Spencer Tillman

Last updated

Spencer Tillman
No. 33, 23, 32
Position: Running back
Personal information
Born: (1964-04-21) April 21, 1964 (age 59)
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:206 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school: Edison Preparatory School (Tulsa)
College: Oklahoma
NFL Draft: 1987  / Round: 5 / Pick: 133
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games:115
Games started:1
Rushing yards:181
Rushing average:4.5
Touchdowns:1
Return yards:670
Player stats at PFR

Spencer Allen Tillman (born April 21, 1964) is an American former professional football player who played running back for eight seasons for the Houston Oilers and San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). He pkayed college football for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Contents

College career

College football

Tillman was an All-American running back for the University of Oklahoma (1983–86) and was the captain of the 1985 National Championship team when it defeated Penn State, 25–10, in the Orange Bowl.

Tillman received several awards during his playing career, including UPI Player of the Year in the Big Eight Conference in 1982, Big Eight Football Newcomer of the Year in 1983 and MVP of the 1987 Orange Bowl. He was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012.

Education

Tillman earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1986 and a bachelor's degree in communications in 1988 from the University of Oklahoma. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School's & NFL's Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program.

Professional football

Houston Oilers

Tillman was drafted in the 1987 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers as the 133rd overall pick in the fifth round. [1] He played for the Oilers for two seasons (1987–88). Before an Oilers home game in October 1987, Tillman was riding in a Houston taxi cab when the driver was stricken and became unconscious. Tillman, who was sitting in the front seat, was able to stop the vehicle and administer CPR; after the driver was taken to the hospital for recovery, Tillman played in a 37-33 comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons. [2] [3]

San Francisco 49ers and Super Bowl XXIV

In the 1989 off-season, Tillman was traded to the San Francisco 49ers where he played for three seasons (1989–91). He was co-captain with Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott as part of the 49ers roster at Super Bowl XXIV when they defeated the AFC champion Denver Broncos.

Return to the Oilers

In 1992, Tillman was traded back to Houston, where he completed his playing career (1992–94).

Sports broadcasting

Broadcasting

After being drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1987, Tillman worked as an anchor and reporter at KPRC-TV during the seven-month off-season. His football and broadcasting careers developed in tandem as he hosted two radio sports-talk shows and was a reporter and anchor for a radio PM magazine in Oklahoma City prior to his television jobs.

CBS Sports

Tillman joined CBS Sports in 1999 as lead studio analyst for College Football Today, the network's pre-game studio show. Tillman, who had served as WABC-TV's weekend sports anchor in New York from 1997 to 1999 and spent 10 years as a sports anchor for KPRC-TV Houston, was paired with Tim Brando at the College Football Today desk. Tillman and Brando also broadcast regional NFL games for CBS from 2000–2003. In the first four years, Tillman and Brando were the eighth team of the NFL games for CBS; however, after week 2 Tillman and Brando were demoted to the ninth team of the NFL games for CBS and replaced by Bill Macatee and Jerry Glanville in the eighth team in 2003.

Tillman has also served for four years as a reporter for the Network's NCAA tournament coverage and is an anchor for regional broadcasts on Fox Sports Networks. He also served as host of DirecTV's "NFL Sunday Ticket."

Fox Sports

Starting in 2015 Tillman joined Fox Sports and reunited with Tim Brando on Fox CFB.

KGOW 1560 AM Houston

Tillman began duties as the voice of KGOW 1560 The Game, a Houston sports talk radio station, when the station launched its new format in August 2007. His role includes reading promotional copy for the station, as well as weekly on-air time during the football season.

KTRK ABC13 Houston

Tillman is a current co-host of KTRK's Houston Texans Inside the Game, a thirty-minute weekly post-game recap and analysis program that typically follows the station's local newscast on game days.

Personal life

Tillman currently lives in Sugar Land, Texas, along with his wife, Rita, and their four daughters (Alisa, Blair, Mir, and Bailey).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Summerall</span> American football player and sportscaster (1930–2013)

George Allen "Pat" Summerall was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announced 16 Super Bowls on network television, 26 Masters Tournaments, and 21 US Opens. He contributed to 10 Super Bowl broadcasts on CBS Radio as a pregame host or analyst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Tasker</span> American football player

Steven Jay Tasker is an American sports reporter and former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with the Buffalo Bills but began his career with the Houston Oilers. He was a five-time first-team All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, primarily as a special teams player.

KPRC-TV is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group. Its studios are located on Southwest Freeway in the Southwest Management District, and its transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County. Houston is the second-largest television market where the NBC station is not owned and operated by the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Football League on television</span> Overview of American professional football television broadcasts

The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport in the world. Television brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II. Since then, National Football League broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the financial fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights. This has raised questions about the impartiality of the networks' coverage of games and whether they can criticize the NFL without fear of losing the rights and their income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Sims</span> American football player (born 1955)

Billy Ray Sims is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s. Sims played college football for the University of Oklahoma, where he was a two-time consensus All-American, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1978. He was the first overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the NFL's Detroit Lions.

<i>NFL on Fox</i> Television series

The NFL on Fox is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox NFL Sunday and is followed on weeks when the network airs a Doubleheader by The OT. The latter two shows feature the same studio hosts and analysts for both programs, who also contribute to the former. In weeks when Fox airs a doubleheader, the late broadcast airs under the brand America's Game of the Week.

KHOU is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Conroe-licensed Quest station KTBU. Both stations share studios on Westheimer Road near Uptown Houston, while KHOU's transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County.

<i>NFL on NBC</i> National Football League telecasts in the United States by NBC

The NFL on NBC is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on the NBC television network and the Peacock streaming service in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Cross</span> American football player and analyst (born 1954)

Randall Laureat Cross is an American football analyst and former player. He was a right guard and center in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 NFL season</span> 1987 National Football League season

The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). This season featured games predominantly played by replacement players, as the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) players were on strike from weeks four to six with week three being cancelled in its entirety. This remains the last NFL season in which regular-season games were impacted by a labor conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1984 NFL season</span> 1984 National Football League season

The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana before the season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Brando</span> American sportscaster

Tim Brando is an American sportscaster with Fox Sports. Formerly with CBS Sports, Raycom Sports, ESPN and SiriusXM, Brando has primarily covered NCAA football, basketball and the NBA. Along with radio duties, Brando has also served as a studio host for games, a play-by-play announcer, and halftime host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Wilcots</span> American football player, television analyst, and broadcaster (born 1964)

Solomon Wilcots is an American former professional football player who is a national television analyst and broadcaster as well as a head coach in Your Call Football. Wilcots played six seasons as a free safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 Houston Oilers season</span> NFL team season

The 1978 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 19th overall and the ninth in the National Football League (NFL). Led by Rookie RB Earl Campbell, who won both the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Offensive Player of the Year, who rushed for 1,450 yards, the Oilers made the playoffs with a 10-6 record, qualifying in the newly created 5th Wild Card spot. The franchise scored 283 points while the defense gave up 298 points. Their record of 10 wins and 6 losses resulted in a second-place finish in the AFC Central Division. In the playoffs, the Oilers would stun the Miami Dolphins, 17-9, in the two teams first playoff meeting, then defeated the New England Patriots 31-14 in New England to advance to their first ever AFC Championship game, but in that game, they would score a mere 5 points in a 34-5 blowout loss to the eventual champion Steelers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trent Williams</span> American football player (born 1988)

Trent Williams is an American football offensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma, where he was recognized as an All-American, and was drafted by the Washington Redskins fourth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. Williams is considered one of the best tackles in the league, having made ten Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams.

<i>Fox College Football</i> Television series

Fox College Football is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football games produced by Fox Sports, and broadcast primarily by Fox, FS1, and FS2.

The 1987 Orange Bowl was the 53rd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1986–87 bowl game season, it matched the ninth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southwest Conference (SWC) and the #3 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference. Heavily-favored Oklahoma won 42–8.

NBC made history in the 1980s with an announcerless telecast, which was a one-shot experiment credited to Don Ohlmeyer, between the Jets and Dolphins in Miami on December 20, 1980), as well as a single-announcer telecast, coverage of the Canadian Football League during the 1982 players' strike, and even the first female play-by-play football announcer, Gayle Sierens.

On March 12, 1990, at the NFL's annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, the league new ratified four-year television agreements for the 1990 to 1993 seasons involving ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN and TNT. The contracts totaled US$3.6 billion, the largest package in television history. This contract saw each network having rights to one Super Bowl telecast as part of the package. The fourth Super Bowl (XXVIII) was up for a separate sealed bid. NBC won the bid, and since they were last in the rotation for Super Bowl coverage in the regular contract, ended up with two straight Super Bowls. CBS is the only other network to televise two Super Bowls in a row. NBC, which had held XXVII, was the only network to bid on XXVIII. Previously, the league alternated the Super Bowl broadcast among its broadcast network partners, except for Super Bowl I; CBS broadcast Super Bowl II, then the league rotated the broadcast between CBS and NBC until 1985 when ABC entered the rotation when that network broadcast Super Bowl XIX.

The 2020 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 126th season for the Oklahoma Sooners. The team was led by Lincoln Riley, in his fourth year as head coach. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They are a charter member of the Big 12 Conference.

References

  1. "1987 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  2. Scott Munn (October 26, 1987). "Ex-OU Star Gives Cabbie Ride of Life". Oklahoman.com. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  3. "Spencer Tillman of the Houston Oilers was credited Sunday..." UPI. October 25, 1987. Retrieved June 16, 2021.