Get To Know Me: Xavier Cullens

Note: This Get To Know Me on Xavier Cullens first appeared in the Aug. 31 Memphis Football GameDayprogram when the Tigers hosted Ole Miss.

When moving from high school to college football, many players know that a position change could be in store for them. College coaches may even mention the possibility during the recruiting process. Some players struggle with the adjustment. Others accept the new role.

Count redshirt sophomore Xavier Cullens in the latter group. An all-state performer at North Pontotoc High School, Cullens lit it up on offense at running back with more than 6,000 career all-purpose yards that included 5,000 yards rushing. He also played defensive back, but Cullens made his name on offense. Cullens' move, though, to the linebacking corps at Memphis was nearly seamless.

"It was a smooth transition for me because I like to hit people," said Cullens. "I had played running back in high school so I already knew my gaps well. The main thing for me was learning how to cover people, learning the steps I needed to take in order to make a play."

He's a quick learner. After a redshirt season in 2017, Cullens played saw action in six games last year. Cullens, who made his collegiate debut in the 2018 opener, totaled four tackles last season.

The Ecru, Miss., also gets the job done in the classroom. A football Tiger Scholar, Cullens earned American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team honors in 2017-18 and has been a Dean's List student and Tiger 3.0 Club member at Memphis.

"Academics are important to me," Cullens said. "I'm a student-athlete, and I put the student part first. I didn't come just to be an athlete; I came to get a good education."

Let's learn more about Cullens off the field:

Three words that best describe me are… Quiet, respectful, hard-working.
My major is… exercise, sport and movement sciences. I want to be an athletic trainer.
I started playing football… when I was 5 years old. I played baseball a lot when I was little, and a bunch of my baseball buddies' parents put together a football team for us.
When I'm not at the football complex, I'm… at home playing with my pit bulls, Apollo and Athena.
The thing that gets me fired up before a game is… listening to Lucci.
If I were a super hero, my super power would be… to be invisible.
A movie I can't stop re-watching is… Friday.

My Favorite Things
Team… Chicago Bears
Snack… Fruit Gushers
Toy as a child… Remote-control cars
Ice cream flavor… Cookies 'n cream
TV show as a child… Ed, Edd n Eddy

University of Memphis Athletics

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