This is the latest in a series of stories highlighting the top 30 Mizzou athletes Dave Matter has covered in his time writing about the Tigers since the late 1990s. The series will run every day Monday through Friday.
You know former Mizzou linebacker Sean Weatherspoon as Spoon. Bet you didn’t know he came into the world 32 years ago as Franklin.
Born in Greenville, S.C., just a few days after Christmas in 1987, Franklin De’Sean Weatherspoon would become one of the greatest defensive players to ever slip on a Mizzou jersey. Franklin soon became known as Sean, and then at Mizzou, and later in Atlanta, he earned his own chant: SPOOOOOOOOOOOOON!