State of Sports: Dick Fuller remembered as great player -- and person
Jun. 13—STORIES ABOUT athletes from a previous era typically gain some degree of embellishment as they age, but many who saw Dick Fuller play will tell you there is no need for hyperbole when recalling Fuller's high school football career.
Fuller, a running back/defensive back, was the centerpiece of the 1966 Manchester Central team that went 10-0 under head coach Billy Hall and outscored its opponents 300-52. He earned a full scholarship to play college football at the University of Arkansas.
Fuller is on the short list of top running backs New Hampshire has produced. Some might argue that he belongs at the top of that list.
Fuller, who also played basketball and baseball for Central, died on May 30 in Rogers, Arkansas. He was 75.
"He was as good as everybody says he was," said Butch Psaledas, who played against Fuller as a lineman at Manchester Memorial. "He was that good.
"What I remember most about Dickie is this: I don't remember where the game was — it may have been in Nashua — but it was a baseball game in the playoffs and we were playing the game after them. We're getting off the bus going in and here comes the Central team. Of course we all knew each other from playing Legion and Babe Ruth. I see Dickie coming and he's not only carrying the bat bag, he's carrying the equipment bag too. Here he is, this guy who is legitimately a star, humbly carrying those two bags to the bus. That stuck in my mind forever about him. That's just the way he was.
"He had the accolades and a full scholarship to this powerhouse school, but he was just as down to earth as down to earth could be. Humble guy and simply a nice, nice person."
Fuller was one of three running backs on that 1966 Central team that went on to play Division I football. Steve deGrandmaison played for Purdue, and Dick Bazoin went to Wake Forest.
That team also featured former Concord High School football coach Bob Camirand, who was a junior who started on the offensive line. Camirand said Fuller was the type of player you could build a team around.
"He was a big (225 pounds), strong, tough running back," Camirand said. "Hard-hitting safety. He was as good on defense as he was on offense. With him in the huddle, you felt you had a chance.
"He started as a safety for Central as a freshman, which was unheard of — freshmen starting at that time. He was perfect for what Bill Hall was doing, which was trying to run over people. And that's what he could do."
Fuller is reportedly the first New Hampshire high school football player to score 300 points during his career (50 touchdowns). He's in the Manchester Football Hall of Fame, the Manchester Central High School Football Hall of Fame and the Manchester Historical Society Hall of Fame.
Central defeated Memorial for the first time in 1966. The Little Green also beat Nashua, Lowell, Lawrence, Bishop Bradley, West, Portsmouth, Concord, Dover and Haverhill, Mass., that season.
A Celebration of Life for Fuller will be held July 18 (1-4 p.m.) at the Puritan Conference & Event Center.
"We could talk all day about how great of a football player he was, but the thing that most impressed me about him as a young kid was his humility," Camirand said. "He treated all of his teammates with respect. He made you feel good no matter where you were on the depth chart.
"People who didn't know him will remember him as a great athlete. People who did know him will remember him as a great person."
