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Joe Spencer American football player

Joe Emerson Spencer (August 15, 1923 – October 24, 1996) was an American football tackle and coach who played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 and the Cleveland Browns in 1949 before playing two seasons with the Green Bay Packers.Spencer grew up in Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma State. He played football there in 1942 before spending three years in the U.S. Army during World War II. He returned to finish his college career in 1946, and the following year was selected to play in the annual East-West college all-star game. After graduating, Spencer signed with the Dodgers in the AAFC, playing there for one year. He then joined the Browns, who won the AAFC championship in 1949. He retired after two more years with the NFL's Packers.Spencer started a coaching career in 1953 as an assistant at Austin College. He became the school's head coach between 1955 and 1960. He then took a job as the offensive line coach for the Houston Oilers, who won the American Football League championship in 1961. He later served as an assistant coach with a variety of other AFL and NFL teams, including a 1968 New York Jets team that won Super Bowl III. Spencer died of cancer in 1996. He is a member of Austin College's athletics hall of fame, and the school named its coaching lifetime achievement award after him.