ASU Football: Season opens with Fulcher becoming program’s 13th HOFer

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

On an afternoon in January of 2021, David Fulcher was at sitting in his home when the doorbell rang. It was a UPS delivery driver dropping off packages – nothing out of the ordinary at the Fulcher household.

Fulcher’s wife, Judy, told him a package had arrived for him.

When he opened it, a football was inside. On it?

“Welcome to the College Football Hall of Fame.”

“That’s when I knew it was real,” Fulcher, the former Arizona State Football star defensive back, said. He later learned of a stacked class that will enter the Hall with him, featuring Tony Romo, Carson Palmer, Darren Sproles and CJ Spiller.

Thirty five years ago, Fulcher became immortalized in ASU’s history books as he was selected to play for the Cincinnati Bengals in the 3rd round of the 1986 NFL Draft. Now, once ASU wraps its 2021 campaign, he will be immortalized among college football’s greats with an induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 7.

Fulcher is in rare company, as he will be one of 13 Sun Devils to be entered into the Hall of Fame.

“To go into the College Football Hall of Fame representing Arizona State, it’s a tremendous honor,” Fulcher said. “I’m humble about it, and I just hope other Sun Devils can follow me into the Hall of Fame.”

Fulcher’s stats at ASU helped solidify him as an all-timer inside Sun Devil Stadium. He totaled 12 interceptions for a total of 193 yards in a Sun Devils uniform.

However, his legendary time at ASU didn’t feature one important milestone: beating the University of Arizona in the Territorial Cup.

“We played an 11 game schedule,” Fulcher said. “I think [The University of Arizona] played a one game schedule and that was to beat us.”

Fulcher still has a distaste for his in-state rival.

“I will tell you that, that rivalry is probably one of the best in college football,” Fulcher said.

Whenever someone tells Fulcher that they go to Arizona, he said, he prays that they say the word ‘State’ at the end of the sentence.

Fulcher played in the NFL for eight seasons, including playing seven of them for the Cincinnati Bengals, where he made the Pro Bowl three times. After he retired, he wound up staying in Cincinnati where he currently helps to give back to the community.

Around 25 years ago, Fulcher started Mentoring Against Negative Actions (MANA). The idea was sparked when a student was arrested at the charter school Fulcher was working at. He then brought the student’s schoolwork to the jail, and the local sheriff asked Fulcher to create a program for incarcerated young men.

“I think every young man or every person in the world knows right from wrong,” Fulcher said. “[I want to give them] the opportunity to understand that if you make better choices, you’re going to get a better outcome.”

Fulcher’s wife, Judy, also helps out with MANA, as she works with women who are in the jail. They both spend about two hours a day helping the kids get their lives back on track.

Fulcher’s program also allows the kids to be ready for the real word when they get out of jail.

“I’ve had a bunch of guys get out [of jail],” Fulcher said. “Our program gives them an opportunity to go and seek employment. I’ve talked to businesses that will hire people with records depending on what the felony might be.”

When Fulcher enters the College Football Hall of Fame as a graduate of ASU in December, he’ll be thinking about the latter title rather than the former.

“It probably means more to me [to graduate from college] than to get into the Hall of Fame,” Fulcher said.

The thought of graduating came about when Fulcher’s daughter walked across the stage at her college graduation a few years ago. She got her diploma, stopped, looked up at her dad and told him that his graduation would be next.

From that moment, Fulcher went through the NFL Trust Scholarship Program, wrote an essay about his daughter’s aspirations for him and became an ASU graduate two years later.

Next up for Fulcher? A potential spot on Herm Edwards’ coaching staff, he hopes.

“Hopefully someday I get the opportunity to go back to ASU and be on that coaching staff,” Fulcher said.