Following a Short Season, Spencer is Ready for NFL

No more basketball for Tim Spencer. Not until his kids are big enough for the game, anyway.

In his last pickup game on Oct. 26, 1984, Spencer went up to block a shot and came down on the foot of an opponent. His right ankle snapped, and he couldn’t get it back in place.

“The pain was excruciating,” Spencer said. “My ankle was out of place for an hour and a half.”

After the surgeons were done with him, Spencer was left to wonder about his football career. He was already giving serious thought to leaving the United States Football League and moving to the National Football League.

That move became a reality Friday when the Chargers, who owned his NFL rights, obtained the 224-pound running back from the Memphis Showboats.

Spencer, playing only about half a season on a rebuilt ankle, gained 1,047 yards in Memphis.

Because his playing time was relatively curtailed, Spencer said he isn’t concerned about burnout from the back-to-back seasons he is embarking upon with the Chargers.

After signing a three-year contract Sunday, Spencer began huddling with the coaches and studying his playbook. He managed to spare a few minutes with reporters.

“I don’t feel stale or tired,” said the former Ohio State tailback.

“Memphis was alternating me with another back, which got depressing at times when I was hoping to be running the ball 20 or 30 times a game. But I guess it was a blessing in disguise, since I had it in mind to go to the NFL. Now I’m ready to go.”

Spencer gained 1,157 yards in 1983, his rookie year in the USFL. He followed with 1,212 in 1984 and, although he declined to predict similar totals with the Chargers, he suggested that he expects to do well.

Trumaine Johnson, a former USFL teammate with whom he has been reunited, said Spencer can compete “on the same level as Herschel Walker.”

Although NFL superstar Eric Dickerson disparaged Walker’s 2,000-plus yards this year, Spencer took up for Walker.

“There was good competition in the USFL,” Spencer said. “The fact Herschel could run so much and not get hurt is great. You commend a back for doing what Herschel did.

“I’ve watched a lot of NFL games on television, and I know the defenses are better. But I think I can come in and compete with NFL backs.”

Spencer admitted he didn’t know much about last year’s Charger sensation, running back Earnest Jackson, who set a team rushing record.

“I know more now,” he said. “You’re never too old or too smart to learn.”

Or to block.

The Chargers are more than a little enamored of Spencer’s proven blocking skills, and will employ him both to clear the way for Jackson and to help keep blitzing linebackers away from Dan Fouts.

“I don’t mind blocking,” Spencer said. “Don’t mind knocking a few heads and dishing out a little punishment of my own.”

Spencer said he had no regrets about the three years he spent in the USFL, but he isn’t sorry to be leaving behind a record of three moves in three seasons.

“That helped convince me I had to leave,” he said. “We bought a house in Arizona last year, and had to sell it less than a year later. My wife was trying to get into law school, and I caught a lot of flak from her (because of all the moves).”

Spencer has about five pounds to shed as he joins the Chargers, who resume two-a-day workouts today after getting most of the weekend off. He said he’s in about 90% of his game condition, and should be ready for the season opener, still a month off.

The expectation is that the Chargers will add one of Spencer’s former Memphis teammates, defensive back Mossy Cade, before the week is out. Still another USFL star, running back Gary Anderson, also remains a possibility.