‘His presence is going to be there’: Lee Roy Selmon will attend in spirit as trio of OU brothers honored with statue – The Oklahoma Daily

Dewey and Lucious Selmon were tackling childhood chores on their family farm, driving a team of mules while their youngest brother, Lee Roy, rode behind in a wagon.

The brothers gazed up at a plane grazing the skyline of their hometown of Eufaula, a small community just over 100 miles east of Norman.

One day, Im going to be flying in a plane like that, Dewey recalled Lee Roy saying.

Are you crazy? Dewey and Lucious said, bursting out in laughter. Were out here driving a bunch of mules and youre going to fly in a plane?

Lee Roy and his brothers accomplished much more than just that desired plane ride. At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, a statue of the former Sooners All-Americans will be unveiled outside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Selmons, who played to a combined 54-3-1 record with two national championships from 1971-1975, are the first defensive players honored with a sculpture just north of the Sooners illustrious Heisman Park.

Although Dewey, 68, and Lucious, 71, will be in attendance for the event. Lee Roy, who received a statue of his own in 2019 in Tampa where he was a longtime star, died in 2011 after suffering a stroke. He will be represented by his sons Lee Roy Jr. and Christopher.

His brothers, however, say hell still be there in spirit.

He has ways of showing up, Dewey told OU Daily this week. If Lucious and I show up at a ceremony like this with Coach (Barry) Switzer and his teammates, the vibe of Lee Roy will be there in spirit. His presence is going to be there, and in a way, thats so humbling.

Lee Roy, years removed from the farm, once asked Dewey to take him to the airport so he could return to Tampa from Tulsa. The duo bypassed security and went straight to the tarmac, where a private jet waited for Lee Roy.

Dewey lingered as his little brother approached the plane and recalled the moment amid childhood chores as Lee Roy ascended into the sky.

I get back to my car, and I think to myself, Dewey said, he always said he would fly on a plane like that.

The jet was just one dream that became a common reality. Now, at the corner of Jenkins Avenue and Brooks Street, Lee Roy and his brothers will be enshrined in 6,000 pounds of bronze forever.

Our legacy, I hope will be looked at through those statues, Lucious said. And a gift to other people who might be inspired to have a dream and follow that dream. We started from humble beginnings, and weve been humble all the way throughout. And were going to be humble on Saturday.

Hell be there

The Selmon brothers bond is such that Dewey can guess exactly how Lee Roy would go about Saturdays event.

In his pocket he would have a handkerchief, Dewey said. And he would speak about how much he loved his God, how much he loved his coaches, his teammates and the fans. And he would be so humbled and happy that he was there.

And he would stay there until the very end. He would hug all the people he could. And he would want them to know that he loved them being there. And when everyone was gone, and everybody had left, he would walk away and he would cry. He would cry because he had been honored, but he would cry because he loved them all being there.

Lee Roy Selmon was part of two OU national championship football teams and the winner of the 1975 Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. Selmon died in September 2011.

After his playing career ended in 1984 due to a back injury, Lee Roy embarked on a journey in administration, eventually becoming the athletic director at South Florida. From 2002-04, he led USF into Conference USA and the Big East Conference, and launched its football program, where Lee Roy Jr. played.

He left that position in 2004 due to health issues, but his experience in that field was inspiring for another Selmon: Deweys son Zac.

Zac, who is OUs deputy athletics director and has been with the university since 2015, wasnt sure if he wanted to pursue coaching after finishing his playing career at Wake Forest in 2007, or follow in his uncles footsteps.

Zac eventually traveled to Prosper, Texas, where Lee Roy once lived, for his uncles counsel. Lee Roy gave Zac all his industry knowledge in athletics administration. The meeting gave the up-and-coming administrator much needed clarity.

Senior associate athletic director Zac Selmon begins the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration Jan. 16 in Sharp Hall. The celebration began at 7 p.m.

Primary reason I got into this business now is because of my Uncle Lee Roy, Zac told OU Daily. His jersey is hanging on my office wall that I look at every day just as a reminder of why I do what I do. Its really because of the time I spent growing up with Lee Roy and seeing how he operated and impacted young peoples lives.

When Dewey, a lifetime humanitarian who has dedicated much of his life toward community service, was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2010, Lee Roy traveled from Tampa to San Francisco to support his older brother of 11 months.

Dewey was surprised Lee Roy made the cross-country trip.

Its like he was always doing the extraordinary thing, Dewey said. He always made time for people.

Known as the Gentle Giant, Lee Roys family says he lived his 56 years with optimism stronger than most.

When Dewey recalls Lee Roy traveling across the country for him, it deepens the emotions as the brothers prepare to receive this shared honor Saturday.

But due to Lee Roys determination to be there for those he cared deeply about, something tells Dewey hell make some sort of appearance.

So this award, Dewey said, were gonna receive something and he miss it? And he not be there?

I don't think so. Hell be there.

Its almost like they had a superpower

When the trio first started playing football in junior high, their parents, Jessie and Lucious Sr., saw it as a disruption.

We knew that when we got started in football, football was going to be an inconvenience for mom and dad, Lucious told OU Daily. When we got done with practice, the school bus was already gone by then. And they had to come over and pick us up. And when we got back, of course chores needed to be done and we hadnt eaten anything since lunchtime.

In Eufaula, football started in eighth grade, so Dewey and Lee Roy, sixth graders at the time, first tasted the sport when Lucious started playing.

Ill never forget, when I was in junior high, we had a little pep rally, Lucious said. And I hadnt even played a down yet, but Dewey and Lee Roy were so proud of me up in the bleachers.

After the Selmons talents on the field became clear, their parents warmed to a sport about which they originally knew little about. Lucious recalled their mother saying if they were going to make her drive every day to pick them up, then they better be good at football.

As a child growing up around his cousins and three uncles, Zac got to see how the Selmons interacted given their tightknit relationship.

Zac recalled one example of the brothers bond when he ventured to Tampa with Dewey to visit Lee Roy. Specifically, he looked down to see Deweys size 14 New Balance shoes to fit his extremely wide foot.

They were so big and clunky, Zac said. I was like, Dad, what are you doing?

Lo and behold, when they all reunited that day, the two brothers were wearing the same dad shoes.

I was like, Youve got to be kidding me, Zac remembered thinking.

Zac said his dad and uncles were always in sync, just like Dewey and Lee Roy were with matching sneakers. Whether it was growing up sleeping in the same bed with no electricity or running water, they were always there for one another. To this day, Zac said Dewey doesnt use the air conditioning or heat in his car.

They taught me a lot about consistency, Zac said. And never changing who you are. It didnt matter when Lee Roy got inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, or like the highs of the high or the lows of the low. They were always consistent and they always loved each other. Its almost like they had a superpower to be connected to each other.

Safe to say as Dewey and Lucious look forward to passing by their statue every so often theyll remember those who greatly impacted their path to stardom.

We got to look at that statue, and if we look at it right, well see the effort that mom and dad put into it, Lucious said. Youll see the efforts our older siblings put into it, and of course well see the efforts we put into it. And then the grandkids, and everyone will see it, and hopefully its inspiring to them to do something. And that could be way out of their imagination, but just never let that inspiration go and give it all you got.

Itll almost be like a wedding

When Lucious was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in January 2011, Switzer, who coached each of the Selmons, called for Oklahoma to dedicate a statue to them.

That was the first time the idea was brought up publicly, according to Lucious.

When we first found out, for me personally, I was like, Is that really going to happen? Dewey recalled saying to Lucious. We were just farm boys from Eastern Oklahoma. And you just think about the players that have played at OU and the things that theyve accomplished. And those players need to be honored just as much as we are.

That was my first inclination. And really, thats what I want those statues to represent. That it represents the whole structure of the OU tradition. It goes far beyond just three players who played on the defensive line.

On Saturday, the Selmons present in person or spirit promise to make the celebration about the family and teammates who helped the trio earn the distinction, rather than focus on themselves. The Selmon family expects roughly 100 in attendance to support the three youngest of 10 siblings.

For them, they always want to make things about other people and they want to make it about the family, Zac said. Theyll have a blast. Itll almost be like a wedding. At the end of a wedding youre like, Man, what just happened. Saw a lot of people and it was a whirlwind. But then you stop and reflect and realize the magnitude, and I think thats how itll be.

And although Lee Roy wont be there to give everyone a hug and thank you, or be able to contribute an inspiring speech that grants all a reason to feel attached to the bestowment, perhaps his presence will be felt.

Or maybe hell just be watching from above, in the clouds where he once fulfilled his dream in a jet plane.

I think this whole deal is to create activity, to create thought (and) to create spirit, Dewey said. That drove us then and its got to continue to drive us and drive players that are there, and everybody who will stop to look at those three statues. We got to get better, we got to do more.

And maybe like Coach Switzer says, In the fourth quarter, you gotta keep slashing and cutting, you gotta get better and win. And I hope people see that and walk away with that idea.

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'His presence is going to be there': Lee Roy Selmon will attend in spirit as trio of OU brothers honored with statue - The Oklahoma Daily