The opportunity to play Division I collegiate football is not something Texas State redshirt junior safety Tory Spears takes for granted, knowing that it can all be gone in an instant.
Spears, a Bobcat since 2020, is a fixture in the Bobcat defense, and while working toward getting his degree in criminal justice and potentially hearing his name called in the upcoming NFL draft, he was excelling by many standards.
On July 28, 2022, disaster struck, changing his outlook on life forever.
Spears and his girlfriend were driving down I-35 when they encountered major traffic. Sitting in traffic with his hazard lights flashing, an oncoming vehicle collided head-on with the rear of Spears’ vehicle, totaling both vehicles. 
“I’m coming down over a hill and I see the car in front of me put the hazards on,” Spears said. “So, I put mine [hazards] on, but I always keep my head on a swivel I look up and see a red pickup truck just flying.”
Spears said his initial instinct immediately following the collision was to make sure his girlfriend was okay. After confirming this, he kicked open the passenger door, allowing them to safely climb out of the car. The driver of the truck, an elderly woman, was also not seriously injured according to Spears. 
Spears categorized the injuries he sustained in the accident as minor and did not have to miss any time on the field as a result of it, something that to this day remains a mystery to him. 
“I don’t even really understand it,” Spears said. “I don’t know what a car wreck is supposed to feel like, but I know I’m not supposed to walk out without a scratch on me. I can thank God for that.” 
Spears said the first thing he did after getting himself and his girlfriend out of his wrecked car was call head coach Jake Spavital and his position coach Clay Jennings, who picked Spears and his girlfriend up from the crash site and took them to the hospital.
Jennings, who is in his first season as defensive backs coach for Texas State, said he and Spears have developed a very close relationship over the brief eight-month period that he has been with the team and spoke of an intimate conversation the two of them shared in the aftermath of the wreck.
“The one statement that Tory made to me was that, ‘You know coach I’ve been blessed with another opportunity, another chance, so I’m going to make the best of it,’ and that’s one thing he has done this fall [is] made the best of his opportunities, and that’s an attribute to him,” Jennings said. 
Spears wholeheartedly believes he was given a second chance in life that day and said the wreck has drastically changed his life and the outlook he has on it for the better. 
Spears said the wreck has taught him to focus on and appreciate the little things in life.
“It definitely made me a better person,” Spears said. “My mindset is different for sure. Tomorrow is not promised.”
Even months after the incident, Spears relives the moment inside his head often. Having lost family members to car wrecks that weren’t as bad as his, when he closes his eyes to sleep, Spears still sees those images of his wreck.
“I still think about it, the fact that it doesn’t feel real… When I go to sleep, I close my eyes … it’s just the car wreck,” Spears said. “I’m not questioning it because I know that’s all nothing but God, but I can’t explain it.”
Redshirt junior wide receiver Julian Ortega-Jones said the team learned of the wreck the following day. They were thankful Spears made it out alive and well and was in good spirits after experiencing such a traumatic event.
“He was in here playing around, messing around literally the next day, so we were all really thankful he was okay,” Ortega-Jones said.
Exactly what transpired that day is something that continues to perplex Spears. 
“I’ve lost many family members in wrecks, seen wrecks not as bad as mine that people are three times as hurt and I just kick open the passenger door and we get out?” Spears said.
Jennings is still unsure how, but extremely grateful that Spears made it out of the accident unscathed.
“You never want them to be in harm’s way,” Jennings said. “Seeing the accident, the fact that he’s still with us, that’s a blessing within itself because neither one of those vehicles had a chance to be mobilized at all.” 
Spears has made good on what he swore to Jennings, as he is in the midst of a stellar 2022 season. Through nine games, he has registered 50 tackles, half a sack, one forced and recovered a fumble and a 94-yard interception return for a touchdown that ultimately sealed Texas State’s biggest victory of the season over Appalachian State.
Following the Appalachian State game, Spears was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week for the very first time in his collegiate career due to his phenomenal performance, where he led the Bobcat defense with 12 tackles and had the 94-yard pick-six.
When reflecting on what it felt like to go from being in a life-threatening situation to achieving such an impressive accomplishment in the span of three months, Spears thanked God and his teammates. They all played a role in his being named conference defensive player of the week. Without them, he said, it would not have been possible.
Jennings shared what he believes Spears, being named the Sun Belt defensive player of the week, says about him as both a football player and a human being.
“I think he’s blessed by the man above,” Jennings said. “As a player, he hasn’t had a lot of missed tackles or blown assignments. He wants to be a better ballplayer not just for himself but to help his teammates. He’s the ultimate teammate.”
Spears said his biggest takeaway from being in a near-death experience is to go out and treat every day like it’s his last because he never knows when it might be. 
“It just humbled me,” Spears said. “It opened my eyes, I see things differently; that’s all I really think about every day, not just with football, with life period. Every day is another day to better yourself and do what you got to do because it could all be gone just like that.”