Lee Roy Selmon

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Selmon was the youngest of nine children of Lucious and Jessie Selmon, raised on a farm near Eufaula, Oklahoma. A National Honor Society member at Eufaula High School, he graduated in 1972. In 1972, he joined his brothers Lucious and Dewey Selmon in playing on the defensive line at the University of Oklahoma. He blossomed into a star in 1974, anchoring one of the best defenses in Oklahoma Sooners football history. The Sooners were national champions in 1974 and 1975. Selmon won the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy in 1975. Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer called him the best player he ever coached, and College 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 the Sports Illustrated 'NCAA Football All-Century Team.' He 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 1996 Walter Camp 'Alumnus of the Year' was voted to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

In Their Own Story

The humidity of the Florida afternoon hung heavy over Tampa Stadium as Lee Roy Selmon lined up on the defensive end. The crowd roared, a sea of red and pewter rising to greet their hometown hero. He adjusted his helmet, feeling the familiar weight of the pads that had protected him through years of hard hits. With a sharp nod to his brother Dewey across the line, Lee Roy exploded off the snap, his eyes locked on the quarterback. The roar of the crowd faded into a singular focus as he drove past the tackle, a force of nature destined to change the history of the game.

Reader's Guide

In 1976, Selmon was the first player picked in the NFL draft, the first-ever pick for the expansion Tampa 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' and MVP awards. Selmon played in six straight Pro Bowls and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1979. Buccaneer assistant Abe Gibron said, 'Selmon has no peers' at defensive end, while former Detroit Lions coach Monte Clark compared him to 'a grown man at work among a bunch of boys.' 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 the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. In January 2008, Selmon was voted by a panel of former NFL players and coaches to Pro Football Weeklys All-Time 3-4 defensive team along with Harry Carson, Curley Culp, Randy Gradishar, Howie Long, Lawrence Taylor and Andre Tippett. He was the first player to be inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor on November 8, 2009. After football, Selmon stayed in Tampa, Florida, working as a bank executive and being active in many charities. From 1993 to 2001, Selmon served as an assistant athletic director at the University of South Florida under Paul Griffin. After Griffin was forced to resign, 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 into Conference USA, and into the Big 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.

Did You Know?

• Selmon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
• He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995, becoming the first Hall of Famer to have earned his credentials primarily in Tampa Bay.
• In 1995, Selmon became the first Buccaneer, former or current, to participate in a Super Bowl when he joined the coin toss ceremonies for Super Bowl XXIX.
• In 2010, he was ranked #98 on the top 100 greatest players of all time, as surveyed by NFL Network.
• In 2012, Selmon was posthumously inducted into the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.