Pro Football Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon passed away on Sunday just two days after he suffered a stroke. Reactions from across the football world are coming in. His college coach at Oklahoma, Jimmy Johnson, tweeted that Selmon was a “great player [but] a better person.” CBS Sports’ Brett McMurphy echoed a similar sentiment by calling him the “nicest man I’ve ever known.“
Lee Roy Selmon Dies, And Football Communities React
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King recalls Selmon’s legacy in the NFL, as he is the only Tampa Bay Buccaneer to make it into the Hall of Fame. The Bucs were a terrible team back in the 1970s when Selmon played there, but “Lee Roy Selmon [for the HOF] was a cinch. That’s how great he was.“ ESPN’s NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas recalls how influential and long-lasting Selmon’s impact on Tampa was:
He played it with uncommon grace and dignity and he lived his life that same way. That’s why the legend of Lee Roy Selmon is going to keep lingering in Tampa Bay.
After his playing career ended, Selmon eventually became the athletic director at South Florida in the 1990s and built the football program from the ground up. Voodoo Five, our USF blog, honors Selmon in understated tones: “Rest in peace, Mr. Selmon. Thanks for everything.”
For more, head to Buccaneers blog Bucs Nation, Oklahoma blog Crimson And Cream Machine and USF blog Voodoo Five.
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