As an All-American running back for the Oklahoma University Sooners, Spencer was fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1983, the captain of the 1985 national championship team, and MVP of the 1987 Orange Bowl.
He was drafted by the Houston Oilers where he played for two years before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers. He played there for three years, serving as captain in 1990. He was then traded back to his original organization, the Oilers, to finish his playing career in 1994.
Spencer prepared well for a career in broadcasting by earning two bachelor's degrees at Oklahoma in both journalism and communications. He even used his off-seasons to hone his skills as an anchor and reporter at KPRC-TV in Houston. He was then promoted to sports anchor for WABC in New York in 1997. In 1999 he joined CBS Sports as the lead studio analyst for College Football Today, the network's pre-game studio show. He can also now be seen as the host of DirecTV's Sunday NFL Ticket.