Best Dallas Cowboys player to wear No. 93 joined an exclusive club as a rookie

Welcome back to our series covering the best Dallas Cowboys players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.

As we inch ever closer to the end of our 100-part journey, we continue here at No. 93 with a player who joined an exclusive club as a rookie and went on to have a fair amount of success before injuries derailed his career.

But before we break everything down, of course, let's first run through our usual process of looking at every player who's worn No. 93 for America's Team over the years.

Tarell Basham, DE
Ken Bishop, DT
Kenyon Coleman, DE
Reggie Cooper, LB
Elijah Garcia, DT
Linval Joseph, DT
Benson Mayowa, DE
Walter Palmore, DL
Daniel Ross, DT
Artie Smith, DE
Anthony Spencer, LB/DE
Jay Toia, DT
Mike Ulufale, DT
Peppi Zellner, DE

As you can see, this isn't a lengthy list, and as you can also see, there aren't really any players on it who one would call a superstar.

I mean, with all due respect to anyone who's talented enough to make the NFL at all, as that's obviously not an easy thing to do, the fact that our pick in the runner-up slot here is defensive end Peppi Zellner, who started just 17 of the 58 games in which he appeared for Dallas between the regular season and postseason from 1999 to 2002, tallying 111 total tackles and 6.0 sacks, pretty much tells you all you need to know about what we're dealing with.

With Zellner taking second, the clear call as the winner here at No. 93 is Anthony Spencer.

Anthony Spencer was just the fourth linebacker in Dallas Cowboys history to start a season opener as a rookie

A First-Team All-Big Ten selection and a Third-Team All-American at Purdue in 2006, Spencer was taken by Dallas in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft with the 26th overall selection.

A defensive lineman with the Boilermakers, the 6-foot-3, 265-pounder was moved to outside linebacker upon his arrival to the Cowboys, and with Greg Ellis still recovering from an Achilles injury, Spencer got the start in Week 1 against the rival New York Giants, thus making him just the fourth linebacker in franchise history to start a season opener as a rookie, joining Lee Roy Jordan, Robert Jones, and DeMarcus Ware.

The Indiana native ultimately started six games in that first season, as Ellis reclaimed his starting spot when he was fully healed, and went on to have a solid rookie campaign, tallying 36 total tackles and 3.0 sacks.

Spencer again served in a reserve role in his second season, but when Ellis was released in a cost-cutting move ahead of the 2009 season, he moved back into the starting lineup and proved he belonged there, recording 67 tackles, 13 of which resulted in a loss, 23 QB hits, and 6.0 sacks.

Spencer continued to play solid football for the next several years, and in 2012, after being slapped with the franchise tag, he had the best year of his career, earning his first and only trip to the Pro Bowl, albeit as an injury replacement for Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, after posting 95 total tackles and 11.0 sacks. He actually deserved the Pro Bowl selection regardless, as he was the only player in the NFL that year to record at least 90 tackles and 10 sacks.

Sadly, that was his apex, as a knee injury limited him to just one game in 2013. He returned in 2014, but he failed to start any of the 15 games in which he appeared between the regular season and postseason. And that was that for his career with the Cowboys. He signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2015, but after the injury bug hit him again, he didn't take a single regular-season snap with the Saints and was released in late October.

In his eight years in Dallas, Spencer tallied 385 total tackles, 53 tackles for loss, 13 forced fumbles, 16 passes defended, one interception, 79 QB hits, and 33.0 sacks in 104 regular-season appearances, adding 12 tackles and 3.0 sacks in five playoff games.

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

This list will be updated daily until all 100 entries are complete, so please be sure to check back in with The Landry Hat for updates.

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Anthony Spencer was just the fourth linebacker in Dallas Cowboys history to start a season opener as a rookie

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

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