North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame
On a team of standouts, Cody Spencer stood out.
Spencer, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker, garnered the accolades that a number of his teammates on the Mean Green’s Sun Belt championship teams earned. But it was the honors that the team bestowed on Spencer that show just how valuable he was to the North Texas defense. Three years in a row, 2001-2003, Spencer was given the Bryon Gross Award as the team’s top linebacker – on a team that landed seven linebackers on the league’s all-conference teams.
In his sophomore year in 2001, Spencer had a team-leading 105 tackles. After an injury-shortened junior season, he led the team again with 121 tackles as a senior in 2003. From 2001 to 2003, he was a Sun Belt All-Conference selection.
Spencer was one of seven players from those North Texas squads to reach the National Football League, but he was the only one to be drafted, selected in the sixth round by Oakland. Spencer played six years in the NFL with the Raiders and New York Jets.
In 2013, Spencer was named to the North Texas All-Century football team.