An Improbable Journey
Dec 24, 2019 | Football
Cullen Gillaspia thought his football career was over. Not once but twice.
The Katy Taylor graduate picked Texas A&M for its academics, and when he started his master’s degree, it was with an eye on the future.
Now, Gillaspia is nearing the end of his rookie NFL season with plans to play a long time.
“It just so happened it ended up working out, and here I am,” Gillaspia said. “I guess God had a different plan for me, and I’m thankful for it. It’s been incredible.”
Gillaspia is the most famous 12th Man since the original 12th Man, E. King Gill. Gillaspia earned a football scholarship, represented the student body wearing the No. 12 in a record-tying 39 games and became the first 12th Man to score a touchdown and the first to hear his name called in the NFL Draft.
“It was incredible,” Gillaspia said of being the 12th Man. “It meant a lot to me, and it meant a lot to my family. I went out there every day and practiced and played for the university. The number is not really mine. I’m not the 12th Man. The real 12th Man is the people in stands. So, I just did the best I could to represent those people and carry on the tradition we hold so dearly.”
Gillaspia, a seventh-round draft choice of his hometown Houston Texans, has played all 14 games this season. He has seen action on 13 offensive snaps as a fullback and 221 as a core special teams player.
“He does a good job,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said this week. “He takes a lot of pride in his role on special teams. That's the primary reason why he was drafted. I mean, drafted, like, seventh round. Like, kind of drafted, I guess. He takes a lot of pride in that role.
“Obviously, he was the 12th Man at A&M. He's a Houston guy; he's from Katy. He loves it, and he works real hard. He made a really nice play [in Sunday’s victory over the Titans], a very physical play and did a nice job on that play he made.”
Gillaspia, 24, played linebacker in high school. He drew some interest from smaller schools but elected to follow his mother’s footsteps to A&M instead, figuring his playing career was done.
“I kind of said, ‘I’m done with my football career,’” Gillaspia said. “Then, I got accepted into A&M and the program I wanted to be in. I was like, ‘Well, this is it. I’m going to finish out my senior year, finish out baseball season, go to A&M, be a student, join a fraternity and have fun.’ Then, about two weeks after I decided to go to A&M, they called and asked if I wanted to be a preferred walk-on. It kind of chose its way for me.”
Gillaspia spent two years on the scout team, redshirting as a true freshman and seeing action in three games as a redshirt freshman in 2015. He won the job in 2016 when Sam Moeller graduated after 39 games serving as the 12th Man.
Gillaspia moved from linebacker to fullback when Jimbo Fisher arrived before last season, but special teams remained Gillaspia’s primary role in 2018.
“I love special teams,” said Gillaspia, who is on all the special teams units with the Texans. “Special teams is the reason why I’m in the NFL. It’s pretty much mostly what I did for my college career. It’s fun.”
The last memory Aggies have of Gillaspia in the maroon and white, though, was of him scoring a touchdown in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl last year. It’s hard to say who was more excited about Gillaspia’s 13-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds remaining to put an exclamation point on a 45-13 Aggie victory.
Aggie fans were excited. Gillaspia’s parents were excited. Fisher was excited. The players were excited. Gillaspia was excited.
Running back Trayveon Williams called it “one of the best moments” of his college career, and the Aggies drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the end zone celebration.
“I was just happy to be there,” Gillaspia said. “It was a cool experience. Fifth year. It was our best season in the time I was there. It was a great bowl game. It was a great experience, and I think it was a great experience under coach Fisher. I was just trying to soak up every last minute of it.”
The Aggies’ 2019 bowl game is in the stadium Gillaspia now calls home. A&M will play Oklahoma State on Dec. 27 in the Houston Bowl.
Gillaspia will stand on the sideline at NRG Stadium, cheering on his former teammates while serving as an inspiration.
His journey to the NFL was improbable.
Not even he anticipated being here.
“I would go into my academic advisor’s meeting, and they would try and say, ‘You should take this class. You should take that class and do this,’” Gillaspia said. “I would say, ‘Absolutely not. I have zero chance to go to the NFL. I’m not going to the NFL. That’s not my career choice. I’m taking this class, because I need to graduate, and I need to move on with my career, because the NFL is not in my future like it is for some of these other guys.’”
Gillaspia graduated with a degree in environmental geosciences specializing in human impact on the environment. He began a master’s degree in human resource management.
If he wasn’t in the NFL, Gillaspia likely would have a job in the oil field doing “some kind of environmental work.”
“This is much more fun,” Gillaspia said, “and I don’t have to sit behind a desk all day, so it’s not too bad.”
Now that he’s in the NFL, Gillaspia doesn’t want to leave the NFL. He hopes to make it a career before beginning a second career.
“I’m going to keep fighting and keep working,” Gillaspia said, “and play for as long as I can and play the best I can. It’s a great job. It’s a great lifestyle. It doesn’t pay too bad. So, I’m going to hold onto this for as long as I can and try and make my name in the NFL.”
