Misogynistic Trolls Are Slamming Sarah Fuller After She Made Football History

December 2, 2020, 12:57 pm*

Last Saturday, Vanderbilt women’s soccer player Sarah Fuller made college football history by being the first woman to play in a Power 5 conference game. Fuller took the field as a kicker in the Commodores’ 41-0 loss on Missouri.

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According to ESPN, her inclusion on the squad was necessitated by male players being unavailable due to coronavirus, with her debut being a second-half kickoff that was “a designed squib kick that was downed without a return at the 35-yard line.”

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While many lauded Fuller’s appearance in the game, some football fans took to Twitter to complain about Fuller’s performance and, indeed, her inclusion in the game. Twitter personality The Volatile Mermaid (whose account can be found at @OhNoSheTwitnt) compiled a few representative ones in screenshot form.

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She prefaced them by saying, “The responses to a woman playing football with men are … predictable.”

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The many responses to her tweet showed just how much support Fuller has out there, and just how much disdain people have for those who criticized her.

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One person took umbrage to the tweet “predicting” that Vandy would have a wheelchair user kick the following week, noting, “It takes effort to cram that much douchebaggery into a tweet.”

The “next week a wheel chair” is something else. It takes effort to cram that much douchebaggery into a tweet.

— Morten Jacob (@mhouring) November 29, 2020

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Another pointed out that this brand of sexism is unfortunately familiar, citing disparaging comments on ESPN coverage of last year’s fantastic Women’s World Cup of the “but can she make a sandwich” variety.

The comments on ESPN’s Facebook page were pretty bad during last year’s World Cup. From women bashing to homophobic rants to “but can she make a sandwich” comments…you’d think the failed athletes themselves would show a little respect. Nope!

Not surprised by these at all!

— John is Fantastic! (@johnisfantastic) November 29, 2020

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Another respondent found a seasonal way to communicate that these dudes are “snowflakes” for commenting on Fuller.

In fact, the hate directed towards Fuller simply for playing football while being a woman was pervasive on every social media platform.

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for the comment that says they couldn’t have grabbed one from the guys team, no no they can not. Vanderbilt doesn’t have a men’s soccer team. actually only two teams in the sec have men’s soccer teams

— emily spada (@emilyspada_) November 28, 2020

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And one respondent pointed out that women are succeeding in other male-dominated sports, pointing to Australian rules football player Tayla Harris, also a ranked female boxer.

This is Tayla Harris. I’ve been following her career in Aussie Rules women’s league for a couple of years. Brings so much meaning to the phrase ‘kick like a girl’. Go you good thing. Know many blokes who would be wary of competing with this supreme athlete. Kick arse Tayla pic.twitter.com/uZccayHB1o

— Mollie Brody’s aunty (@gail_sanderson) November 29, 2020

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Fuller, who was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday for her contributions, is set to take the field again this coming Saturday, when Vandy travels to Georgia to face the Bulldogs.

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*First Published: December 2, 2020, 12:56 pm