Diontae Spencer put together his best CFL season with Ottawa and it’s drawn NFL interest as workouts are being scheduled for the five-foot-eight, 163-pounder.
After spending two seasons in Toronto, Spencer signed a one-year deal to play for the Redblacks in 2017 and he exploded. The 25-year-old made 71 receptions for 922 yards and six touchdowns while serving as one of Ottawa’s main return men turning 70 punt returns into 929 yards (13.3 average) and one touchdown 25 kick-off returns netted 607 yards and five missed field goals returns for 260 yards, one coming all the way back 113 yards for a major. He was the East Division nominee for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
Spencer ended the regular season by making a new CFL mark for all-purpose yards in a single game. How he ended up at 496 in total: 133 yards receiving, 165 kick-off return yards, 169 punt return yards and 29 missed field goal return yards. When Spencer played for McNeese State University he had one game with 365 yards and five touchdowns, but never did he approach 500 yards. He gave the jersey from the record-setting performance to his mom.
At McNeese State’s pro day in 2014, Spencer ran a blazing 4.27 40-yard dash, recorded a 40-inch vertical and a 10-foot, three-inch broad jump. He went undrafted in the NFL that year, signed with the Rams but didn’t make the team and then caught on in Toronto the following year.
The diminutive playmaker made headlines across North America after he scored a touchdown in the East semifinal and broke out the limbo with his teammates.
That raised or lowered the bar for TD celebrations, but Spencer’s NFL opportunities are on the way up.
