It has been said that, in Texas, football is like a religion. To some, like high school senior John Spencer, it is significantly more.

“Never been to church, never been to class, never been to work,” said a confident Spencer. “It’s just been football, all day every day.”

Spencer’s father Mike, in his own words, “put a pigskin in Johnny’s hands before a pacifier,” and has been instrumental in his son’s football success.

“Dad means the world to me: he played for the [Division II Sam Houston State] Bearkats, so he knows a few things about football, and priorities.”

Among those priorities, Spencer’s father neglected a skill that would one day affect his son: the ability to read.

“What do you mean, friend?” asked Mike Spencer. “I’ve been teaching him to read defenses since he was old enough to stand! Don’t never accuse me of forgettin’ something so important. Oh wait, do you mean book learnin’? Yeah, he’ll pick that up eventually.”

John Spencer spent his summer alternatively learning to run the read-option offense, and spending 2 hours a week learning to read.

“‘Go Dog Go’ is pretty good,” said Johnny, who considers his greatest summer accomplishment to be running a 4.6 second 40 yard dash. “But it wasn’t nearly as much fun as throwing a 60 yard bomb. Boom!”

Spencer, whose knowledge of mathematics is limited to five-yard increments of the 100 yards of an American football field, considers reading a goal worth pursuing, as long as it doesn’t come into conflict with his first love.

“This is only the first step on the path to greatness,” said Spencer. “Me and my daddy are going to ride my skills all the way to the NFL.”

At press time, Spencer had been offered scholarships by every major SEC school, including Alabama, who had sent an official ‘reading representative’ to read the offer to Spencer.

“We do this a lot, it’s not a big deal,” said the Alabama official, who wished to remain anonymous.