Oklahoma will commemorate all three of the legendary Selmon brothers with a statue to be unveiled next season.
On Friday night, at a dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Oklahoma-Nebraska Game of the Century with players from both of those teams in attendance, Oklahoma announced it would be honor Lucious, Dewey and Lee Roy Selmon, defensive linemen who were stars for the Sooners in that era.
Lucious Selmon arrived first, recruited by former Oklahoma assistant Larry Lacewell out of Eufala, Oklahoma.
“The greatest signing in the history of the University of Oklahoma,” Lacewell told the Tulsa World in 2012. “Because we weren’t just signing one, we were signing all three. It’s almost like they were triplets instead of brothers.”
Lucious was a consensus All-American and National Defensive Player of the Year in 1973. Dewey and Lee Roy were 11 months apart, but in the same recruiting class, and were All-Americans in 1974-75. Lee Roy won the Outland and Lombardi trophies, was the No. 1 overall pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976 and became the first Sooners player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Sooners were 54-3-1 from 1971 to 1975 with a Selmon in the lineup. In 1973, all three started for the 10-0-1 Sooners.
“You ever been tackled by Lucious Selmon?” Visited yesterday over 3 hours with Lu. When a Selmon played at OU we were 54-3-1. We rushed 3 and dropped 8 someone asked Larry Lacewell, defensive coordinator, who invented that defense? He said “Mrs. Selmon” @OU_Football pic.twitter.com/OD1ESpoyZo
— Barry Switzer (@Barry_Switzer) July 22, 2021
During a pregame video Saturday highlighting some of Oklahoma’s most iconic figures, their mother, Jessie Selmon, was honored. “There’s only one Mrs. Selmon,” it said.