James Arthur Spencer, Jr. (born March 29, 1969) is an American former college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Spencer played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the New Orleans Saints,

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

and Denver Broncos of the NFL.

Early life

Spencer was born in Manning, South Carolina.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Jimmy Spencer
Retrieved October 11, 2010. He attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida,databaseFootball.com, Players
Jimmy Spencer
. Retrieved October 11, 2010. and he played high school football for the Glades Central Raiders.

College career

Spencer accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Galen Hall and coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

's Florida Gators football teams from

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 105, 110, 115, 185 (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2011. In 1990, he blocked a punt late in the fourth quarter, which

Richard Fain Richard Alexander Fain (born February 29, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 1990s. Fain played college football for the Florida ...

recovered and returned twenty-five yards for a touchdown and providing the margin of victory in the Gators' 17–13 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Spencer decided to forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility after his junior season in 1990, and made himself eligible for the NFL Draft.

Professional career

The Washington Redskins selected Spencer in the eighth round (215th pick overall) of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

. Spencer played for the New Orleans Saints from to , the Cincinnati Bengals in and , the San Diego Chargers in and , and the Denver Broncos from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Jimmy Spencer
Retrieved October 11, 2010. Statistically, his best seasons were , 1995 and 1996, when he was a regular starter for New Orleans and then Cincinnati. In his twelve NFL seasons, Spencer played in 177 regular season games, and started eighty-one of them. He finished his NFL career with twenty-six interceptions, two touchdown returns, eight fumble recoveries and one fumble recovery for a touchdown. In 2003, Spencer worked as an assistant defensive back coach with the Broncos in addition to playing, making him the first simultaneous player/coach in the NFL since Dan Reeves in 1972.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Jimmy 1969 births Living people Players of American football from Belle Glade, Florida People from Manning, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina American football cornerbacks Florida Gators football players New Orleans Saints players Cincinnati Bengals players San Diego Chargers players Denver Broncos players

Early life

College career

Professional career

See also

References

Bibliography