Tommy Spence

Thomas Louis Spence was an American college football player. Spence also played on the baseball, basketball, and track teams.

Georgia Tech

Football

Spence was a prominent fullback for John Heisman's Georgia Tech [Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech Golden Tornado] of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1914 [Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|1914] to 1916 [Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|1916]. He was posthumously elected to the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1976.

1915

In 1915, near the end of the 1915 [LSU Tigers football team|LSU] game, he returned an interception 85 yards. He made a 40-yard drop kick field goal against North Carolina.

1916

Spence was a starter for the 1916 team which, as one writer wrote, "seemed to personify Heisman." In Georgia Tech's record-setting 1916 Cumberland vs. [Georgia Tech football game|222-0 win] over Cumberland College in 1916, Spence scored the second-most behind Everett Strupper when he netted five touchdowns. He was selected All-Southern Team|All-Southern] that season. Walter Camp gave him honorable mention.

World War I

Spence was a casualty of the World War I. He is the namesake of Spence Air Base.