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| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | |
|---|---|
| Position | Fullback |
| Class | 1917 |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1896-04-17)April 17, 1896 Thomasville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died: | November 27, 1918(1918-11-27) (aged 22) France |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 168 lb (76 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | Georgia Tech (1914–1916) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Thomas Louis Spence (April 17, 1896 – November 27, 1918) was an American college football player. Spence also played on the baseball, basketball, and track teams.[1]
Spence was a prominent fullback for John Heisman's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1914to1916 . He was posthumously elected to the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1976.[2]
In1915, near the end of the LSU game, he returned an interception 85 yards.[3] He made a 40-yard drop kick field goal against North Carolina.[4]
Spence was a starter for the 1916 team which, as one writer wrote, "seemed to personify Heisman."[5] In Georgia Tech's record-setting 222-0 win over Cumberland College in 1916, Spence scored the second-most behind Everett Strupper when he netted five touchdowns.[6] He was selected All-Southern that season.[7] Walter Camp gave him honorable mention.
Spence was a casualty of the World War I.[8] He is the namesake of Spence Air Base.[9]
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1916 College Football All-Southern Team composite selections
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† = Unanimous selection | |
