Selmon was the youngest of nine children of Lucious and Jessie Selmon, raised on a farm near Eufaula, Oklahoma. A National Honor Society member at Eufaula High School, he graduated in 1972 after playing football through high school. His two brothers also played football and went to the University of Oklahoma, which he attended and where he graduated.
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 second-round 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". A back injury forced him to leave at the end of the 1984 season; the Bucs retired his number, 63, in 1986. He was elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. In January 2008, Selmon was voted by a panel of former NFL players and coaches to Pro Football Weekly 's All-Time 3-4 defensive team along with Harry Carson, Curley Culp, Randy Gradishar, Howie Long, Lawrence Taylor and Andre Tippett. He was the first player to be inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor on November 8, 2009.
After football
Selmon stayed in Tampa, Florida, working as a bank executive and being active in many charities. From 1993 to 2001, Selmon served as an assistant athletic director at the University of South Florida under Paul Griffin. After Griffin was forced to resign, Selmon was promoted to take over the athletic department. As the USF Athletic Director, Selmon launched the football program, spearheaded the construction of a new athletic facility, and led the university's move into Conference USA, and into the Big East Conference. Citing health issues, Selmon resigned as the USF Athletic Director in 2004. He took the role as president of the USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics, an athletics fund-raising organization.
1995, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the first Hall of Famer to have earned his credentials primarily in Tampa Bay.
Also in 1995, Selmon became the first Buccaneer, former or current, to participate in a Super Bowl when he joined the coin toss ceremonies for Super Bowl XXIX, joining fellow Class of 1995 members Kellen Winslow and then-U.S. Congressman Steve Largent who flipped the coin to end the ceremonies, along with 75th Anniversary team members Ray Nitschke, Mean Joe Greene, Otto Graham and Gale Sayers.
In 2010, he was ranked #98 on the top 100 greatest players of all time, as surveyed by NFL Network.
The chain restaurants, Lee Roy Selmon's, was named for him. As of 2018, all seven locations were no longer in business.
Death
Selmon suffered a massive stroke on September 2, 2011, which left him hospitalized in extremely critical condition. His restaurant initially released a statement announcing his death; however, this was later confirmed to be false. In fact, at one point his condition was said to be improving. On September 4, 2011, Selmon died at the age of 56 from complications of the stroke. Visitation was scheduled for the following Thursday at the Exciting Central Tampa Baptist Church. The funeral was held the next day at Idlewild Baptist Church. Former teammates, the current Buccaneer team, the USF football team, other members of the NFL, and the general public attended. The USF football team wore a #63 decal on their helmets for the 2011 season, as did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams conducted a ceremony to honor Selmon the weekend following his death.
