Players dedicate game to Lee Roy Selmon
Saturday's win against Notre Dame was undoubtedly one of the biggest wins in school history, though what took place the previous night far outweighed the good.
Former Buccaneer defensive end and NFL Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon, 56, who serves as president of the USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics, suffered a stroke Friday night and has since been hospitalized.
Mixed emotions filtered throughout the Bulls when they heard the news less than a day prior to the opening kickoff of the season.
Selmon, who served as USF athletic director from 2001-2004, was a big part of why USF football was born back in the mid-90s.
"On Monday we had a banquet and was talking with Lee Roy Selmon about how excited he was to have the opportunity to be here today and he was talking about how he had never been to Notre Dame," USF coach Skip Holtz said after his team shocked No. 16 Notre Dame, Holtz's alma mater, Saturday night.
"He was the one that started football at South Florida, and he just was so looking forward to this, and we got news (Friday) that he has been hospitalized right now, which is where he still is, and our thoughts and prayers go to him."
Players paid respect to Selmon during the game as well by wearing his Buccaneers uniform No. 63 on the back of their helmets.
Click Here to view this Link."I think the numbers on everybody's helmets, hat, shoes - there were stickers in the locker room, guys were putting them everywhere, and I think it shows the respect that everybody has for Lee Roy Selmon," Holtz said. "I addressed it one time with the football team, and that was in our church service. But outside of that we didn't talk about it in the locker room or at any point in time about to play, but I think everybody was grabbing the stickers out of respect for Lee Roy Selmon."
While the USF-Notre Dame game was still in progress -- two weather delays caused the game, which kicked off at 3:30 p.m., to end around 9 p.m., good news came down in regards to Selmon, 56, who's currently at St. Joseph's Hospital. Brother Dewey Selmon told the Tampa Tribune that he's showing signs of improvement.
"He's stable and we all have great hope," Dewey Selmon said. "He's a fighter. Keep the prayers going."