Minium: Former ODU Star Travis Fulgham Makes the 'Play of the Game" in his Debut With The Philadelphia Eagles

By Harry Minium
 
NBC announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth seemed surprised when, after Travis Fulgham was able to gain some separation from a San Francisco 49ers defender, that he looked up at the last second and hauled in a long, perfectly thrown pass from Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz.
 
Michaels noted that Fulgham didn't see the ball until it was almost in his arms and wondered how he managed to catch it so effortlessly.
 
It wasn't surprising to those of us who saw Fulgham star for Old Dominion University. Fulgham had a knack for hauling in difficult catches and making it look easy.
 
How many times did he make similar receptions in ODU's 49-35 upset of Virginia Tech in 2018, when he caught nine passes for 188 yards and a TD?
 
But as big as those receptions were, this was clearly the biggest of his career.
 
The 42-yard touchdown pass, deemed "the biggest play of the game," by Michaels, came on prime time, on Sunday Night Football, at a critical juncture for the Eagles, who were 7 ½-point underdogs and were playing on the road.
 
The touchdown gave the Eagles an 18-14 lead in a game they would eventually win, 25-20, and provided Fulgham a dose of instant national notoriety.
 
Immediately, social media lit up with highlights of the pass, from ESPN, NBC, the NFL and, of course, the Eagles.
 
"Ladies and gentlemen, his name is Travis Fulgham," read a Tweet from the Eagles with a video of his TD reception.
 
Philadelphia Eagles Tweet
 
"A fantastic play for a guy who's come out of nowhere," Collinsworth said.


 
Although some on Twitter took umbrage at that remark, I don't think it was intended as a dig at ODU. The Monarchs have five players in the NFL, including Eagles' teammate Rick Lovato, a long snapper who has a Super Bowl ring.
 
An aside here: ODU alum Zach Pascal also led the Indianapolis Colts in receiving Sunday when they beat the Chicago Bears, for whom Monarch alum Rashaad Coward plays.
 
Collinsworth was referring to Fulgham's recent past, in which the Alexandria, Va., native has experienced a ton of frustration and little playing time.
 
Fulgham was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft, but was waived and signed to the practice squad last season. He played in three games for the Lions and did not catch a pass.
 
He was waived by the Lions on Aug. 9 and claimed by the Green Bay Packers a day later. The Packers then waived him on Aug. 19 and he was claimed by the Eagles a day later.
 
In other words, in 12 days, Fulgham moved from Michigan to Wisconsin and then to Philly.
 
The Eagles waived him on Sept. 3, but signed him to the practice squad, where he quickly made a big impression.
 
"He's been working his tail off in practice," Wentz told NBC. "He's been working against our first-team defense and they've said great things about him."
 
After they suffered several injuries at wide receiver, the Eagles activated him on Saturday and started him on Sunday.
 
"Obviously, our opportunities together have been limited, but he made a couple of great plays today," Wentz said, referring to a 15-year pass reception Fulgham made earlier in the game.
 
 Sunday's TD was only the second time Wentz tried to connect with Fulgham on a long pass. The other was in practice, and Fulgham hauled that one in as well.
 
"We repped that play once and it's just cool. We broke the huddle and I told him to be ready," Wentz told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
 
"I've seen him with this team for a while now going up against our defense on the scout team and what he does to our defense so I have been watching him to see what he's capable of doing. I was just proud of him for coming out here tonight and making the plays when asked of him."
 
Sometimes, you have to be at the right place at the right time to make it in the NFL, and this seems to be the case for Fulgham. The Eagles' roster didn't have many good wide receivers when the season began, and injuries quickly opened space for second-year player with no appreciable NFL experience.
 
Given the state of the Eagles' receiving corps, it would seem that Fulgham will get a lot of work this season, and he needs it and I think at this point has earned it.
 
"It's definitely been a long year for me, a long offseason," Fulgham said during the post-game press conference.
 
"But I came here to Philly and they definitely gave me an opportunity. Working with Carson has been great. Like he said, in practice we hit on that and it was a perfect throw. Then In the game, he doubled back on that and gave me a perfect throw and made it easy for me."
 
Eagles safety Jalen Mills told the Inquirer that since Fulgham began working out with the Eagles, "I've never seen him drop a ball. I knew once he got an opportunity, he was going to make the most of it."
 
And the best is surely yet to come. One of the reasons the Lions drafted Fulgham was because they saw such an up-side to him, given his relative lack of football experience.
 
Fulgham's parents worked for the foreign service so he spent most of his childhood overseas, in Europe, Asia and Africa, where he excelled in school, foreign languages and learned to play cricket and soccer.
 
It wasn't until he was a junior in high school, after he returned to the United States, that he began playing football. Although he was an immediate star, he had no scholarship offers. He was a star because of his talent, not his football skills.
 
He was recruited by then assistant coach Michael Zyskowski to walk-on at ODU without a scholarship.
 
He earned one quickly based on his athleticism. He redshirted as a freshman and predictably, it took years before he developed the skills to become a standout receiver.
 
After a promising sophomore season, Fulgham, in fact, played poorly through much of his junior year, but then blossomed as a senior under wide receivers coach John Allen. He led Conference USA with 92 receiving yards per game even though teammate Jonathan Duhart was nearly as productive.


 
Fulgham is 25 and is beginning just his ninth season of football. He's only going to get better.
 
Zyskowski, now on UConn's coaching staff, watched the game from his home in Storrs, Conn., and talked with Lovato after the game.
 
"Rick was just going crazy for Travis," Zyskowski said. "It's so great having two ODU players on one NFL team."
 
"I'm so proud of him," added Zyskowski, better known as Coach Z. "I'll never forget when his high school coach, Matt Griffis, called me. He said, 'Z, I have a guy for you. This kid will either quit the first week of camp or he will be in the NFL.'
 
"He was right. The kid always had the talent, but to see him learn, work and grow as a person and as an athlete has been so much fun. That is one of the reasons why I love being in athletics.
 
"You get to see a young man live out his dream, from a walk-on at ODU to catching a touchdown pass in the NFL on Sunday Night Football.
 
"That was pretty special."
 
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu