Summary

• All American altered Spencer Paysinger's high school positions & had him playing running back.
• The show changed which school Spencer attended & his recruitment process.
• All American created a different storyline for Spencer's relationship with his dad.

All American changed several things about the true story of Spencer Paysinger's pre-NFL career. After winning a Super Bowl with the New York Giants and playing for the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers, Paysinger retired from the National Football League in 2017. Unlike some professional athletes, Spencer knew what he wanted to do after football, pursuing his interest in screenwriting. He developed All American as a series loosely based on his life as a football player, and with the help of producer Greg Berlanti, the CW ordered the show in 2018.

Spencer Paysinger is heavily involved with All American, serving as a producer on the series and playing Assistant Coach Davis in multiple episodes, but All American isn't completely faithful. It retained Spencer's need to play at Beverly High School instead of his hometown school, but All American changed his name to Spencer James and didn't stop there. Through the series run, Spencer James' story continues to be modified and differs from what Paysinger's real life was like growing up. With Daniel Ezra leaving as Spencer as a full-time regular, changes have continued.

What Football Positions Spencer Played In High School

The Real Spencer Only Played 2 Positions In Real Life

During high school, Spencer Paysinger became one of the standout football recruits in his area, thanks to his two-way play. On the offensive side of the ball, Paysinger played wide receiver while he contributed on defense as a safety. Spencer became the Ocean League player of the year as a senior, thanks to his play on both sides. For the purposes of All American, though, Spencer James has been an even more versatile player on the field.

All American changed the true story again down the road by having Spencer James start playing running back.

His skills as a receiver are what made him get noticed, but he's also played as a defensive back for Beverly in addition to handling some kickoff return duties. All American changed the true story again down the road by having Spencer James start playing running back. This made him a lot more well-rounded than he was in real life, which works well for fiction, although Spencer Paysinger remained more focused.

All American Changes Where Spencer Played Football

Spencer Only Played At Beverly Hills High School

Throughout Spencer Paysinger's high school career, he only went to one school: Beverly Hills High School. Even though he lived in South Central Los Angeles, he traveled to Beverly Hills daily for classes. He graduated from Beverly in 2006 after playing at least two seasons as a Beverly Hills Norman. All American changed what school Spencer attends.

The show introduces audiences to Spencer James playing for South Crenshaw High School, but he soon winds up playing his junior year at Beverly Hills. After winning the state title, though, All American ends season 2 with James pledging to play for Crenshaw again next season. This change never happened to Spencer Paysinger in real life. It is an understandable change to make based on James’ story, but it ends up altering his path to ing the NFL.

How Spencer Got Into Beverly Is Different In All American

Spencer Was Allowed To Play At Beverly Thanks To Family Connections

At the beginning of All American, Spencer James is recruited to play at Beverly for Coach Baker, who hoped he could help bring the program a state title. To make this work, Spencer James had to go live with Baker's family in Beverly Hills so that he could claim to be in the right zip code and could, therefore, attend the school. However, Spencer Paysinger went to Beverly Hills High School in a completely different fashion.

Spencer Paysinger's family has a long history with Beverly Hills High School in real life. His father and uncles received permits to go there when they were kids and returned to Beverly as coaches and teachers after graduating college. With multiple family working for Beverly, Spencer Paysinger was also allowed to attend as part of a multicultural program.

Paysinger never had to live with another family to go to Beverly.

This marks a significant change in All American, as Paysinger never had to live with another family to go to Beverly. Again, this change makes sense for All American’s version of Paysinger’s life, as it is through this that Spencer forms important relationships and struggles with balancing the two parts of his life.

All American Alters Spencer's Relationship With His Dad

Spencer's Dad Coached At Beverly High & Never Died Of Cancer

A big part of All American was Spencer James' relationship with his father and how that impacted his life on and off the field. What happened to his father and who his father is played out as a big storyline in All American season 1 before he returned to Crenshaw. Then, All American season 2 had Spencer's father become the coach at Crenshaw and recruit Spencer to play for him, which would be the first time he could coach his son.

All American later revealed that Spencer's dad had cancer, and he died shortly after that. This death resulted in Spencer momentarily walking away from football and growing closer to his half-brother Darnell, but none of this happened to Spencer Paysinger in real life. Spencer Paysinger's father, Donald Paysinger, was with him throughout his high school career. Donald was an assistant coach at Beverly Hills High School and eventually became the head coach of the football team after Spencer graduated.

He got the job after Spencer's uncle, Carter Paysinger, moved on to a different position at the school after coaching for 19 years. Thankfully, Donald is still alive to this day and a part of Spencer Paysinger's life. Donald Paysinger continued to coach football as recently as 2017, and he and Spencer Paysinger have a strong relationship in real life.

Spencer Paysinger Wasn't Shot In High School

All American Added This For Dramatic Reasons

An ongoing storyline in All American is the fallout from Spencer James being shot in his right shoulder during season 2. The shooting put James' football career in jeopardy, but he appeared to make a full recovery. The season 2 finale concluded with Spencer losing feeling in his right arm again, and All American season 3 further explored why this was the case.

It eventually revealed that Coop was partially responsible for Spencer's continued arm issues. James only moved past this problem during his senior year once he told Coop what was going on. However, this is not a battle that Spencer Paysinger had to fight in real life. His football career was never nearly ended by a gang-related shooting, so this is a classic example of All American adding more mountains for Spencer to climb on his path to potential success.

All American Has Spencer Going To A Different College

All American Had Spencer Attend A Fictional University

There are also several factors surrounding Spencer's college recruitment that All American has changed. For starters, Spencer James is one of the best prospects in the country. Before his injury, he was ranked as the 57th-best player in the nation, and multiple schools had recruited him. This status wasn't the case for Spencer Paysinger. While he was a standout player in his division, he was only a two-star recruit, according to scouting websites. Spencer James' recruitment declined after his injury, but he was still a highly regarded talent.

All American focused on the potential of him going to UCLA at first.

As for the schools that recruited Spencer James, All American focused on the potential of him going to UCLA at first. Several other colleges were interested in him before his injury and following his recovery, and some were willing to pay him under the table. However, the show did not put Spencer on the path to where Spencer Paysinger went to college. Paysinger was an Oregon Duck for five years (after red-shirting his freshman year) and chose them over Arizona State, Boise State, Colorado, and Wyoming.

All American had him go to the fictional Golden Angeles University.

That said, there is likely a fun explanation for why UCLA is at the center of Spencer's college future instead of Oregon. When Paysinger played at Oregon, he did so with Chip Kelly as the head coach during his final two seasons. They had great success together, making it to the BCS Championship game in Paysinger's final year. Chip Kelly left Oregon and was head coach at UCLA during season 2 when he appeared on the show. His relationship with Paysinger is likely why UCLA replaced Oregon in All American.

Spencer Paysinger Didn't Win A State Championship

Spencer's Teams Were Not As Successful In Real Life

All American changed Spencer Paysinger's true story again early on in the show by making Spencer James a state champion. Paysinger had a successful high school football career, but that didn't include winning the California state championship. Spencer James won it as a junior with Beverly, but Paysinger's team was nowhere close to a championship as a junior.

His senior year was much better for the Beverly Hills Normans, as they finished the season with a 9-1-2 record. Unfortunately for them, the only loss they had was in the second round of the playoffs. While Spencer Paysinger didn't win a state championship in real life, All American has Spencer James on the cusp of winning his second championship when season 4 begins. With Spencer changing high schools in All American, it makes sense that the show wouldn't follow Beverly's records.

Spencer Paysinger Wasn't An All-American

The Title Of The Show Is Based On A Misnomer

Another change to All American's true story comes with the accolades that came Spencer James' way. All American season 3 officially named him and Jordan Baker as All-American high school football players. However, Spencer Paysinger didn't receive this same praise for his performance as a senior. Paysinger's top honor instead was as the Ocean League player of the year. Considering All American's title, the change to make this part of Spencer James' accomplishments is hardly a surprise.

Were These Changes Good Or Bad For All American?

As noted, several changes were made in All American to Spencer Paysinger's life story. However, almost all the changes were for the better for a fictional drama series. Having Spencer get into Beverly Hills High, thanks to his family connections and playing with his dad as one of his coaches, doesn't leave much room for dramatic storylines. Changing his dad's story and making his road to Beverly harder added to the drama that hooked fans. His relationship with his dad was also important in moving the story forward.

The shooting was a little too much since it was totally fictional, but at the same time, this is a prime time high school drama, and that incident plays into what fans have come to expect from these shows. As for the changes to the schools he played for and the college he attended, it added to the storyline as it moved forward, and the characters pushed things in fresh directions. This also includes making Spencer more successful than in real life, as All-American wants fans to cheer for a winner, not just an above-average athlete.