Oklahoma Legend Dewey Selmon Added to College Football Hall of Fame

Selmon starred at both defensive tackle and nose guard for the Sooners. In his four years on campus, OU posted a 43-2-1 record (the .946 winning percentage was best in the country), won four straight Big Eight championships and captured national titles his junior and senior seasons of 1974 and '75. He earned first-team All-America honors in 1974 and was named a consensus All-American in 1975.

A native of Eufaula, OK, who is a longtime Norman resident, Selmon finished his OU career with 325 tackles, 25 tackles for loss (for 109 yards), three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In a 16-13 win over Texas in 1974, he registered 22 tackles, which still stands as the single-game school record by a defensive lineman. He also holds the OU bowl record for tackles by a defensive lineman (13) in a 14-6 Orange Bowl win over Michigan that gave the Sooners the national title. And Selmon is one of just five OU defensive linemen with 100-plus single-season tackles twice (104 in 1974 and 123 in 1975).

With Selmon as a starter from 1973-75, OU went 32-1-1. The Sooners allowed just 12.1 points per game in 1973, 8.4 in 1974 and 12.8 in 1975. His 34 career starts were the second most by an OU defensive lineman at the end of his career.

Each of Selmon's OU squads finished in the top three of the AP rankings, winding up at No. 2 in 1972, No. 3 in 1973 and No. 1 in 1974 and '75. The Sooners were ranked in the AP Top 5 in 48 of 60 weeks during his career (13 weeks at No. 1 and 19 weeks at No. 2).

Selmon was selected in the second round of the 1976 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay. After a seven-year NFL career between the Buccaneers and San Diego Chargers, he returned to Oklahoma to work as an oil and gas consultant, later opening his own construction business.

He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame in 2022, and was preceded in induction into the College Football Hall of Fame by his younger brother, Lee Roy Selmon, in 1988. Older brother Lucious Selmon, like Dewey and Lee Roy, was an All-American defensive lineman at OU. All three were members of the Sooners' 1972 and '73 teams and were starters on the '73 squad. A statue was dedicated in their honor in 2022 outside Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Selmon has devoted his life to youth and to service, both locally and abroad. He has passed that tradition on to his children, who are the founders of the Shine Foundation, a group that serves to meet the needs of people around the world. Selmon has served on the Board of Directors for the Shine Foundation since 2005. He has also worked with a group focused on war-torn areas of West Africa and has made several trips to build a school for the orphanage that serves as home for the hundreds of children left without parents after years of conflict in that part of the world.

Closer to home, Selmon chaired local fund-raising campaigns that helped with the construction of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and that benefited homeless shelter Food and Shelter for Friends, the American Lung Association, Ronald McDonald House and Children's Miracle Network. He has also served as a United Way volunteer, was a basketball coach at Community Christian School and served as a Sunday School teacher.

Statement From Dewey Selmon:

"First of all, a big thank-you to all of my coaches and teammates, and all the players on opposing teams, who made this possible. I want to also thank the College Football Hall of Fame committee. This is a great blessing, and quite humbling, for a little kid to come from Eufaula, Okla., play at the University of Oklahoma and now get to go into one of the most prestigious halls in college football. I really take it with a whole lot of honor and humility. It brought tears to my eyes, it really did. It's just because of the love of the people. It's not exactly me winning the award, it's the people surrounding the award who felt that way and wanted to do that for me at this time of my life. It's truly a blessing."

Statement From Former OU Head Coach Barry Switzer:

"I'm thrilled to death for Dewey, who's now the second Selmon to go into the College Football Hall of Fame. All three of the Selmon brothers had a tremendous impact on the University of Oklahoma and on college football, as they were the only three brothers to start side by side on the defensive line. They accomplished so much. We went 54-3-1 when a Selmon played at Oklahoma. They had a definite impact during their careers. They were all All-Americans and all graduated with honors. There couldn't have been better representatives for the University of Oklahoma than the Selmons."