(Reuters) – Sarah Fuller, a goalkeeper for Vanderbilt University women’s soccer team, will suit up for the Commodores men’s football team as place kicker on Saturday when they face the Missouri Tigers.
With several members of the football team in quarantine due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, ESPN said it had confirmed with a team official that Fuller will make the trip to Missouri with the men’s team.
Vanderbilt Football posted a Tweet “History in the making” accompanied by a picture of Fuller in uniform.
Fuller posted a similar message on Twitter “Let’s make history. #PlayLikeAGirl #AnchorDown”.
Women have occasionally appeared in U.S. college football games going back more than two decades but if Fuller gets on the field she will be the first to take a snap in an SEC game or the Power 5, a group of college football’s largest conferences.
In 1997 Liz Heaston became the first woman to play and score in a college football game when she kicked two extra points in Willamette University’s 27-0 win over Linfield College.
Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason confirmed on Wednesday that Fuller was an option for the winless Commodores.
“Right now, we’re just looking at all options,’ Mason told Nashville radio station 102.5 The Game. “For us, talking to Sarah, she’s a champ, and no pun intended.
“Just coming off an SEC Championship in soccer… She’s a complete competitor. She’s an option for us. Right now, that’s where we sit.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
