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A Buccaneers fan reflects on the passing of a Tampa Bay icon...

Oggman Written by Oggman, Monday September 05 2011
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    Lee Roy Selmon passes away Sunday 9/4/11.                                                

                   On Friday I heard some conflicting news about one of my favorite football players of all time. His own restaurant sent out a note of his passing, while family members pleaded that wasn't the case. Lee Roy Selmon, an icon in the minds of people living in the Tampa Bay area - had suffered a stroke. It was sad to hear that Mr. Selmon had suffered a stroke, but died? I didn't want to believe it.

                   I was born a Jets fan, but grew to love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just as much (if not more). My mother likes to tell the story about going down to Super Bowl III down in Miami. She loved Joe Namath (among with millions of other women and men alike in the late 1960's). I never got to go see the Jets play at Shea before we moved down to St. Petersburg in 1979. 1979 was a fantastic year for Lee Roy Selmon & the Buccaneers. After winning just 7 games in the expansion teams first 3 seasons, the Bucs went 10-6 and played in the NFC Championship game that season. Lee Roy and the Bucs were physically beaten (including an injury to Selmon) and lost the game 9-0 but didn't miss capturing new fans in the area.

                 When we moved in November that year, my mother tried to ease our move (and moving away from all my friends) by doing fun stuff in the area. We went to a Bucs game and I was hooked. The Big Sombrero was not that fantastic stadium wise, but being around that those fans & that team was exciting. The Bucs were still fairly new to the area and did pep rallies at a local mall each week on Friday Nights. The team would send out players to sign autographs and we'd cheer on the team(hopefully) to victory. I also went to a Charity Basketball game held at a local high school. It featured the Bucs players versus the local media. I could not tell you who won that night, but I'll never forget what happened at halftime. They were raising money for charity that night and when you bought a ticket, the number went into a hopper. Not really thinking we had a shot to win - I just was looking around enjoying the game - they picked my number. I got to sit on the Bucs bench for the rest of the game and got a signed basketball by the Bucs playing in the game (which I still have to this day). It was so neat sitting amongst the players I rooted for every week - including Lee Roy & Dewey Selmon. I think it would be nice if some young fans had the same kind of experience with players today. 

              Lee Roy's parents raised a great football player and even a better man. The several times I met Mr. Selmon he was so nice. You never heard stories about him beating a woman up/messing with drugs/getting in trouble with the law. I think some people get the wrong idea about sports stars these days, there's probably many more good stories that come out of the NFL, but the bad stories seem to get all the press. Lee Roy deserved all the good press he received. 

              He was the youngest of nine children, growing up on a farm in Eufaula, Oklahoma and became a football star along with his brothers Lucious & Dewey at the University of Oklahoma.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him first in the 1976 draft. His older brother Dewey was drafted as well in the second round that season. Lee Roy went to six straight Pro Bowls and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1979. A back injury essentially ended his Pro Career in 1984 and his number 63 was retired by the Bucs in 1986. Canton called in 1995 - he was  the first Tampa Bay Buccaneers player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

             After retiring he was a bank executive for a while, but still loved football. He became an assistant AD at University of South Florida. He eventually took over the Athletic Department and launched a football program for USF. They began in Conference USA and eventually became a Big East Conference team. He retired from being AD in 2004 and assumed the role as President of USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics - a fund raising organization. He even opened up a chain of restaurants.

             Mr. Selmon (age 56) died yesterday after complications from the stroke he had on Friday. Tampa Bay sports lost a legend this weekend. I (as well as a legion of fans) was saddened to hear of his passing. Rest in Peace Lee Roy, you will be missed. Please share your thoughts here, I can also be reached on Twitter, my handle is @oggman. Thank you.

 


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