By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communiations Specialist
If you hear the name Logan Fuller around Athens, Texas, chances are good football is being discussed. People who follow Hornet athletics know Fuller broke a 50-year-old career rushing record in 2014 as a junior. As a sophomore, he broke the single-season touchdown record with 27 — and then bested himself in 2015 with 33. He’s got 83 career touchdowns, which, of course, is also a record. Less known, and more important than his athletic prowess, is his reputation off the playing field.
“He’s a joy to have in the classroom,” said Athens High School science teacher Jessica Hemann. Hemann has had Fuller in two of her classes and says he is strong academically and funny. “He cares about others,” she said. “He’ll move on from AHS to do great things.”
It’s that sense of caring — about others, about his grades, about his work ethic — that seems to make the greatest impression on people.
“He’s a leader by example,” said head football coach Paul Essary. “Nobody is going to outwork Logan. He works extremely hard, breaks records and is the first one to praise his teammates.”
Fuller moved to Athens with his mom from LaPoynor school district when he was in fifth grade, partially because he knew from youth leagues that he loved football and had a talent for it. (LaPoynor — a basketball powerhouse — does not offer a football program.) Seventh grade is the first year for football at Athens ISD, and he was anxious to get his chance to show his coaches what he could do.
Then in seventh and eighth grades, he suffered injuries — a fractured tibia followed later by a snapped ligament — that sidelined him for all but two or three games both years combined. As if that weren’t frustrating enough, he missed three games his freshman year when a late hit during practice injured his ankle.
“After I got hurt for the third time, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to keep playing,” Fuller said. But he did, of course, and discovered soon after it felt good to win. Very good.
“When we win, it makes everyone else happy,” he said. “It feels like I’m giving back to people.”
And just as Essary described, Fuller is quick to credit others for contributing to his success.
“I’ve had good coaches starting at a young age,” he said. “And I have a good work drive because I love it. They say you can’t teach effort; you have to give effort. But you can teach technique, and I’ve had coaches who have done that. You need both.”
Fuller’s interests go beyond athletics, of course. Playing against type, he has been in varsity choir throughout high school and this year joined show choir. “I enjoy choir because I like to sing, and it’s a time for me to just get away and be myself with people who want the same thing,” he said.
He is asked a lot these days what comes next. Just this week, he verbally committed to play for Trinity Valley Community College. In the more distant future, he names coaching or physical therapy as professions that interest him. The world is wide open with possibilities, and Fuller is doing his best to enjoy his last few months as a Hornet, hanging out with his buddies and keeping his grades up.
“High school has been good to me,” he said. “I’ve had really good teachers, and they’ve worked with me.”
His mom, Victoria Matus, has clearly imparted to her son the importance of good manners. “My mom is all about showing respect to other people if you want them to respect you,” he said. “Being a good person and a polite person can get you a long way with people in life.”
Fuller’s college and career teacher, Janet Green, would agree. “Logan is respectful of others and respected by his peers,” she said. “He’s overall a pleasure to teach.”
Fuller lives in Athens with his mother, Victoria Matus, and 8-year-old sister, Joleigh Guthrie. His grandparents, Fred and Debbie Jo Matus, live in LaPoynor. His father, James Fuller, lives in Mabank where he is still remembered as having been a star running back at Mabank High School.