ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Diontae Spencer didn’t need to go 83 yards for a touchdown to show he is an example of triumph over tragedy.
He had already been a walking role model to kids through his life walk and career achievement as an NFL playmaker for the Denver Broncos.
Then again, Spencer’s exhilarating punt return that helped the Broncos upset the Carolina Panthers last week doesn’t hurt his story that can serve as motivation for so many others. The key to his 83-yard score was the first two or three yards. He hopped away from an oncoming tackler who was on him as he caught the punt. His next reflex was to hop the other way to avoid a second would-be tackler on the sprint.
The first two impediments skirted, Spencer moved left to an open lane where he had the joyous freedom to sprint.
“It was one of those things that whole week, I’d been practicing with people being around me and catching the ball in tight spaces,’’ Spencer said in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS this week. “And I was confident in myself to make that play. They say if you make the first gunner miss, and make the second man miss, it’s a great opportunity for a big play.’’
Spencer’s difficult upbringing was told by 9NEWS last year, his rookie season with the Broncos. He grew up in New Iberia with his mom and older sister taking good care of him while his dad was incarcerated for an extended period for drug-related reasons. Spencer would visit dad in prison. There was a father-son relationship. Not the usual kind but it was there.
His father got out, cleaned up his life, and was operating a successful barbershop for several years when he was killed in a robbery gone bad. Whenever he gets a chance, whenever he’s back home, Spencer tells his story.
“Yes, I do. It’s one of those things where it took me a while to talk about it,’’ he said. “It was one of those things where I wasn’t too happy about it the way everything played out. But eventually as I got older I realized that my story can effect so many people and there’s so many other kids in the world who are probably going through the same thing I did, losing your father and being raised in a single-parent home.
“But, yeah. Now it’s something I love to talk about. Just giving back to my community where I’m born. It’s one of those things that I take pride in and I look forward to continuing to do that and keep inspiring kids back home where I’m from, and all over the country.”
Even if Spencer’s touchdown return was the first of his two-year NFL career, it wasn’t a surprise. He’s been close to busting one several times, and was an AFC Pro Bowl alternate last season after finishing third in the NFL in kickoff returns and eighth in punt returns. The surprise was Spencer had so much juice and energy to go nearly the length of the field just a few days after he was cleared from a two-week stay on the league’s COVID reserve list.
“Those two weeks were tough because I’m a guy that loves to be around my teammates, loves to have fun,’’ Spencer said. “So being around the house, it was crazy times for me because I wasn’t around me teammates and that’s what gets me going. So when I got back, everybody was excited for me. They say COVID makes you faster. Some of my teammates told me I looked faster out there so maybe it was from COVID (smiles)."
He did have symptoms.
“The first three or four days I had some bad body aches,’’ Spencer said. “I had some body chills. Was running a fever. And then maybe like day five and day six, I felt fine. And then day eight, I lost my taste and my smell. And that was kind of big for me. My mom was cooking some great dishes for me and I couldn’t taste them.
“First of all I was shocked I got it. Because you’re just living the life, not really thinking about it. And then I got that call and they told me I had COVID. It was crazy. I did have some symptoms. But after Day 10, Day 11 my body started to feel a little normal and I was waiting to get back and be around my teammates.”
There were times this year, especially in the first half of the season, when special teams coordinator Tom McMahon was one of the most criticized coaches on Vic Fangio’s staff, maybe even more so than Fangio and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Never mind that a rash of early-season injuries had McMahon on a weekly basis trying to coordinate a new batch of players just called up from the practice squad.
Broncos special teams have played well in the second half of the season and McMahon has a strong ally in his returner.
“I have a great special teams coordinator,’’ Spencer said. “Tom, he’s helped me out so much since I’ve been here. Just the nuances of becoming a great punt returner. I came here (off waivers in September 2019 from the Steelers) and had never met Tom or anybody in this organization and they trusted in me to fulfill a role that they needed. For them to have the faith and the belief in me to come in here and do that that’s a big thing from coach Tom.
“It’s one of those things where he stays on me. After practice I’m on the Jugs and he’s always pushing me on the little things and the little details and finally it paid off. So he’s been a tremendous help for me.’’
Returners in football may be like backup catchers in baseball in that they serve an important role, but they also spend their share of time observing. This season is playing out similarly to last season in that the 2019 Broncos and 2020 Broncos were both 5-8 going into game 14 against a playoff-bound opponent. But Spencer sees a better Broncos team this year.
“I think it’s our comradery,’’ he said. “Everybody in this building believes we have a tight family. I think that shows in our play. Even in the games we lose, guys are rallying up behind each other. Just to see that will where everybody continues to play hard, even when we’re down, or going into games where we’re the underdog – even that Saints game where we didn’t have a quarterback and I was out, just watching it on TV, you just seen how hard guys competed out there. I feel like that’s going to continue to grow and only help us in the future. It’s a young team but I feel like guys are stepping up and making big plays.’’
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