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Lee Roy Selmon (October 20, 1954 – September 4, 2011) was an American professionalfootball player who was adefensive end for theTampa Bay Buccaneers of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football as adefensive tackle at theUniversity of Oklahoma, the youngest of three brothers to play football there.
He was a consensusAll-American in 1974 and 1975 and a member of consecutivenational championship teams for theOklahoma Sooners in 1974 and 1975.
Selmon was selected by the expansion Buccaneers as the first overall pick in the1976 NFL draft. He played in the NFL for nine seasons, from 1976 to 1984, all with the Buccaneers.
Selmon joined the athletic department at theUniversity of South Florida in 1993 and served as the school'sathletic director from 2001 to 2004. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1988, thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1995, and theOklahoma Hall of Fame in 2009.[1]: 398 [2]
Selmon was the youngest of nine children of Lucious and Jessie Selmon, raised on a farm nearEufaula, Oklahoma. ANational Honor Society member atEufaula High School, he graduated in 1972 after playing football through high school. His two brothers also played football and went to the University of Oklahoma, which he attended and where he graduated.
In 1972, Selmon joined his brothersLucious andDewey Selmon in playing on the defensive line at theUniversity of Oklahoma. He blossomed into a star in 1974, anchoring one of the best defenses inOklahoma Sooners football history. The Sooners werenational champions in 1974 and 1975. Selmon won theLombardi Award and theOutland Trophy in 1975. Oklahoma head coachBarry Switzer called him the best player he ever coached, andCollege Football News placed him as the 21st-best college player of all time.
Selmon was known as "The Gentle Giant." In the fall of 1999, Selmon was named to theSports Illustrated 'NCAA Football All-Century Team.'
Selmon was named a consensus All-American in 1974 and 1975 by Newspaper Enterprise Association. His list of achievements include the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American, and Graduate Fellowship Winner National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. The 1996Walter Camp "Alumnus of the Year" was voted to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame[3] in 1992.
| Season | Tackles | Sacks | TFL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UT | AT | TT | Sack | YdsL | TFL | Yds | |
| 1972 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 16 | 1 | ? |
| 1973 | 37 | 20 | 57 | 9 | 49 | 2 | ? |
| 1974 | 65 | 60 | 125 | 18 | 71 | 1 | ? |
| 1975 | 88 | 44 | 132 | 10 | 48 | 4 | ? |
| Career | 195 | 130 | 325 | 40 | 184 | 8 | ? |
In 1976, Selmon was the first player picked in the NFL draft, the first-ever pick for the expansionTampa Bay Buccaneers. He was joined by his older brother, Dewey, who was a second-round pick of the Bucs. In his first year, Selmon won the team's 'Rookie of the Year' andMVP awards. Selmon played in six straightPro Bowls and was namedNFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1979. Buccaneer assistantAbe Gibron said, "Selmon has no peers" at defensive end, while formerDetroit Lions coachMonte Clark compared him to "a grown man at work among a bunch of boys".[4]
Selmon began his career on a team that lost its first 26 games in franchise history (including a winless inaugural season) and only won a total of seven games in his first three seasons. However, he helped the Bucs rebound to three playoff appearances in four years from 1979 to 1982.
A back injury forced him to leave at the end of the 1984 season; the Bucs retired his number, 63, in 1986. He was elected to theFlorida Sports Hall of Fame. In January 2008, Selmon was voted by a panel of former NFL players and coaches toPro Football Weekly's All-Time 3-4 defensive team along withHarry Carson,Curley Culp,Randy Gradishar,Howie Long,Lawrence Taylor andAndre Tippett.[5] He was the first player to be inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor on November 8, 2009.
Selmon stayed inTampa, Florida, working as a bank executive and being active in many charities.
From 1993 to 2001, Selmon served as an assistant athletic director at theUniversity of South Florida under Paul Griffin. After Griffin was forced to resign,[6] Selmon was promoted to take over the athletic department. As the USF Athletic Director, Selmon launched the football program, spearheaded the construction of a new athletic facility, and led the university's move intoConference USA, and into theBig East Conference.
Citing health issues, Selmon resigned as the USF Athletic Director in 2004. He took the role as president of the USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics, an athletics fund-raising organization.
Selmon suffered a massive stroke on September 2, 2011, which left him hospitalized in extremely critical[9] condition.[10][11] His restaurant initially released a statement announcing his death; however, this was later confirmed to be false.[9] In fact, at one point his condition was said to be improving.[12]
On September 4, 2011, Selmon died at the age of 56 from complications of the stroke.[13] Visitation was scheduled for the following Thursday at the Exciting Central Tampa Baptist Church. The funeral was held the next day at Idlewild Baptist Church. Former teammates, the current Buccaneer team, the USF football team, other members of the NFL, and the general public attended. The USF football team wore a #63 decal on their helmets for the 2011 season, as did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams conducted a ceremony to honor Selmon the weekend following his death.[14] He is buried in Trice Hill Cemetery inOklahoma City, Oklahoma.[15]
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