Ollie Spencer
{{Short description|American football player and coach (1931–1991)}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image = Ollie Spencer 1963 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Spencer, circa 1963
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|4|17}}
| birth_place = Hopewell, Kansas, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|4|28|1931|4|17}}
| death_place = Danville, California, U.S.
| college = Kansas
| position = Tackle
| draftyear = 1953
| draftround = 6
| draftpick = 73
| teams = * Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1953}}, {{NFL Year|1956}})
- Green Bay Packers ({{NFL Year|1957|1958}})
- Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1959|1961}})
- Oakland Raiders ({{AFL Year|1963}})
| pastcoaching = * Oakland Raiders (1962–{{NFL Year|1979}})
Offensive line coach
| highlights = * NFL champion (1953)
- Super Bowl champion (XI)
- First-team All-American (1952)
- Second-team All-American (1951)
- 2× First-team All-Big Seven (1951, 1952)
}}
Oliver Spencer (April 17, 1931 – April 28, 1991) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a tackle for eight seasons in the NFL.
Early life
Spencer played at the University of Kansas as a left tackle. He soon earned conference honors as a junior and senior. He earned first-team honors as an All American in his senior season in 1952. He was named to the team's Ring of Honor.
Pro career
He played his rookie season with the Detroit Lions in 1953. He then served two years in the United States Army before returning to play with the Lions in 1956. He was traded to the Green Bay Packers (1957 and 1958. He then came back to play with the Detroit Lions again in 1959, playing there for three seasons.
Spencer played initially retired from playing in 1961 to become the offensive line coach of the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League. When Al Davis became coach and GM of the Raiders in 1963, Spencer assumed that an argument he had done with Davis when he was still an assistant with the San Diego Chargers would mean Spencer would be let go. However, Davis actually encouraged Spencer to serve as player-coach for the 1963 season, as he apparently liked Spencer's attitude. Spencer played one season as player-coach before sticking to coaching, where he would coach the line for the Raiders from 1962 to 1979. Credited by guard Gene Upshaw as one who taught the lineman to "knock the guy off the line first, then move him with finesse". In his tenure, the Raiders had just two losing seasons while winning Super Bowl XI. He retired after the 1979 season.https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/the-black-hole-plus/ollie-spencer-al-davis-gene-upshaw-oakland-raiders{{Cite book |last=Schachter |first=Norm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUtwAAAAMAAJ&q=Ollie+Spencer+NFL |title=Close Calls: The Confessions of a NFL Referee |date=1981 |publisher=Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-00794-2 |language=en}}
Spencer died of a heart attack on April 28, 1991.{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=1991-05-01 |title=Ollie Spencer, Football Player, 60 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/01/obituaries/ollie-spencer-football-player-60.html |access-date=2022-06-16 |issn=0362-4331}}
See also
References
External links
- [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SpenOl20.htm Profile on Pro Football Reference]
- [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DF143EF932A35756C0A967958260 Ollie Spencer, Football Player, 60 (Obituary)]
{{Lions1953DraftPicks}}
{{1953 Detroit Lions}}
{{Super Bowl XI}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ollie}}
Category:Kansas Jayhawks football players
Category:Detroit Lions players
Category:Green Bay Packers players
Category:Oakland Raiders players
Category:Players of American football from Kansas
Category:American football offensive tackles
Category:Oakland Raiders coaches
Category:People from Pratt County, Kansas
Category:American Football League players
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