Photo tribute from: Lee Roy Selmon's Restaurant
Growing up I lived in another state. When you are an Okie and not living in Oklahoma and your mom is homesick all you have is Oklahoma football. Thank heavens they were always great so the Sooners were always on tv. I knew I was born in Oklahoma and my grandparents lived in Oklahoma but that is really all I knew until I discovered OU football. My older brother played football so we were exposed to it pretty early in life. Every fall we would watch as much OU football as we could and always the Orange Bowl.
I knew who the Selmon Brothers were before I knew who the coach was, which was of course, Barry Switzer.
Sunday night I heard the sad news of Lee Roy Selmon's passing. My mind went immediately to that old house on Broadway where we lived and watched the Sooners play football on tv. The living room was cramped and the carpet was bad but we would all gather on the floor in front of the tv to watch the Selmons Brothers from Eufaula. They wore the Crimson and Cream with grace and dignity. Oh my gracious we were so proud of them.
Of course I didn't know Lee Roy Selmon, but I knew he was a kind and gracious man. Today I learned that they loved him Tampa as much as we loved him here in Oklahoma. He will be greatly missed.
Mr. Selmon will have two funerals. The first in Tampa on Friday morning and the second in OKC, Saturday at 1:00 pm, First Southern Baptist Church, 6400 S. Sooner Road. I learned that from following Bob Barry, Jr. on twitter, @bbjsports.
Goodbye Lee Roy you Gentle Giant and enjoy that huge football field in heaven.
Love,
Territory Mom
P.S. How many signs have you seen at games or in the newspapers thanking Mr. and Mrs. Selmon?
For more information:
(beware the reporter does not pronounce Eufaula correctly)
(great article)
2 comments:
I'm not a native Okie and moved here after Mr. Selmon's playing days at OU.
A coworker told me that he had a class with Lee Roy at OU. He said that Lee Roy was a very nice guy who was readily approachable and friendly to everybody and never got the "big head." He also attended all his classes and was "scary smart."
Thanks Yogi for sharing. People will really be reminiscing this week. He was a great guy.
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