Sean Spence Drafted by Pittsburgh in Third Round
April 28, 2012
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sean Spence has been drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 15th Cane to go to Steelers in school history and the 40th linebacker drafted in UM history.
Spence is the second Cane off the board as the 23rd pick of the third round and 86th selection overall.
The two-time All-ACC selection joins Olivier Vernon as the two Canes taken through three rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft.
The 6-0 Spence returned for his senior season to start 11 games for the Canes in 2011, while earning First-Team All-ACC accolades, the Canes’ Most Outstanding Defensive Player, a Butkus Award semifinalist and Fourth-Team All-America honors by Phil Steele. The Miami native completed his UM career with 318 tackles, including 170 solo stops, 10.5 sacks, 47 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovered and one interception. The 47 tackles for loss, was ranked second among active NCAA players.
SPENCE’S BIO
2011 JACK HARDIN TEAM MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
2011 CAPTAIN’S AWARD
2011 DEFENSIVE MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
2011 FIRST-TEAM ALL-ACC SELECTION
2011 PHIL STEELE ALL-ACC FIRST TEAM
2011 PHIL STEELE ALL-AMERICA FOURTH TEAM
2011 BUTKUS AWARD SEMIFINALIST
2010 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
2010 SECOND-TEAM ALL-ACC SELECTION
2008 ACC DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
2008 COLLEGEFOOTBALLNEWS.COM FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN
2008 RIVALS.COM FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
2008 PHIL STEELE FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
2008 THE SPORTING NEWS FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
2011 (SENIOR): Played and started in eleven games on the season after missing the season opener … Team captain…Led the team and tied for fifth in the ACC with 106 tackles … Finished his career with 47 tackles for loss, which ranked second among active NCAA players, including 14.0 in 2011 … Earned ACC Linebacker of the Week honors three times during the season … Named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker … Recorded a season-high 14 tackles three times—against Kansas State, North Carolina and Boston College … Led the team with 10 tackles against then-No. 20 Georgia Tech … Recorded 13 tackles and two tackles for loss against then-No. 21 Virginia Tech … Named to the All-ACC First Team…Four-year letterwinner.
2010 (JUNIOR): One of seven Hurricanes to start all 13 games … Second on the team and fifth in the ACC with 111 tackles … Had a team leading 16 tackles for loss, fourth most in the conference… Recorded a season-high 14 tackles against Clemson, with a fumble forced and 1.5 tackles for loss … Recorded a season-high three tackles for loss against Georgia Tech … Named the team’s co-MVP at the Canes annual awards banquet … Named second team All-ACC.
2009 (SOPHOMORE): Missed three games late in the season with an injury … Despite playing in only 10 games on defense, ranked fifth on the team with 6.5 tackles for a loss … Recorded 36 total tackles (19 solo, 17 assists) on the year … Tallied a team-high 10 total tackles (five solo, five assists) in win over then-No. 8 Oklahoma … All three of his sacks came on the road in the state of Florida … Had seven total tackles, two sacks and a pass break up against UCF in Orlando … Tallied his third sack of the season at USF in the regular season finale … Averaged 7.3 tackles per game in the four games prior to suffering an injury versus Clemson (at Virginia Tech—8; vs. Oklahoma—10; vs. Florida A&M—4; at UCF—7).
2008 (FRESHMAN): Named the 2008 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year … Named First-Team Freshman All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com and Rivals.com while earning Second-Team Freshman All-America honors from Phil Steele and The Sporting News … Third on the team with 65 total tackles and led all Miami linebackers with 9.5 tackles for loss … Started nine of the 13 games he played in making first career start against Florida State … Returned his first career interception for a touchdown against Florida State … Forced a fumble in the final minutes of regulation at Virginia which helped the Hurricanes to an overtime win … Posted a career-high 10 tackles against Florida State and had five or more tackles in eight games … Registered first career sack against 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow at Florida.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played for the 2007 consensus national championship team as chosen by USA Today and Sports Illustrated … As a senior in 2007, made more than 100 tackles, with three sacks, two interceptions (one for a touchdown) … As a junior in 2006, made 147 tackles, 10 for losses, with two interceptions (one for a touchdown) and three sacks … Played in the inaugural Under-Armour All-Star game … Coached by Billy Rolle … Ranked as the No. 24 player in Florida, the No. 133 player in the nation and the No. 13 outside linebacker by Rivals.com … Rated the No. 5 weakside linebacker, the No. 18 player in Florida and the No. 81 player in the nation by Scout.com … Ranked the No. 2 outside linebacker and the No. 21 player in the country by ESPN … Chosen as a Prep-Star All-American … Named All-State by the Florida Sportswriters Association … Ranked No. 6 on the Miami Herald South Florida Top 25 … Selected to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super Southern 100 team.
SPENCE’S HIGHLIGHT REEL
CANES DRAFTED BY THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Orien Harris, DT (2006, 4th Round, 110th Pick)
Leon Searcy, OL (1992, 1st Round, 11th Pick)
Warren Williams, RB (1988, 6th Round, 155th Pick)
Phil August, WR (1977, 8th)
Gary Dunn, DT (1976, 6th)
Mike Haggerty, T (1967, 6th)
Charles Hutchings, T (1957, 9th)
Phil Bennett, E (1957, 19th)
Bob Nolan, E (1956, 10th)
Dan Tassotti, T (1954, 21st)
Bob Schneidenbach, B (1953, 24th)
Pat Petroski, G (1944, 28th)
Terry Fox, B (1941, 15th)
John Noppenberg, B (1940, 13th)
