chiefs (1979–1982) Los Angeles Rams (1983) Chicago Bears (1984–1987) San Diego Chargers (1988)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion (XX) Third-team All-American (1978) 2× ACC Player of the Year (1977, 1978) 2× First-team All-ACC (1977, 1978) Clemson Tigers No. 4 retired
Career NFL statistics
Passing attempts: 1,066 Passing completions: 605 Completion percentage: 56.8% TD–INT: 28–41 Passing yards: 7,156 Passer rating: 70.1 Rushing yards: 908 Rushing touchdowns: 11 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

Fuller was born in Enid, Oklahoma and graduated from Spartanburg High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina.^[1]

College career

Fuller played college football at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina from 1975 to 1978.^[2] He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity,^[3] Fuller was a football and academic All-America at Clemson University.

In 1975, Fuller was 22-of-46 for 354 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. In addition, he had 47 carries for 148 yards as Clemson finished with a 2–9 record.

In 1976, Fuller was 58-of-116 for 835 yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions. In addition, he had 157 carries for 503 yards with six touchdowns as Clemson finished with a 3–6–2 record.

In 1977, Fuller was 106-of-205 for 1,655 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. In addition, he had 178 carries for 437 yards with six touchdowns as Clemson finished with an 8–3–1 record.

In 1978, Fuller was 101-of-187 for 1,515 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. In addition, he had 153 carries for 649 yards and ten touchdowns as Clemson finished with an 11–1 record.

College statistics

Legend
	Led the ACC
Bold	Career high

Season	Team	GP	Passing								Rushing
			Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1975	Clemson	11	22	46	47.8	354	2	3	113.8	47	148	3.1	0
1976	Clemson	11	58	116	50.0	835	5	6	114.3	157	503	3.2	6
1977	Clemson	11	96	182	52.7	1,497	8	4	131.9	165	403	2.4	6
1978	Clemson	12	101	187	54.0	1,515	7	4	130.1	153	649	4.2	10
Career[4]		45	277	531	52.2	4,201	22	17	125.9	522	1,703	3.3	22

* Includes bowl games.

Professional career

Fuller was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round with the 23rd overall pick in the 1979 NFL draft.^[2] He played in the National Football League for seven years, most notably with the Chicago Bears as their backup quarterback from 1984 to 1986, including the Super Bowl XX championship season in 1985.^[2] Fuller was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the top fifteen backup quarterbacks of all time, based on his 1985 season with the Chicago Bears.^[5]

After not throwing a single pass during the entire 1983 NFL season, Fuller came in for the Chicago Bears in Week 10 of the 1984 NFL season against the Los Angeles Raiders after an injury to starting quarterback Jim McMahon halfway through the game. McMahon missed the rest of the 1984 season and Fuller became the Bears starter, all the way to the 1984 NFC Championship game against the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers.

Fuller was awarded a gold record and a platinum video award for the 1985 "Super Bowl Shuffle", for which he was the sixth of the ten solo singers.^[6] In 2010, during Super Bowl XLIV, Fuller joined other members of the 1985 Chicago Bears in recreating the Super Bowl Shuffle in a Boost Mobile commercial.^[7]

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Won the Super Bowl
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games			Passing									Rushing					Sacks
		GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	Lng	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Sck	Yds
1979	KAN	16	12	6–6	146	270	54.1	1,484	5.5	40	6	14	55.8	50	264	5.3	49	1	37	244
1980	KAN	14	13	6–7	193	320	60.3	2,250	7.0	77	10	12	76.4	60	274	4.6	38	4	49	348
1981	KAN	13	3	1–2	77	134	57.5	934	7.0	53	3	4	74.0	19	118	6.2	27	0	17	117
1982	KAN	9	3	0–3	49	93	52.7	665	7.2	51	3	2	77.6	10	56	5.6	12	0	17	143
1984	CHI	6	4	2–2	53	78	67.9	595	7.6	31	3	0	103.3	15	89	5.9	26	1	7	41
1985	CHI	16	5	4–1	53	107	49.5	777	7.3	69	1	5	57.3	24	77	3.2	13	5	17	102
1986	CHI	16	2	0–2	34	64	53.1	451	7.0	50	2	4	60.1	8	30	3.8	10	0	8	53
Career		90	42	19–23	605	1,066	56.8	7,156	6.7	77	28	41	70.1	186	908	4.9	49	11	152	1,048

Playoffs

Year	Team	Games			Passing									Rushing					Sacks
		GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	Lng	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Sck	Yds
1984	CHI	2	2	1–1	22	37	59.5	298	8.1	75	2	1	91.9	8	44	5.5	23	0	13	84
1985	CHI	3	0	0–0	0	4	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0	39.6	1	1	1.0	1	0	1	11
1986	CHI	1	0	0–0	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Career		6	2	1–1	22	41	53.7	298	7.3	75	2	1	83.2	9	45	5.0	23	0	14	95

Personal life

Fuller and his wife, Anna, have two children. The couple live in South Carolina where Fuller was a high school football coach at Hilton Head Prep School. Fuller currently works as offensive coordinator for the Hilton Head Prep School Varsity football team.^[8]