CW’s 'All American' Is Based On a Surprisingly True Story (2024)

• In the midst of quarantine, All American has become a surprise hit on Netflix.
• The CW drama, which just finished its second season, is based on the true story of former NFL player Spencer Paysinger.
• Paysinger serves as an executive consultant on the series.
  

As people continue social distancing and remain quarantined in their homes during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, streaming sites are as popular as ever—with Netflix of course being the biggest of all. Looking through the streamer's newly-implemented Top 10 shows list on their app, the top of the list looks like you might expect, with Tiger King atop the chart. After that, though, another series begins to stand out: CW’s All American.

Having just finished its second season, and with a third already confirmed, the drama follows the story of a young black man named Spencer James from the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles, who eventually gets recruited to join the Beverly Hills High School football team, finding himself immersed between two drastically different worlds. With fans agreeing that it has elements of Friday Night Lights strewn through the series, along with a cast that features a breadth of young actors and bonafide stars like Taye Diggs, viewers might also be surprised to learn that the series is also rooted within a surprisingly true story.

The series is based on the life of Spencer Paysinger.

The CW series takes its background from Spencer Paysinger, a former NFL player whose career included playing stops with the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants, the team that helped him earn a Super Bowl ring in 2012. After retiring from the game in 2017, he now serves as an executive consultant on the series.

Like his namesake character, Paysinger stood out because he knew how to play both sides of the field. According Screen Rant, while he was on his high school team, he had the ability to play both wide receiver on offense and safety on defense.

Spencer Paysinger’s recruitment is different in the series.

In the first twenty minutes of the series, Coach Baker (Diggs) recruits Spencer James for his team in Beverly Hills, aspiring to bring home a state championship for his school. In order to make the recruitment legit, James had to reside at the Baker home to ensure that he could go to the school and ensure that the deal was legal.

In reality, Paysinger’s family was well connected to Beverly Hills High School, with multiple relatives (including his dad) receiving academic permits to attend. Many returned to the school after graduation to become coaches for the football program. In fact, the family was so well connected to the school that the weight room is now called the Paysinger Family Weight Room.

Paysinger is proud of how the show represents his story.

In a 2018 interview with ESPN, Paysinger talked about how proud he is of how the series depicts the stereotypes between the two suburbs of L.A., while still showing high school football as realistically as they can. “Being from South Central and knowing how South Central is portrayed in Hollywood,” Paysinger said, “they have to realize that the sun shines there as long as it shines in Beverly Hills.

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