Boyzmamacita
CowBabe Up!!!
- Messages
- 29,048
- Reaction score
- 64,101
Marcus Spears: Big, Athletic
by John Tranchina
After a successful third season with the Cowboys, it might surprise some fans to hear that starting defensive end Marcus Spears was a highly sought-after tight end coming out of high school, who also starred in basketball and had a difficult time choosing the gridiron over the hardwood.
Credit the coaching staff at LSU for having the foresight to determine that Spears was better suited on defense rather than offense.
"It really wasn't my decision," recalls Spears, who was rated the top tight end prospect and third-best overall after earning consensus All-America honors for his stellar senior season at Southern University Lab High School in Baton Rouge, La. "They decided to change me over when I was at LSU and it was one of the best decisions a coach has made and I think he was considering my future when he did that. I wasn't really cool about it at first, but when I got going, it was interesting to see."
Prior to becoming a full-time defensive end as a sophomore, Spears starred on both sides of the ball. He was named to the Louisiana Class 1A first team all-state at both tight end and defensive end after compiling 28 receptions for 435 yards and three touchdowns while adding 245 rushing yards with six TDs on offense and 11.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries on defense.
The 6-4, 305-pound Spears' superior athleticism also enabled him to put up big numbers in basketball, as he was also heavily recruited by colleges in that sport after a monster junior season in which he averaged 21.5 points and nine rebound per game. And at LSU, where both sports are high-profile, nationally-successful programs, Spears eventually realized it was unrealistic that he could fully commit himself to both, although he did briefly try it as a freshman.
"I wanted to play both in college, but the demands and the excitement at LSU, both of those were probably not going to be possible," he says. "I had to make that decision my freshman year. I actually went out and practiced, went through a little preseason with them, and it was fun, but for what I was trying to do, and what I knew my future was probably going to be, it just didn't make sense."
Once he began concentrating on football, and at defensive end, Spears blossomed into a key component of LSU's national championship squad in 2003. He earned first-team All-America honors as a senior in 2004, compiling nine sacks - fourth-highest single-season total in school history - 49 tackles and 21 QB pressures. That performance convinced the Cowboys to select him in the first round (20th overall) of the 2005 draft.
Spears' athleticism and versatility has served the Cowboys well, as he was also deployed as a fullback in some situations in 2006. Spears registered 28 tackles, including six for a loss, in his third season, filling an important role in the Cowboys' run defense that ranked sixth in the NFL, surrendering just 94.6 yards per game on the ground. That marked a significant improvement over the year before when they finished 10th at 103.7 yards per game.
"Definitely stopping the run is the top priority for this defense," Spears says. "If you don't stop the run, you give yourself a slim-to-none chance of winning the football game, because it's eating clock, it's eating yardage, and if they're having a successful running game, they're getting in the end zone."
Spears played solidly in the playoffs against the Giants, contributing two tackles in the disappointing loss. He indicated that his experience of performing in high-stakes situations, such as the NCAA championship game, helped his ability to shrug off the pressures of the NFL postseason.
"Pressure will make you play bad and lose, that's what it'll do to you," he says. "A heightened level of intensity and trying to really know what you're doing, when you get to the playoffs and when you get to the championship games, you want to do the things that you do real good and you want to have success doing those things."
His two sacks last season give him 4.5 for his career, and Spears also added two QB pressures, three forced fumbles (tied for second on the team) and two passes defensed. His six tackles for a loss ranked second on the club.
"I think Marcus has done a great job in his development, especially to where, late in the year, he starts to come on," says fellow starting defensive end Chris Canty. "He plays really well, plays really strong, just becoming a force over there, being able to really dominate his opponent, the guy that he's standing in front of. He does a great job of that, game-in, game-out.
Between him and Jason Hatcher, they really wear those guys out, those right tackles, over the course of a game."
Spears, back for his fourth NFL season in 2008, hopes to build on his progress and take the next step to becoming an elite player. He's certainly demonstrated that he has the athleticism and mental approach to be able to do that.
Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine, May, 2008
by John Tranchina
After a successful third season with the Cowboys, it might surprise some fans to hear that starting defensive end Marcus Spears was a highly sought-after tight end coming out of high school, who also starred in basketball and had a difficult time choosing the gridiron over the hardwood.
Credit the coaching staff at LSU for having the foresight to determine that Spears was better suited on defense rather than offense.
"It really wasn't my decision," recalls Spears, who was rated the top tight end prospect and third-best overall after earning consensus All-America honors for his stellar senior season at Southern University Lab High School in Baton Rouge, La. "They decided to change me over when I was at LSU and it was one of the best decisions a coach has made and I think he was considering my future when he did that. I wasn't really cool about it at first, but when I got going, it was interesting to see."
Prior to becoming a full-time defensive end as a sophomore, Spears starred on both sides of the ball. He was named to the Louisiana Class 1A first team all-state at both tight end and defensive end after compiling 28 receptions for 435 yards and three touchdowns while adding 245 rushing yards with six TDs on offense and 11.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries on defense.
The 6-4, 305-pound Spears' superior athleticism also enabled him to put up big numbers in basketball, as he was also heavily recruited by colleges in that sport after a monster junior season in which he averaged 21.5 points and nine rebound per game. And at LSU, where both sports are high-profile, nationally-successful programs, Spears eventually realized it was unrealistic that he could fully commit himself to both, although he did briefly try it as a freshman.
"I wanted to play both in college, but the demands and the excitement at LSU, both of those were probably not going to be possible," he says. "I had to make that decision my freshman year. I actually went out and practiced, went through a little preseason with them, and it was fun, but for what I was trying to do, and what I knew my future was probably going to be, it just didn't make sense."
Once he began concentrating on football, and at defensive end, Spears blossomed into a key component of LSU's national championship squad in 2003. He earned first-team All-America honors as a senior in 2004, compiling nine sacks - fourth-highest single-season total in school history - 49 tackles and 21 QB pressures. That performance convinced the Cowboys to select him in the first round (20th overall) of the 2005 draft.
Spears' athleticism and versatility has served the Cowboys well, as he was also deployed as a fullback in some situations in 2006. Spears registered 28 tackles, including six for a loss, in his third season, filling an important role in the Cowboys' run defense that ranked sixth in the NFL, surrendering just 94.6 yards per game on the ground. That marked a significant improvement over the year before when they finished 10th at 103.7 yards per game.
"Definitely stopping the run is the top priority for this defense," Spears says. "If you don't stop the run, you give yourself a slim-to-none chance of winning the football game, because it's eating clock, it's eating yardage, and if they're having a successful running game, they're getting in the end zone."
Spears played solidly in the playoffs against the Giants, contributing two tackles in the disappointing loss. He indicated that his experience of performing in high-stakes situations, such as the NCAA championship game, helped his ability to shrug off the pressures of the NFL postseason.
"Pressure will make you play bad and lose, that's what it'll do to you," he says. "A heightened level of intensity and trying to really know what you're doing, when you get to the playoffs and when you get to the championship games, you want to do the things that you do real good and you want to have success doing those things."
His two sacks last season give him 4.5 for his career, and Spears also added two QB pressures, three forced fumbles (tied for second on the team) and two passes defensed. His six tackles for a loss ranked second on the club.
"I think Marcus has done a great job in his development, especially to where, late in the year, he starts to come on," says fellow starting defensive end Chris Canty. "He plays really well, plays really strong, just becoming a force over there, being able to really dominate his opponent, the guy that he's standing in front of. He does a great job of that, game-in, game-out.
Between him and Jason Hatcher, they really wear those guys out, those right tackles, over the course of a game."
Spears, back for his fourth NFL season in 2008, hopes to build on his progress and take the next step to becoming an elite player. He's certainly demonstrated that he has the athleticism and mental approach to be able to do that.
Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine, May, 2008
