Most players for the Arizona football team don’t have a legacy to follow in, but for Tre Spivey, he comes from the legacy of Junior Spivey. As a part of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2001 World Series Championship team, Junior etched himself into the state of Arizona sports lore.
The two Spiveys got to share a special moment during the offseason. The Diamondbacks held a “UofA Night” in July where Tre got to throw out the first pitch to his dad. It was a moment that surely neither of them will forget.
“The experience itself was like the coolest thing ever,” Spivey said.”That is something that I thought I’d probably never get to do, like ever. So the fact that I got to do it with my dad at the stadium of his former team was like a dream come true.”
Now it’s time for Tre Spivey to write his story. It started last season when he became a fan favorite where it seemed like every time he touched the ball he found the end zone. He scored seven touchdowns on 13 receptions and had a rushing TD.
Last year was an opportunity to grow as a player, but this season is now an opportunity to grow as a leader. Being a leader requires attention to detail, which is something he focused on this offseason.
“It was really good for me, and I think that it’s allowed me to go into this season real confident of my abilities,” said Spivey on last season. “So just focusing on the whole game so I can help the team out. That’s the one thing I’ve been focused on this year, is trying to figure out what I can work on for myself that can impact the team in the best way possible.”
His focus on the small things has not gone unnoticed. Brent Brennan preaches “Redline” every day and knows that Spivey has gotten the message through what he has seen through practice.
“One of my favorite things about Tre is he’s an incredible practice player,” said Brennan. “He really goes hard, and it doesn’t matter if he’s feeling a little under the weather or whatever, he likes to compete, and that part of it is a lot of fun.”
Last season, Spivey had 23 receptions, 381 receiving yards, seven touchdown receptions, one rushing touchdown. While he may want those numbers to go up, he knows that he has just as talented of teammates as he is so the ball may go their way. It is a very good thing in his eyes.
“The past few years that I’ve been at Arizona, I’ve been super blessed to have been in a receiving room that genuinely has players that want to do the best with each other,” said Spivey.
Of course, the ball will only be thrown your way if you have a strong connection to the quarterback. By doing the extra, the unrequired, and the in between, the receivers have made that connection with Noah Fifita.
“I think that’s the treasure that comes from the amount of repetition, the amount of work we put in with Noah,” said Spivey. “We take a lot of extra time out of our day to go practice, walk through stuff with him.”
The repetition has made Spivey’s skillset extremely clean to where offensive coordinator Seth Doege does not have to worry about him when he’s on the field.
“He’s gotten to a point where he’s consistently lining up correctly, he’s consistently getting to his depth, he’s consistently winning on routes, he’s consistently going up and attacking the football,” said Doege.
Now with the season opener hours away, he is preparing for essentially 12 conference championship games. NAU is not going to be just another opponent, but the first of many opportunities to chase a Big 12 title.
“I think that for us, each game kind of carries the same weight,” said Spivey. “We attack each and every game the same way we would attack any game. Treat this week, the first week, like it’s the Big 12 championship. I think that excitement is always there, and we’re just excited to get ready to get the ball rolling.”
