Anthony Spencer is a rock-solid NFL player who could grow into a superstar with the Dallas Cowboys.

But when Mom calls, he comes running.

Spencer and the Cowboys had a bye week and no game Sunday, so he returned to Fort Wayne to appeared at the Fort Wayne Next Level golf fundraiser at River City Links.

Spencer's mother, Tonia Creech, is executive director of Fort Wayne Next Level, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping at-risk boys in grades 4-9.

“She told me about it and I said, ‘Golf? It's getting cold out,'” Spencer said, laughing. “I try to help out as much as possible with whatever she needs me to do. I know it's a good cause.”

Creech founded Fort Wayne Next Level to help steer Fort Wayne's young boys to that “next level” of academic and sports success. The group meets four days a week - two days concentrating strictly on academics and two days on basketball.

Creech said she saw the need for the youth guidance when Spencer was attending Bishop Luers High School and faced academic difficulties to be able to accept a scholarship offer to Purdue. Spencer dug down, worked to tie up academic loose ends and made it to Purdue, where he had an outstanding career and became a first-round draft pick.

“I stopped playing basketball my senior year because my grades were not right,” Spencer said. “I had to take a couple courses at Anthis and some night school, a couple things I wouldn't have had to do if I had got started off right in the beginning. Knowing that, I want to help others as much as possible.”

Seventy-two boys are in the program, Creech said, and 13 from Prince Chapman Middle School ended up making honor roll as eighth-graders.

Spencer, of course, serves as a role model. He is in his third season with the Cowboys and has started all five games in the team's 3-2 start.

He said he feels he has taken some major strides. As a rookie, he was thrown into the mix when starter Greg Ellis was injured. After injuries slowed him at the beginning of last season, he has started to come into his own as an aggressive pass rusher and run stopper. The Cowboys released Ellis in the offseason.

“I've been playing pretty well and getting a little pressure on the quarterback, not making mistakes,” Spencer said. “Each game, I feel like I'm getting better and better.”

Spencer's teammate, Keith Brooking, told the Dallas Morning News that Spencer is on the verge of coming into his own as an NFL player.

“He's such a dynamic player,” Brooking told the paper. “He's very explosive, very athletic and you see it. It's so evident in the way he plays. He just has to keep playing and working at it, and he's right around the corner from being a great, a really game-changing type of player.”

Of course, everything is magnified in Dallas, where the Cowboys are a way of life. Spencer said he enjoys playing in Dallas because of owner Jerry Jones' commitment to winning.

The opening of the gargantuan new stadium was national news, and Spencer said we should believe the hype.

“That stadium is ridiculous,” Spencer said. “It's a nonstop show, with so much different stuff going on. It's definitely something you have to see to really believe.”

The 60-yard big screen above the field has attracted the most attention. Spencer said he can see why.

“I find myself looking up and watching that (when Dallas' offense is on the field), and I'm standing right next to the game,” he said. “It's so big you can't help it.”

Spencer's dedication to returning to Fort Wayne and giving back reflects his personality and goal not to become big-headed or forget his roots.

He signed autographs Sunday, interacting with his fans, almost always smiling. He plans to keep encouraging the students in Fort Wayne Next Level whenever he can.

“I stress grades, that's the biggest thing,” Spencer said. “You have to make good choices and have the right type of people around you. You are who you hang around with, basically. If you have the right people around you, it molds you the right way to where you need to be.”

Now that Spencer is at the next level - the top level of football - he's a success story his mother can use when she's working with the local boys.

Sometimes, when the schedule breaks just right as it did Sunday, she can call Spencer home for some hands-on help.