Lee Roy Selmon was one of the best all-around defensive ends in N.F.L. history. He excelled against the run and the pass, and did it modestly, without bringing attention to himself. Selmon died two days after a stroke on Friday at his home in Tampa, Fla. He was 56.
“At halftime I told the coach my deepest secrets. I said I never wanted to be buried at sea. I never wanted to get hit in the mouth with a hockey puck, and I didn’t want to go out and play that second half against Lee Roy Selmon.”
Ted Albrecht, offensive tackle, Chicago Bears (from Paul Zimmerman, “The New Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football”, Simon and Schuster, 1984)
In the spring of 1976, one of the N.F.L.’s new franchises, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had the first pick in the coming college draft. Their general manager, Ron Wolf, and the coach, John McKay, knew that a quality quarterback would provide the necessary foundation for long-term success. That year, however, the Bucs couldn’t pass on a rare opportunity. They had a chance to draft Lee Roy Selmon.
From 1971 to 1975, Selmon and his brothers, Lucious and Dewey, played a key part in a dominant era of Oklahoma football. The Sooners went 54-3-1 over that period, and won the national championship in 1974 and 1975. All three Selmons played together in 1973 as Oklahoma finished 10-0-1.
After his senior season, Selmon won the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy as the nation’s outstanding lineman. His college coach, Barry Switzer, called Selmon “the greatest player I ever had play,” and said he never had a bad game.
For the Buccaneers, the decision was obvious. “You get a chance for one of those guys like Lee Roy Selmon,” Wolf said recently, “you better get that guy.” (NFL Films, “The Top 100: The NFL’s Greatest Players”, 2010)
In his nine years in Tampa (1976-1984), Selmon was unofficially credited with 78.5 sacks in 121 games, 28.5 fumbles caused and 380 quarterback pressures. (The N.F.L. didn’t begin to keep sacks by defensive players as an official statistic until 1982, Selmon’s seventh season.) He recovered 10 fumbles, returning one 29 yards against the Lions in 1979 for the only touchdown of his career.
Selmon was named first team All-Pro in 1979 and played in six consecutive Pro Bowls, from 1979 to 1984. In 1995 he became the first Buccaneer to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Those sack and pressure totals are exceptional considering that, as a 3-4 defensive end, Selmon’s first responsibility was as a 2-gap run defender. Unlike the 4-3 ends, especially today, Selmon lined up tight over the offensive tackle. He still had enough explosiveness and speed to beat that tackle to the outside and get to the quarterback. Then, after jetting upfield a few times, he would fake a move to the outside and defeat the tackle with a quick step to the inside. At that point, the tackle was looking for help.
At 6-foot-3 and about 255 pounds, Selmon had the strength and power to hold the point of attack and to defeat the double teams. And, like so many of the great defensive players, he was relentless. On the tape, you see him playing with good leverage and using his hands well to keep the offensive linemen away from his legs. Selmon didn’t spend a lot of time on the ground.
Selmon’s teammates didn’t have to cover for him while he was off chasing personal glory. He did his job within the context of the defense. Selmon was consistent and reliable. He wasn’t shy about delivering a blow, either. Steve DeBerg remembered one particular hit from 1979:
Lee Roy squared up on me. The first thing that hit the ground was the back of my head. I was blind in my left eye for more than a half hour – and I didn’t even know it. I went to see the team doctor and he held up two fingers. I couldn’t see the left side of the fingers – the side Selmon had come from. I sat on the bench for a quarter. (“Making a List”, Sports Illustrated, Sept. 23, 1991)
The Bucs didn’t win a game that first year on their way to 26 consecutive losses. In 1976 their defense, playing a 4-3 with Selmon at right tackle, gave up 412 points in 14 games. The next year, Tampa switched to the 3-4 with Selmon at right defensive end and their points allowed dropped to 223.
In 1979 the Bucs had their first winning season. They finished 10-6, tied with the Bears for first place in the N.F.C. Central and won the division on a tie breaker. Tampa Bay beat the Eagles in the divisional playoffs but lost the N.F.C. championship game to the Rams a week later. The Bucs defense allowed 237 points that year, the fewest in the N.F.L. After the season, Selmon was named the A.P. Defensive Player of the Year.
Selmon was genuinely modest and humble. In accepting his many honors and awards, he always shared the credit with others. At his Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where he was presented by his brother Dewey, Selmon looked out at his former teammates and said: “I know it’s not me. It’s an us and a we.”
For Lee Roy Selmon, it all goes back to Eufaula, Okla., and his mother and father, Jessie and Lucious Sr. “People have said, ‘Your parents must be proud of you,’ ” he said that day at Canton in 1995, “but I’m more proud of them. I was the youngest of nine children. I always wondered with Dewey being the eighth child and just 11 months older than me, if I was a planned child. I never asked. I’m just glad I’m here.” (NewsOk.com)
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