Baltimore native Kyle Fuller and his family have accomplished things that seem almost too good to be true.
Fuller and his three brothers, Vincent, Corey, and Kendall, all made it to the NFL. That's an amazing accomplishment for one family, but until Kyle signed with the Ravens this offseason, none of the Fullers had ever played for the Ravens.
Now the veteran cornerback is preparing for his first season in Baltimore, playing in front of friends and family. Fuller remembers coming to M&T Bank Stadium to watch a Ravens preseason practice when he was playing youth football in Baltimore.
Fuller already thinks about what it will feel like running out of the tunnel in downtown Baltimore wearing a Ravens uniform. It's going to be special.
"Of course, my family is excited," Fuller said. "I still have a lot of good friends here, so it will be good to kind of see them more often than I was before. I'm looking forward to that.
"It was good being there for practice, but come a game, I think it will really hit me. I remember when I was a little bit younger, my brother (Vincent) played for the Titans, so I would go there for some of those games. Or when I was in little league, going to some of the preseason games after practice. That was cool. I'm looking forward to that."
Fuller's role with the Ravens remains to be seen. He's a serious talent, a two-time Pro Bowler who was a first-team All-Pro as recently as 2018 with the Chicago Bears. During his eight NFL seasons, Fuller has 19 interceptions, 441 tackles and 86 passes defended.
However, the Ravens have serious competition at cornerback behind starters Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters. Brandon Stephens is another talented player who can swing between corner and safety and fourth-round draft picks Jalyn Armour-Davis and Pepe Williams have looked solid in training camp.
Fuller has been primarily an outside corner during his career, but he played in the slot for Denver last season and took well to that role.
"It was good to kind of get back," Fuller said. "I played a little bit [of slot] in college, and that was really the first time in the league that I've moved back into the nickel a little bit. It felt good to get my feet wet there a little bit more, and being able to be versatile and go in there if I have to. Anything to help the team."
After seven years in Chicago, Fuller admits he didn't have his best season with the Broncos last year. But at age 30, he believes he can still play at a high level and thinks coming home will rejuvenate him.
"I think that always in your career you'll have years where it doesn't really go – not necessarily bad – you just learn from it," Fuller said. "Sure, it probably wasn't one of my best years. But, that's OK. I guess, learn from that and move forward.
"It feels good, just to be back home. Doing it where I started when I was a kid. It feels good."
