Lee Roy Selmon Suffers Massive Stroke

[SoonerQueen]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Selmon family on their loss of Lee Roy Selmon. He died today after suffering a stroke.He was a great OU player, and he will always be remembered.

[Achilleslastand]

RIP Lee Roy Selmon. Thats way to young to go and prayers go out to all family friends and loved ones.

[ou48A]

http://twitter.com/#!/Kenny_Mossman
Kenny_Mossman Kenny Mossman
Just talked to Selmon family. LeRoy has not passed away as of this post.
7 minutes ago

[ou48A]

http://twitter.com/#!/noahpransky/st...70137594380288
Brother Dewey says not true, Lee Roy in "serious condition."

[Roadhawg]

My thoughts and prayers to the family

[MustangGT]

Prayers.

[SoonerQueen]

Today I posted to you that former Sooner player Lee Roy Selmon had passed away as a result of a stroke. I got my info from WWLS, Dean Blevins, and Twitter. I think everyone was rushing to get the info out and erroneously reported his death. He did have a massive stroke, but is still alive in a hospital in Florida. Please pray for him and his family that he recovers, and we don't have to report anything but good news about him.

[ljbab728]

You weren't the only one who passed on information that was wrong, SQ. Bob Berry, Jr. said the same thing on the 6PM sportscast only to come back on a few minutes later to say that he was wrong. Let's hope for a miracle that we can celebrate along with a Sooner victory Saturday night.

[MDot]

Well good that he's not dead but very very sad that he's in the condition he's in. Prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family.

[kevinpate]

Might a thread name change be in order?

[Martin]

yeah... good call. -M

[ljbab728]

Some positive news:

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-sooner-gr...ad_story_title

[Thunder]

He is dead.

It was strange. I was just reading this. After that, I went to check on KOCO (just in general) and in the red banner atop, Lee Roy is dead. :-(

http://www.koco.com/sports/29079295/detail.html

[ljbab728]

Yes, sadly he has passed.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/69...buccaneer-dies

[ou48A]

One of the greatest honors I have ever had was the privileged to shake Mr. Lee Roy Selmon’s hand in the OU locker-room following a game at OU in 1975. After a day of being double and tripple teamed Mr. Selmon was bruised up and in pain but he still took a minute or so to kindly talk to me. Everything great that you hear about him is genuinely true. He was the very best football player in OU history and one of the greats the game of football has ever seen, yet there has never been a more gentle, humble or nicer man.

RIP Mr. Lee Roy

[Pete]

By all accounts Lee Roy was an even better person than player, and that's saying something considering he is probably the best ever in the storied history of OU football.

He was a great man and a fantastic ambassador for the entire state.

And as a kid growing up in the 70's in OKC, he and his brothers provided some of my best memories, sports or otherwise.


Rest in Peace and best wishes to his family and the thousands that loved him.

[SoonerQueen]

Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon dies

(AP)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lee Roy Selmon, the Hall of Fame defensive end who teamed with his brothers at Oklahoma to create a dominant defensive front that helped lead the Sooners to consecutive national championships, died Sunday — two days after being hospitalized for a stroke. He was 56.

A statement released on behalf wife Claybra said he died at a Tampa hospital surrounded by family members.

"For all his accomplishments on and off the field, to us Lee Roy was the rock of our family. This has been a sudden and shocking event and we are devastated by this unexpected loss," the statement said.

Selmon was hospitalized Friday, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers confirmed later that he had a stroke.

"No Sooner player cast a longer shadow over its rich tradition than Lee Roy," former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer said in a statement. "Beyond his many and great accomplishments, I believe the true legacy of Lee Roy Selmon lies within the kind of man he was. Lee Roy possessed a combination of grace, humility, and dignity that is rare. His engaging smile and gentleness left you feeling blessed to be in his presence. Best of all, he was all genuine. One would be blessed to have a father, son, uncle, brother, or friend like Lee Roy Selmon."

In nine seasons with the Buccaneers, Selmon had 78½ sacks and earned six consecutive Pro Bowl selections. He retired after the 1984 season.

"The guy just worked as hard as you could ever work and was just a great guy," said former Tampa Bay teammate Bill Kollar, now the Houston Texans' assistant head coach and defensive line coach.

"Never got mad, was just always great to everybody and it's hard to imagine that you could end up being a better person than Lee Roy was. Really, the guy was just a phenomenal person. ... It's obviously really a sad day. The guy was a great player and even a better person. It's just a shame that this happened to him."

The Glazer family, which owns the team, released a statement mourning him.

"Tampa Bay has lost another giant. This is an incredibly somber day for Buccaneer fans, Sooner fans, and all football fans. Lee Roy's standing as the first Buc in the Hall of Fame surely distinguished him, but his stature off the field as the consummate gentleman put him in another stratosphere," the statement said.

Selmon and his brother, Dewey, were both chosen as All-Americans in 1975 when the Sooners won their second straight championship under Barry Switzer. They followed older brother Lucious to Oklahoma, and the three played together during the 1973 season.

News of Lee Roy Selmon's stroke had already spurred tributes to Selmon on Saturday, when members of the University of South Florida's football team wore his number on their helmet. Selmon had served as the school's athletic director from 2001 to 2004.

"We all loved him, and we're all deeply saddened," USF President Judy Genshaft said. "We're a better university because of Lee Roy Selmon. He was an incredible role model, who cared about all of our student-athletes, no matter what sport. He built an incredible legacy and he will never be forgotten."

Selmon followed his Hall of Fame college career with an equally impressive run in the NFL. He was the No. 1 pick in the 1976 draft — the first ever selection by expansion Tampa Bay — and suffered through a winless inaugural season before achieving success. In 1979, he won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award when he helped Tampa Bay make it to the NFC championship game. The Buccaneers also won the NFC Central title two years later.

Selmon was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995. Presented by brother Dewey, Lee Roy said it was his family background that was noteworthy and not his accomplishments on the field.

"People have said, 'Your parents must be proud of you,' but I'm more proud of them," he said.

Selmon played a key role in the creation of the football program at South Florida, where he was the associate athletic director starting in 1993 and served as the AD from May 2001 until he stepped down in February 2004 because of health concerns.

While accompanying the South Florida football team to a game against Oklahoma in 2002, Lee Roy Selmon said he was humbled that Switzer had called him his greatest player.

"I see myself as just having been a teammate with so many great players and coaches," he told The Associated Press. "I'm floored by such a generous compliment."

Lee Roy Selmon was born Oct. 20, 1954, in Eufaula, Okla., to Jessie and Lucious Selmon Sr. and raised on a farm with eight siblings. The three who'd go on to star for the Sooners could have ended up at Colorado, if not for a last-minute recruiting

Larry Lacewell described in the book "Wish Bone" that the Sooners didn't decide to recruit Lucious Selmon until Barry Price switched his commitment from Oklahoma to Oklahoma State the day before signing day. Lacewell showed up at the Selmons' house to find Colorado coach Eddie Crowder there. When he got his chance to talk to the family, he stayed at the house until the two younger brothers had fallen asleep and he had convinced the Selmon parents it was better for Lucious to play 100 miles away than 600.

It ended up being a key day for the program.

Oklahoma went 10-0-1 with all three Selmon brothers playing together in 1973, then won national title the next two seasons. Lee Roy Selmon won the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy in 1975. He ended his college career with 335 tackles, a school record for a linemen at the time, and 40 for a loss.

"There was a sense of awe every time you were in Lee Roy's presence, and yet that was the last thing he would have wanted," current Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "He accomplished so many things in life, but remained a humble, unassuming champion. I hold up many of our previous greats as examples for our current players and Lee Roy is among the very best. All of our players would do well to follow in Lee Roy's footsteps."

AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in College Station, Texas, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[earlywinegareth]

In 1973, my family moved to Norman and I got to see OU play for the first time. I was 9. The legend of the Selmon brothers made a big impression on me. Dewey Selmon was active in our church and was a youth group leader. Probably the greatest people I've ever met.

[Roadhawg]

Being a Husker fan I always hated to see him play against us but I agree, he was the greatest on and off the field... RIP