Tag: Lee Roy Selmon

Oklahoma football all-time roster: Defensive starters and backups

See which legends of defense made the cut in our all-time Oklahoma Sooners football roster.

The Oklahoma Sooners have put together some of the more vaunted defenses in college football history. In addition to having some of the best units in the nation, the Sooners had some of the more iconic players in the sport run roughshod over their opponents.

From Lee Roy Selmon to Roy Williams, Oklahoma’s been a terror on the gridiron throughout the years.

As it was choosing the Oklahoma Sooners’ all-time offense, narrowing down defensive linemen and linebackers was a challenge as the Sooners have produced some incredibly talented players in the front seven.

For more coverage on the Oklahoma Sooners, check out SoonersWire.com. Many of the historical stats can be found at SoonerSports.com.

Check out our other College Wire all-time defenses: Alabama / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Michigan State / Nebraska / North Carolina / Ohio State / Oregon / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / USC

2 Oklahoma Sooners legends named Greatest Players of All-Time from their home state

Two Sooners legends named the greatest player from their home state of all time.

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Sean Merriman and RJ Young of Fox Sports ranked the greatest college football players from all 50 states. It was the state they were from, not necessarily the state they played their collegiate football. Two Oklahoma Sooners legends made appearances on the list, as Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and  Billy Sims of Missouri represent the Crimson and Cream.

The case for Sam Bradford:

Coming out of Putnam City North High in Oklahoma City, Bradford could have played hockey, basketball and golf on scholarship. But he chose football. And he chose football knowing that a five-star prospect in quarterback Rhett Bomar and two other quarterbacks — Keith Nichol and Joey Halzle — were on the depth chart ahead of him when he spurned the likes of Texas A&M and others to commit to OU’s 2006 class. As a redshirt freshman in 2007, Bradford won the starting QB job, vindicating Bob Stoops’ faith in him. In 2008, Bradford took OU to its first (and most recent) appearance in a national title game since the 2004 season and became just the third Heisman Trophy winner from the state (Jason White in 2003, Steve Owens in 1969).

Bradford ranks third in Sooners history in all-time passing yards. From 2007-2009, the Oklahoma City native tossed for 8,403 yards and 88 touchdowns. However, he’s remembered most for his 08′ campaign. As mentioned, Bradford won the Heisman that year and was the last quarterback to bring the Sooners all the way back to a national title game.

Bradford’s 4,720-yard single-season passing record still stands in Norman (although Landry Jones fell just two yards shy of breaking it), and he became the fifth Sooner in program history to win the Heisman. His single-season touchdown record (50)also remains unchallenged in the Oklahoma record books. 

Of course, he’s remembered primarily for his college career. Still, Bradford did carve out an injury-riddled career in the NFL. He accrued more than 130 million dollars between the St. Louis Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, and Arizona Cardinals before exiting the league as fellow Sooners’ quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray was drafted to the Cardinals. 

Several Sooners could make a case to be considered the greatest player to come out of the state of Oklahoma. In particular, Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon, who along with his brothers, formed one of the best defensive fronts in college football in the 1970s.

Turning to the state of Missouri, Billy Sims is the easy selection, though Kellen Moore Sr. would make a strong argument as well.

The case for Billy Sims:

Born and raised in St. Louis, Sims attended the University of Oklahoma, where he started for the Sooners from 1975 to 1979. He was a two-time All-American in his junior and senior year and was the recipient of the 1978 Heisman Trophy. Sims, who rushed for 1,762 yards on 231 carries during his Heisman season, became only the sixth junior in NCAA history to win college football’s most prestigious award. He was the runner-up in his senior year after totaling 1,506 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. 

Sims may not be from Oklahoma, but he’s certainly a legend there now. As mentioned by Merriman and Young, the running back ran roughshod over college football from 1978-1979, stockpiling 3268 rush yards and 44 touchdowns. 

Sims was the third Sooner to take home the Heisman and is second in Oklahoma history in four statistical categories. Most notably, the running back generated 53 rushing TDs over his five-year college career.

Sims was drafted to the Detroit Lines in 1980, where he spent his entire career and made three pro bowls from 1983-1985. The former NFL Rookie of the Year ran his way into 42 touchdowns and over 5100 rushing yards per Pro Football Reference before a tragic turf accident (behind a paywall) ended his career. 

Billy Sims still runs to this day, just not on the football field. The Sooner turned Lion is now a barbeque titan with over 50 restaurants across seven states. 

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Oklahoma’s Selmon Brothers to be honored with Statue in 2022

The University of Oklahoma announced Friday night that the Selmon brothers would be honored with a statue in 2022.

There have been a lot of great players to come through Norman over the years. The Selmon brothers are arguably the most iconic faction to ever walk through Norman. Like the Four Horsemen of World Championship Wrestling, you don’t think of one Selmon, without thinking of them all.

As a collective, they helped shape an Oklahoma Sooners defense that was a huge factor in their dominance in the early 70s.

From 1973 to 1975, the Selmons won a host of postseason awards. Lucious, Dewey, and Lee Roy were each honored with an All-American selection. Lucious won the 1973 National Defensive Player of the Year award. Lee Roy won the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi, was the first overall pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1976 NFL Draft, and the Oklahoma Sooners first induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

From a story from 2019, Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman reported the University of Oklahoma began seeking bids then to honor the Selmons. Per Aber, this is something that former head coach Barry Switzer has been championing for a long time.

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Fab Four: Selecting Oklahoma football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

On the eve of early signing day, Sooners Wire recalls the most hyped commits in school history.

Oklahoma and football powerhouse are terms that go together in 2020 as much as they did in the 1970s, and it has been the case for far longer.

The Sooners’ history includes seven national championships, 49 conference championships, more than 100 All-Americans and seven Heisman Trophy winners.

But not every player who plans on playing at the University of Oklahoma pans out. The cream rises to the top, and not every Oklahoma great was the great coming out of high school.

The Sooners have welcomed a veritable who’s who of college football, starting with the Bud Wilkinson era in the 1950s and continuing through the tenures of Barry Switzer in the 1970s and 1980s and Bob Stoops in the 2000s and 2010s. Now that history and tradition are in the hands of Lincoln Riley.

However, four recruits separate themselves from the rest. This isn’t about production, awards or overall career—this is about the best recruits Oklahoma has signed.

Sooners Wire has put together the Mount Rushmore of Oklahoma recruits. Two went on to have Hall of Fame football careers while the other two had promising careers that ultimately sputtered and didn’t finish with the Sooners.

Some predate recruiting rankings that started in the early 2000s. The others come after.

More Mount Rushmore’s from the College Wire Network:

Bama / Aub / Fla / LSU / Tenn. / UGA // Mich. / Mich St. / Ohio St. / Wisc. // Okla. / Texas // ND // USC

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A look at the three Buccaneers players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Take a look at the three Tampa Bay Buccaneers players already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On the eve of Super Bowl LIV in Miami, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will announce the Class of 2020 from the list of 15 finalists, which includes former Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety John Lynch.

Lynch, who was an integral part of the Bucs defense that helped guide them to a win in Super Bowl XXXVII, currently serves as the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, but is hoping to become the fourth Buccaneer to be enshrined in the Hall.

While several other players from that Super Bowl-winning defense deserve Hall of Fame recognition of their own, a few of Lynch’s teammates have already been inducted.

With that, here is a look at the three Buccaneers players in the Hall of Fame.

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