Spencer Was a Player-Coach for '63 Raiders

Ollie Spencer of the Oakland Raiders was one of the last player-coaches in professional football, a once often-used option, that isn't part of the game anymore.

Spencer played the offensive line for the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League for eight seasons before becoming offensive line coach of the American Football League’s Raiders in 1962, a position he would hold for 18 seasons.

When Al Davis came to Oakland as a coach and general manager in 1963, he saw that Spencer could still play, so he had his suit up and Spencer played in all 12 games that season, starting five to end his playing career, as the once-lowly Raiders turned their fortunes around with a 10-4 record.

Spencer and Davis, when he was an assistant with the San Diego Chargers, had gotten into a heated argument one day, so Spencer figured he wouldn’t be staying with the Raiders when Davis was hired.

“Spencer came into my office and said that even though he wouldn’t be with the Raiders, he’d like to wish us luck anyway,” Davis said. “Then he turned to leave. I told him to wait a minute, that I wanted to hire him.

“I’d been watching him for a long time. I knew he was a good coach, but more than that, I liked his attitude. From the way he cussed me out that day, I knew he was my kind of guy.”

The 6-2, 250-pound Spencer was drafted by the Lions in the sixth round (No. 73 overall) of the 1953 NFL Draft out of Kansas and started every game as a rookie in front of quarterback Bobby Layne and running back Doak Walker as Detroit went 10-2 before winning the NFL Championship Game, 17-16, over quarterback Otto Graham and the Cleveland Browns.

Spencer spent the next two years doing military service in the U.S. Army, but returned to the Lions as a starter in 1956 and spent the next two years starting for the Packers before returning to Detroit for the last three seasons of his NFL career.

During his seven seasons with the Lions and Packers, Spencer started games at tackle, his primary position, guard, and center—which obviously helped when he became offensive line coach of the Raiders. He started 81 of the 99 games he played in his career.

Spencer coached the Raiders’ offensive line from 1962-79, and over those 18 seasons, the Silver and Black posted a record of 169-76-11 in addition to playing in nine conference championship games, capturing the 1967 AFL Championship Game, 40-7, over the Houston Oilers, the 1976 AFC Championship game, 24-7, over the Pittsburgh Steelers and winning Super Bowl XI, 32-14, over the Minnesota Vikings to cap the 1976 season.

The Raiders’ only losing seasons with Spencer on the coaching staff were 1-13 in 1962 and 5-7-2 in 1964, and they recorded winning records in his last 15 years.

During the 1970s, Spencer coached what is considered to be the best offensive line in pro football history, including center Jim Otto, tackleS Art Shell, BobsBrown and Ron Mix, guard Gene Upshaw, and tight end Dave Casper—all future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

“We were big and strong, and we liked to pop people,” said Upshaw, who played 15 years in Oakland and started in 207 consecutive games from 1967–81. “We did some finesse blocking, but never on the first move. Ollie always taught us to knock the guy off the line first, then move him with finesse if we had to.”

After Spencer retired in 1980, the Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV with his former line.

Spencer is enshrined on the Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium at the University of Kansas, where he became the starting left tackle as a sophomore, earned All-Big 7 honors as a junior and a senior, and was selected first-team All-American in his final season.

After retiring from the Raiders in 1980, Spencer ran an insurance agency in Danville, Calif., where he died of a heart attack on April 28, 1991, at the age of 60.

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