Xavier Fulton

Xavier Allen Fulton (born April 18, 1986) is a Canadian football offensive tackle.

At Syracuse, he led the way for 508 total yards and 378 rushing yards, Illinois' most rushing yards since 1998.

Fulton played football at Homewood-Flossmoor High School from 2000–2004 for coach Tom Bailey.

As a senior, he recorded 98 tackles, 58 solo stops, and 7.5 sacks, as well as, 17 quarterback hurries, three blocked field goals, three fumble recoveries, and five PBUs.

Fulton was named to All-State teams by the Chicago Sun-Times, Champaign News-Gazette, and Illinois High School Coaches Association.

He was also named an All-Area performer by Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Southtown, and Star Newspapers.

Fulton was ranked as a Top-25 Illinois recruit by Rivals.com, ESPN, and The Insiders.

He was also named SuperPrep All-Region.

While at H-F, he lettered in football and wrestling.

He is the son of Alma and Glen Fulton.

As one of the top defensive line recruits in the country, Fulton chose Illinois over Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern University, Indiana, and more than 20 other top schools.

He was recruited by Ron Turner and his staff.

As a true freshman Fulton played as a defensive end in eight games and started three, collecting six tackles, two quarterback hurries and one PBU.

He recorded one solo tackle, two QBH and one PBU vs. Michigan.

He also recorded tackles vs. Minnesota, Indiana, and Northwestern.

As a sophomore, Fulton played and started in the first seven games of the season before suffering a season-ending knee injury at Penn State.

Before his injury he registered 13 total tackles, two tackles-for-loss, a sack, and three quarterback hurries.

He had a career game at Indiana, recording three solo stops, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a blocked extra point attempt.

He also recorded three quarterback hurries in the season opener against Rutgers and posted a sack against San Jose State.

For his junior year, he took a medical redshirt year to rehab his injured knee from the previous season.

At Missouri, he protected for 316 passing yards, the best Illini aerial performance since September 20, 2003, against Cal. Fulton finished the season with second-team All-Big Ten honors by both coaches and media, as well as, Rivals.com.

Fulton stayed for a fifth year and was part of an offensive line that has helped the Illini rank first in the Big Ten in total offense (448.3) and pass offense (274.5) and second in scoring offense (30.4) through 11 games.

At Mizzou, he protected for 451 passing yards, the third-best passing total in Illinois history.

Again, Fulton finished the season with second-team All-Big Ten honors by both coaches and media, as well as, Rivals.com.

At Fulton's senior banquet, he was honored with the Bruce Capel Award for displaying the most courage, dedication and accomplishment throughout the season.

In his redshirt junior year, during spring practices in 2007, Fulton moved from defensive line to offensive line, specifically, from defensive end to offensive tackle.

Fulton impressed the coaches so much that in his first time playing offensive tackle at the college level, he started at left tackle for all 13 games and was in on 997 offensive snaps.

He recorded a team-leading 109 knockdowns, and helped pave the way for 260 rushing yards at No. 1 Ohio State, quadrupling the Buckeyes' average rushing yards allowed.

At Minnesota, he led the way for 655 total yards, the third-best single-game total in school history.

He was the starting left tackle, converted from a defensive end, for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team for which he also played in the 2008 Rose Bowl.

In December 2008, Fulton graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Fulton signed with agent Rick Smith from Priority Sports in Chicago.

He trained at D1 Sports Training in Franklin, Tennessee, a facility owned by Peyton Manning.

He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

He played college football at Illinois.

Fulton has also been a member of the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins.

Immediately following his senior year, he was invited to the 2009 Under Amour Senior Bowl and played for the North team.

Fulton was one of only 300 top college football players to be invited to the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Fulton posted phenomenal results at the 2009 Combine.

He finished in the top 10 (OL) in 5 out of the 6 workouts: 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, 3-cone drill, & 20-yard shuttle.