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Black History Month salutes Lee Roy Selmon
sports
February 28, 2024
Black History Month salutes Lee Roy Selmon
By Rodney Haltom sports EDITOR,

The Gentle Giant, Lee Roy Selmon

Out of all the great Ironhead athletes from Eufaula Lee Roy Selmon is arguably the most decorated, beloved and admired of all time. Selmon was the youngest son of Jessie and Luscious Selmon. The country boy grew up on the Selmon farm west of Eufaula in a home that worshiped God and had a great understanding of the importance of family.

Leroy was known as the Gentle Giant for more than one reason.

“He was a terrific football player. He would knock your block off then he would tippy toe out of the pile making sure he didn’t step on anyone’s toes,” said Eufaula head coach Paul Bell.

“He could play tailback, defensive tackle and he was fast and strong. He could run the 100 yard dash in :22.8. He had great football intelligence and heart and desire to be the best, not just as a player but as a man,” added Bell.

Selmon had a remarkable high school career earning All-State honors, All High School All-American and High School Player of the Year.

Selmon graduated from Eufaula in 1971 and followed his brothers Lucious and Dewey Selmon in 1972 to the University of Oklahoma and played on the defensive line at the. 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.

“Nobody outworked Lee Roy. I remember one time at OU everybody had already left the field after practice and Leroy would want to continue to work. I told him they were already better than most and Lee Roy responded, “We can always be better,” said Dewey Selmon.

“He was so compassionate about people. I awoke in the night one time in the dorms and found Leroy crying. I asked him why he was crying and he stated that there are people out there that need our help. They’re hungry, poor and need someone to help, that’s how much Leroy cared about people,” added Dewey.

Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer called him the best player he ever coached, and College Football News placed him as the 39th-best college player of all time.

“ Lee Roy was the finest gentleman that I ever played with in high school or college. He was by far the greatest player at OU and he was a super guy. He was very compassionate on and off the field. He was a true gentle giant,” said Eufaula and Sooner teammate Rusty Griffis.

In the fall of 1999, Selmon was named to the Sports Illustrated ‘NCAA Football All-Century Team.’

Selmon was named a consensus All-American in 1974 and 1975 by the 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 1976, Selmon was the first player picked in the NFL draft, the first-ever pick for the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He joined older brother, Dewey, who was a secondround 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”.

“Playing at every level of football with my little brother was sensational and a humbling experience. There was nothing like standing on the 45-yard line in the Cotton Bowl with Leroy while we were (OU) was beating Texas. He was a great player, friend, husband and brother and is missed everyday,” said Dewey Selmon.

On September 4, 2011 Lee Roy Selmon died at the age of 56 from complications of a stroke.

Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
A: Main, news
Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
Long before Route 66, there was the Jefferson Highway. Route 66 was a federally funded, 2,448-mile highway that crossed the country going east and west from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, Californ...
A: Main, news
Jacob Foos re-hired as Eufaula City Manager
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
It was a surprise hire, but not a total surprise as former Eufaula City Manager Jacob Foos was rehired as Eufaula’s city manager. The hiring took place following an executive session at a special meet...
A: Main, news
Complications of finding a city manager
June 11, 2025
Jeb Jones resigned as city manager in April. He was hired in 2022 to replace Jacob Foos, who had resigned months earlier and became assistant city manager in the City of Shawnee. Andrea Weckmuel-ler B...
A: Main, news
LEA Poker Run Saturday
June 11, 2025
The Golden Eagle Poker Run, one of the most popular events on Lake Eufaula, is Saturday, June 14. This year’s theme is Pirates & Parrots, so get your crew and costumes ready for a day of high seas adv...
McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
A: Main, news
McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
June 11, 2025
The Oklahoma Press Association presented its Better Newspaper Contest Awards during the OPA Annual convention June 6-7, at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee. The top award a newspaper can r...
A: Main, news
Commissioners getting an increase in road spending
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, announced some good news and some bad news at the Monday morning Monthly County Commissioner meeting. First, the bad news, at least for those who oppose wind turbines in the ...
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Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
A: Main, news
Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently honored the late veteran William “Bill” Antrum Fox Jr. by naming a bridge after him. The William A. Fox Jr. Memorial Bridge is on SH 9 East at Nine M...
A: Main, news
Ten Mile Yard Sale this weekend
June 11, 2025
Bring an umbrella Bargain hunters set your alarms. The annual 10-milelong yard sale begins at 7 a.m. Sunday, stretching from the east end of Eufaula, down SH 9 east through Longtown and past Enterpris...
Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
news
Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
June 11, 2025
Two Muskogee men charged with killing a Eufaula resident were ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing in district court at 10 a.m., Thursday, July 3. Suspects Kyren Omari Boulware, 19, and Michael ...
2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
news
2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
June 11, 2025
Two people from Marshall, Texas were killed, and four others were injured in a harrowing four-vehicle pileup on U.S. 69 half a mile south of the Muskogee City Limits at about 2:20 p.m. on Monday, June...
Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
news
Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
June 11, 2025
Managing Editor Jerry Fink of The Eufaula Indian Journal and the McIntosh County Democrat was inducted into the Oklahoma Press Association Half Century Club on Saturday, June 7 at the Grand in Shawnee...
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