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UO Alum's Life A Hollywood Story
04/03/20 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Former UO linebacker Spencer Paysinger has watched the show based on his life, "All American," become a sensation on Netflix.
Since Americans have begun embracing social distancing during the novel coronavirus pandemic, it seems like everyone in the country has watched "Tiger King."
But that wasn't the only show to take Netflix by storm in March. Prior to the debut of "Tiger King," the No. 1 most-streamed show on Netflix for a few days earlier in March was the second season of the CW drama "All American" — which just so happens to be based on the life of former Oregon linebacker Spencer Paysinger.
A starter for the UO defense from 2008-10, Paysinger spent seven years on NFL rosters and earned a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants. When he retired from football, Paysinger transitioned into the entertainment industry and made a pitch about his own life story, including the juxtaposition between growing up in South Central Los Angeles before attending high school in Beverly Hills.
The result was "All American," which began broadcasting on The CW in 2018 and has become a sensation each of the last two years upon hitting Netflix. Season two began streaming on March 17, and immediately became the service's most-watched show or movie in the United States.
"It's been fun, just in terms of engaging with everybody and talking to people," Paysinger said this week. "I've had 5-year-old, 7-year-old black kids messaging me, as well as 65-year-old, 70-year-old white women. People love it for different reasons, from football to the family issues in the storylines. Some kids are telling me they've never liked sports but they love the show, and that's just a testament to our writers' room."
Paysinger himself has a voice in that writers' room, although he gives the bulk of the credit for the show's deft handling of issues including race and class disparity to executive producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll. Paysinger himself is a consulting producer, and also has appeared on camera as an assistant coach.
The show tells the story of Spencer James, who like Paysinger came of age in South Central L.A. before attending high school in Beverly Hills. As the show progressed through its first two seasons, Paysinger said he was still struck by moments of authenticity from his own upbringing, such as a playground scene filmed at a park he frequented as a child.
"Those swing sets that were in the show — I've been swinging on those swings since I could walk," Paysinger said.
Other elements of the show, of course, involve more dramatic license. Paysinger said the question he's asked most often is which details from the show are specific to his own life, and he has become loath to offer too many details.
"It turns them into detectives," Paysinger said. "I realized how strong the power of story is. If you're ignorant to what's real and what's not, you're just going to ride the wave of the story."
Paysinger's own football story had crests and troughs. Primarily a special teams player as a redshirt freshman for the Ducks in 2007, he became a starter as a sophomore inside linebacker. Paysinger had nine tackles against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to cap the 2009 season, and eight in his final collegiate appearance, against Auburn in the BCS Championship game following the 2010 season.
This past January, the Ducks were back playing for the Rose Bowl, and Paysinger watched as Mario Cristobal led Oregon to a 28-27 win over Wisconsin.
"I never thought I'd see the day when an Oregon line was pushing back a Wisconsin line, on both sides of the ball," Paysinger said. "To me that was like, 'Oh, it's a new day.'"
An undrafted free agent with the Giants in 2011, Paysinger helped them win the Super Bowl that season, his first of four with the organization. He spent 2015 and 2016 with Miami and played three games with Carolina in 2017, all the while developing an interest in the entertainment industry.
After the first season of "All American" on The CW, there was still no guarantee of a second season. Then, it hit Netflix.
"We had a strong, consistent audience, but it still wasn't hitting the numbers we wanted it to," Paysinger said. "(Network executives) said, 'Let's wait to see what it does on Netflix, and we'll make a decision based on that, and some other metrics.'
"When it hit, that just pushed us over the hump."
That was in March 2019. This past month, "All American" took the streaming service by storm again, generating "five to 10 times the reception," Paysinger said, based on anecdotal measures of outreach he received.
Yes, writers are currently knee-deep in work on season three. And Paysinger has been working on movie scripts as well, with a production partner.
"I don't want to be a one-trick pony within this industry," said Paysinger, who with his wife, Blair, has two children, a 3-year-old daughter, Cairo, and an 8-month-old son, Madden. "A lot of it has nothing to do with sports in general. It's just stories that we like."
He's making stories fit for Hollywood, and also living one, too.
But that wasn't the only show to take Netflix by storm in March. Prior to the debut of "Tiger King," the No. 1 most-streamed show on Netflix for a few days earlier in March was the second season of the CW drama "All American" — which just so happens to be based on the life of former Oregon linebacker Spencer Paysinger.
A starter for the UO defense from 2008-10, Paysinger spent seven years on NFL rosters and earned a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants. When he retired from football, Paysinger transitioned into the entertainment industry and made a pitch about his own life story, including the juxtaposition between growing up in South Central Los Angeles before attending high school in Beverly Hills.
The result was "All American," which began broadcasting on The CW in 2018 and has become a sensation each of the last two years upon hitting Netflix. Season two began streaming on March 17, and immediately became the service's most-watched show or movie in the United States.
"It's been fun, just in terms of engaging with everybody and talking to people," Paysinger said this week. "I've had 5-year-old, 7-year-old black kids messaging me, as well as 65-year-old, 70-year-old white women. People love it for different reasons, from football to the family issues in the storylines. Some kids are telling me they've never liked sports but they love the show, and that's just a testament to our writers' room."
Paysinger himself has a voice in that writers' room, although he gives the bulk of the credit for the show's deft handling of issues including race and class disparity to executive producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll. Paysinger himself is a consulting producer, and also has appeared on camera as an assistant coach.
The show tells the story of Spencer James, who like Paysinger came of age in South Central L.A. before attending high school in Beverly Hills. As the show progressed through its first two seasons, Paysinger said he was still struck by moments of authenticity from his own upbringing, such as a playground scene filmed at a park he frequented as a child.
"Those swing sets that were in the show — I've been swinging on those swings since I could walk," Paysinger said.
Other elements of the show, of course, involve more dramatic license. Paysinger said the question he's asked most often is which details from the show are specific to his own life, and he has become loath to offer too many details.
"It turns them into detectives," Paysinger said. "I realized how strong the power of story is. If you're ignorant to what's real and what's not, you're just going to ride the wave of the story."
Paysinger's own football story had crests and troughs. Primarily a special teams player as a redshirt freshman for the Ducks in 2007, he became a starter as a sophomore inside linebacker. Paysinger had nine tackles against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to cap the 2009 season, and eight in his final collegiate appearance, against Auburn in the BCS Championship game following the 2010 season.
This past January, the Ducks were back playing for the Rose Bowl, and Paysinger watched as Mario Cristobal led Oregon to a 28-27 win over Wisconsin.
"I never thought I'd see the day when an Oregon line was pushing back a Wisconsin line, on both sides of the ball," Paysinger said. "To me that was like, 'Oh, it's a new day.'"
An undrafted free agent with the Giants in 2011, Paysinger helped them win the Super Bowl that season, his first of four with the organization. He spent 2015 and 2016 with Miami and played three games with Carolina in 2017, all the while developing an interest in the entertainment industry.
After the first season of "All American" on The CW, there was still no guarantee of a second season. Then, it hit Netflix.
"We had a strong, consistent audience, but it still wasn't hitting the numbers we wanted it to," Paysinger said. "(Network executives) said, 'Let's wait to see what it does on Netflix, and we'll make a decision based on that, and some other metrics.'
"When it hit, that just pushed us over the hump."
That was in March 2019. This past month, "All American" took the streaming service by storm again, generating "five to 10 times the reception," Paysinger said, based on anecdotal measures of outreach he received.
Yes, writers are currently knee-deep in work on season three. And Paysinger has been working on movie scripts as well, with a production partner.
"I don't want to be a one-trick pony within this industry," said Paysinger, who with his wife, Blair, has two children, a 3-year-old daughter, Cairo, and an 8-month-old son, Madden. "A lot of it has nothing to do with sports in general. It's just stories that we like."
He's making stories fit for Hollywood, and also living one, too.
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