IsAll AmericanBased on a True Story? How Former NFL Player Spencer Paysinger Inspired the Show

Mar. 15, 2025

Spencer Paysinger during a game against the Tennessee Titans during a game at Nissan Stadium on October 18, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. ; Daniel Ezra as Spencer on ‘All American’.Photo:Frederick Breedon/Getty ; Eddy Chen/The CW

Frederick Breedon/Getty ; Eddy Chen/The CW

The seriesAll Americandraws inspiration from the true story of former NFL player Spencer Paysinger.

Reflecting on the pilot episode on an episode of theIn The Zonepodcastin May 2023, he explained how creative liberties were taken with the storyline and plot. “That whole experience was so crazy because there are definitely things in the pilot, sometimes they’re word for word how it happened in real life," Paysinger said.

He continued, “There are some moments in the pilot that I wrote, that I changed, so to see those acted on a grand scale like that and then people actually like it was something that completely redefined the goals that I wanted in my life."

Here’s the true story ofAll American, including who Spencer Paysinger is and how he inspired the show.

Who is Spencer Paysinger?

Spencer Paysinger and Blair pose for a photo when he played for the Oregon Ducks football team.Spencer Paysinger Instagram

Spencer Paysinger Instagram

Spencer Paysinger is a former NFL player whose life inspired The CW seriesAll American.

Much like the character Spencer from the show, Paysinger grew up in South Los Angeles and attended high school in Beverly Hills. He played football at Beverly Hills High School before he went off to University of Oregon, where he continued participating in the sport and graduated with a degree in economics in 2010.

Afterward, Paysinger was not drafted to the NFL but signed with the New York Giants as a free agent in 2011. He played for the Giants from 2011 to 2014 and helped the team win Super Bowl XLVI during his rookie year. Paysinger eventually joined the Miami Dolphins for two seasons.

Spencer Paysinger before the start of the NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins on December 11, 2016.Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire/Getty

Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire/Getty

In his retirement, the former linebacker has focused on more creative projects, including producingAll American. According to a press release fromNorthwest Missouri State University, Paysinger was pitching the show’s idea in the months leading up to his departure from the field.

IsAll Americana true story?

Daniel Ezra as Spencer and Noah Gray-Cabey as Frausto on ‘All American.'.Bill Inoshita /The CW

Bill Inoshita /The CW

All Americanis loosely based on Paysinger’s life, though several aspects of his experiences were changed in the show.

Paysinger told theNew England Sports Networkin April 2020 that “a lot of the stories are rooted in the truth.” He explained, “Obviously to create a compelling CW show, we have to sort of bend the truth a little bit and take a digression from what originally happened. But for the most part, a lot of the stories do ring true.”

Some notable changes between Paysinger’s real life andAll Americaninclude his football career. While he transferred to Beverly Hills High School in the show, he was actually enrolled all four years as part of a multicultural program in real life. Other changes included Spencer’s college of choice in the show and a gang-related shooting that almost left him unable to play football, which didn’t occur off-screen.

Taye Diggs as Billy and Daniel Ezra as Spencer on ‘All American’.Robert Voets/The CW

Robert Voets/The CW

“Billy Baker is loosely based on my uncleCarter Paysinger, who was the head football coach at Beverly Hills High School when I got to Beverly,” Paysinger said. “He was a mentor back then, still to this day, I still look to him for guidance.”

Paysinger said that his uncle, who has been a coach for over three decades, often sent him notes on Diggs’ performance. He explained, “It’s been interesting giving a real life coach’s perspective on Taye Diggs’ coaching.”

Paysinger attributed much of the show’s success and the translation of his story to the screen to a “tremendous trust process” with the series’ showrunner, Nkechi Okoro Carroll.

Was Spencer Paysinger involved in creatingAll American?

Spencer Paysinger and Daniel Ezra as Spencer James on ‘All American’.Ray Mickshaw/The CW

Ray Mickshaw/The CW

Paysinger played a role in the creation ofAll American,and serves as a consulting producer on the series. During an April 2020 interview with the New England Sports Network, he opened up about his passion for film growing up, which inspired him to start writing short stories and ultimately led to the show’s inception.

WithAll American,Paysinger had one main goal: to dispel the stereotypes about the inner city.

“I wanted to tell the story of, ‘We’re a lot more similar on these different sides of the track than you guys think,’ " he explained. “Being from South Central, and knowing how South Central is portrayed in Hollywood as this desolate area with gang violence, drugs, everything — they have to realize that the sun shines there as long as it shines in Beverly Hills.”

He added, “The one thing I want the viewers to see is South Central is also a beautiful place. It’s a wonderful place. It’s a place that I call home to this day. I think we’ve been able to do that.”

Spencer Paysinger on ‘All American’.Eddy Chen/The CW

Eddy Chen/The CW

Speaking toCBS Newsin October 2018 ahead of the show’s premiere, Paysinger shared more details about his involvement with the project.

“I had the luxury of being a consulting producer to go within the writer’s room a couple days a week and also to be on set as often as I wanted,” he said. “This is something I’ve wanted to do since retiring from football so I’m soaking up as much as I can and being there as often as I can.”

In addition to his role as a producer, Paysinger broke out his acting chops and made a cameo in the earlier seasons as an assistant coach to Diggs’ character. He jokingly referred to himself as an “Easter egg in the show” to PIX11 Newsin March 2021.

“I have fun with it. I’ve had a couple of lines over the last two seasons, but who knows,” he said. “I’m not necessarily getting into acting, now’s been the year of yes for me.”

While Paysinger got a few lines in the show’s second installment, he told the New England News Network in April 2020 that he has been in the background since the first episode of season 1.

“As more people get familiar with it, it’s just been funny being Coach Davis in the background,” he said. “But when we were figuring out who to cast, what to cast, the executive producers, they literally looked to me and my producing partner Dane Morck And said ‘Hey, do you guys want to be the assistant coaches for Taye Diggs at Beverly High?’ ”

Where is Spencer Paysinger today?

Spencer Paysinger and Blair Paysinger arrive at The CW Network’s Fall Launch Event at Warner Bros. Studios on October 14, 2018 in Burbank, California.Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Apart from his work onAll American,Paysinger has continued his post-NFL life as an entrepreneur, all while helping build and enhance his community.

Hisbio on The CWshares that he is a co-owner of the cafe Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, which has several locations around L.A. and he’s on the board of the KIPP Public Schools Black and Latinx Leadership Committee. Paysinger also assists with running the investment fund, Afterball LLC, which helps former football players navigate new life ventures after their careers conclude.

As for his personal life, Paysinger marriedhis wife, Blair, in May 2016. The couple are parents totwo young children.

They originally met in high school when Blair was a freshman at Beverly Hills High School, leading some fans to wonder if she inspired Spencer’s love interest onAll American.

During a May 2021 appearance ontheBlack Loveaftershow, she mentioned that she didn’t initially remember the moment they first crossed paths, though Paysinger did and said there was a “build up” toward their eventual relationship.

“I was playing on the same football team as her older brother,” he explained. “That summer, everybody was like, ‘Yo, Alex’s little sister’s coming. She’s cute.’ So when I saw her, I was like, ‘That’s gotta be Alex’s sister.’ And that’s why I remember because it was like anticipation of her coming to the school.”

Through his company, Moore Street Productions, Paysinger worked on a docuseries with UCLA calledBuilding Bruins,which followed DeShaun Foster in his first season as head coach. Starting in September 2024, the show’s episodes began streaming on theUCLA Athletics YouTube channel.

source: people.com