As Chris Fulmer reflects on his journey from Saturday tailgates at Williams-Brice Stadium to cooking for an NFL team before Sunday’s Super Bowl, he says with a chuckle: “It’s not what you know but who you know.”

In more than 50 years of Gamecock football — including 413 consecutive games — the Aiken resident has not only mastered the art of tailgating, creating a tailgating group that has become a nationally-competing barbecue team; he’s also met a few coaches along the way.

It was at a party a few years ago, hosted by then-Gamecocks strength and conditioning coach Joe Connolly, that he met Joey Blake, the team nutritionist.

“He asked me if I’d be interested in feeding the football team,” said Fulmer, who recalled telling Blake he didn’t know much about nutrition. “He goes, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that.’”

Since then, Fulmer and his team have occasionally cooked meals for the South Carolina team, and Blake is now the nutritionist for the Los Angeles Rams. Fulmer texted Blake his congratulations after the Rams won the NFC championship.

But when Fulmer got a call last week from Blake, whose team preparing for the Super Bowl, he was surprised.

“Why is Joey calling me? He’s probably got a thousand things to do,” Fulmer recalled saying. “My god. The Rams are coming to Atlanta. You don’t think he’s calling me to feed them?”

In fact, that’s exactly why he was calling.

Almost 25 years ago, Fulmer and his wife started a group, Ultimate Tailgaters, that includes their friends Marty and Pam Motley. Over the years they grew in popularity at USC football games, developing different menus for each game and even taking their savory dishes to road games. They have become a barbecue team that competes in national competitions while also catering events upon request.

“We thought, ‘Why not just put “BBQ” on the end and that’ll be our competition barbecue team?’” Fulmer said.

After getting the call from Blake, Fulmer and his team loaded up a couple of smokers and headed to the Atlanta Falcons practice facility Thursday morning to cook a post-practice dinner for the team that night. On the menu for dozens of football players and staff: pulled pork, barbecue chicken, smoked sausage, chicken sausage, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, seasoned green beans and salad.

“They’re coming through the line, they’ve got on sweat pants or flip flops and chilling out,” Fulmer said. “I did talk to (Rams quarterback) Jared Goff a little bit. Just a nice guy, a common fella with an unbelievable skill set.”

Blake got texts from players later, saying they enjoyed the Southern meal, Fulmer said.

Looking at their progression from a football game tailgate to a competitive barbecue team that’s now served a team playing in one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and the relationships they have created over the years, Fulmer is more overcome with gratitude than pride.

“It’s just all about treating people right and having great memories,” he said. “I’m just lucky enough that we’re getting opportunities to go feed some great football teams. We’re just doing something we love, and from time to time we get a phone call.”

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