Claimed on waivers by Green Bay Sept. 1 -- one day after being released by Seattle -- Curtis Fuller was called upon for extensive duty at defensive back late last season after Antuan Edwards went out with a hamstring injury.
A third-year veteran from Texas Christian University, Fuller played in nine games as a reserve, recording five tackles and one pass defensed, along with a special teams stop.
Admittedly, Fuller's best moment as a pro was his first time playing in the postseason, when the Packers topped his former team in overtime, 33-27, in the 2003 NFC Wildcard playoffs.
Recently, Fuller sat down with Packers.com to discuss this and a few other topics in our latest round of Random Questions.
Packers.com: What's the best and worst thing about playing in the NFL?
Curtis Fuller: "The best thing is that you get six months off out of the year and you can live pretty much anywhere you want to live.
"There really isn't a downside to playing in the NFL. I guess the worst part of it would have to be training camp because sometimes you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel."
What's one word you would use to describe training camp?
"Brutal."
In one word, how would you want to be described as a football player?
"Intelligent."
If you could play another sport professionally, what would it be?
"Golf. The fact that those guys get paid millions of dollars for playing 72 holes of golf, they get to go to California, Florida, Hawaii...
"Every once in a while they'll go to a cold spot, but that doesn't happen very often. Golf just seems like it would be a nice way to make a living."
Do you think golfers should be considered athletes?
"I think so. I think Tiger (Woods) has come in and proved that the more athletic you are, the greater advantage you have as far as how much distance you get on the ball off the tee or how you can hit out of the rough."
Do you have any business ventures that you are involved with?
"Not really. One thing that I do is work at Frito-Lay in the offseason. I'm doing an internship with their human resources department in Dallas. They have eight different divisions and I've been able to work in a different division each year."
What is the best job you've ever had?
"It probably has to be my internship because I learned a lot about business. When you go to school, you're learning but you're not totally prepared. Once you start working with a corporation the terminology is different, how they work their business is different. When you actually get in there you learn how the real world works. That was what I thought was the best and most unique part about it."
Upon retiring, what do you see yourself doing?
"If I'm not at Frito-Lay, I'll probably be coaching."
What is your favorite video game?
"It has to be Madden."
Who has had the most influence on your life?
"I have to say my father, just keeping it simple and being honest. He would never try to sugarcoat anything."
Who is your favorite comedian?
"That would have to be Cedric the Entertainer."
What is your best memory from last season?
"Winning that first playoff game (vs. Seattle, Jan. 4). That was the first playoff game that I had been a part of since I've been in professional football. And just the experience and the atmosphere, being at Lambeau Field and just the energy that was here in the stadium was amazing."
What are you most looking forward to this season?
"I'm looking forward to that same thing again, just getting into the playoffs. It's kind of like the Final Four. Once you get in there, anybody can win. Whoever is playing the best defense, whoever is running the ball well can carry you all the way."
Besides the Super Bowl, what is one sporting event that you would like to attend?
"The Masters at Augusta. There's so much history and tradition surrounding that tournament and just the prestige of winning or even being invited to play there. The players that play in the Masters are basically the world's best."
If you could play golf with any foursome, who would it be?
"You have to throw Tiger Woods in there. I would add John Daly because he can hit the ball a mile. And I would throw Phil Mickelson in there because he's a lefty and my dad's a lefty."
If you could change one NFL rule, what would it be?
"The fashion police. I just think that the rules about our uniforms are out of control. They make you pull up your socks a certain distance and they'll let you know when you don't have enough green showing or enough white showing. I just think some of those rules are stretched a little too far."
Besides conditioning, what have you been doing this offseason?
"I've been working on my house down in Texas. That's basically it."
If I were to go to your car, what would I find in your CD player right now?
"I'm a hip-hop guy, hip-hop and R& B. You'll find Kanye West, Donnell Jones, the new Usher and you'll find 'God's Son' by Nas in there."
If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?
"I have to put Jesus in there because I have a handful of questions I want to ask him."
"I have to put my grandmother in there because she has had such a great influence on me growing up. And I would want to have either Caesar or Napoleon, just to see what they were thinking. They are the only two people that at one point in time ruled the world. They had power over the world and I would just like to know what they were thinking."
What is the best thing about being a Packer?
"When you put on that Packers uniform, there's so much tradition behind it, so much history and so much love for the game. You just feel it and you understand it. Even when you pull up and you see Lambeau Field you think of all the great players that have played here. You understand that you're not here to win games, you're here to win championships."
Does GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman play a role in that view?
"I think he just allows you to understand and soak it in. I've only been here a year and I don't truly understand all that goes into it, like all of the history behind the Bears-Packers rivalry. Coach implies that it's not just the 2003 or 2004 Packers vs. Bears, it's 1920 Packers vs. Bears. It's the history of the two teams coming together. And when you play for the Packers you play that game for pride. I'm starting to pick up on it more and more."
What is your favorite book?
The Left Behind series.
What is your favorite TV game show?
"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
What is your favorite opposing stadium that you've played in so far?
"Oakland (Network Associates Coliseum). It's just raw in there. When you play in the Coliseum, you absolutely understand that you're in the Coliseum."
Who would you say is the toughest player on the team?
"Number 4, of course."
Do you have any nicknames?
"They started calling me 'grasshopper' during my rookie year in Seattle because I like to learn and understand the game. In martial arts, when you first get into the business they call you grasshopper because you learn and grow."
In a movie about your life, who would play you?
"Either Denzel Washington or Will Smith."
What was your worst job growing up?
"I really didn't have a bad job growing up. Maybe the only one that I really wondered why I was doing it was bagging groceries."
