It took 25 years but the wait was worth it for Buccaneers’ great Lee Roy Selmon.

November 9, 12:15 PMTampa Bay Sports ExaminerTed Fleming

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Lee Roy Selmon became the first inductee into the Buccaneers' Ring of Honor.
AP Photo/Brian Blanco

TAMPA – He was an impact player during his Hall of Fame playing career and a quarter century later he is still doing it, even if it is from the sidelines.

Lee Roy Selmon was Tampa Bay’s first true professional football hero and if you didn’t believe it all you had to do was look around Raymond James Stadium Sunday afternoon at a sea of orange. It was the Buccaneers’ primary color when they entered the league in 1976 and everything was covered over to reflect the glory days of the team’s first playoff appearance three years after their NFL debut.

“I’m amazed how the Glazer Family has dressed up the stadium with all the old orange flags, [the] cheerleader uniforms, ribbons and folks,” said the soft spoken Selmon, who was still fighting back tears from the on-field ceremony. “They really did go into their closets and pull out their old stuff. I’m a bit blown away by that, really.”

Whether they were caught up in the throwback craze which is more fashionable than ever or an original gesture to salute one of their own, the Ring of Honor was long overdue yet the choice for its first honoree could not have been anyone else but Selmon. Now that it has been created the flood gates have been opened for those who toiled in relative obscurity during the early days right up to players who bridged the color change from orange and white to pewter and red.

Selmon is the only member of the 33-year old organization inducted into the Canton shrine and even though his uniform #63 has been retired for years, you would never know it because there was little to no reference to the Creamsicle Days. Now the past is prologue and Selmon and the Buccaneers have finally come full circle.

“This is home and the career I had in the National Football League was always here,” Selmon said. “I didn’t play anywhere else so all I know comes here. If you can’t appreciate this as a person there is something wrong. I am overwhelmed that the Glazer Family and the organization established the Ring of Honor because it represents the thousands of fans throughout the year, the players and coaches I’ve been fortunate to play with and a family that has been awesome.”

Even though this day was for him, Selmon remained as humble as ever talking more about others than him.

In an odd sort of way the 55-year old out of Oklahoma had an impact on Sunday’s game. The Buccaneers trailed their once division rival Green Bay Packers by four points at halftime but following the Ring of Honor ceremony it was a team transformed.

The best line to describe what happened was the Bucs started like 1976 and finished like it was 1979. The game winning drive finished with under two-minutes remaining but it was a defensive gem, somewhat like Selmon used to make back in the day that put the game out of reach.

Not far from where the picture of the team’s first head coach now hangs, the 1995 Hall of Fame inductee was asked if he thought John McKay should be the next person added to the new Ring of Honor, Selmon was a diplomatic as a seasoned politician.

“He’s a legendary coach who came here and did great things building a team from the ground floor,” he said. “The way he went about it at that particular time, went to the playoffs earlier than any other expansion team so I admire Coach McKay the way he stuck to his plan. I know he was criticized quite a bit saying he should do different things, he stayed there and I like that type of character in a person. We, as players, bought into it and took us a while to do it (make the playoffs).”

He did not lobby for McKay to be next in line because that is not Selmon’s way. He mentioned guys like running back Ricky Bell, tackle Paul Gruber and of course quarterback Doug Williams and believed it would ultimately be the decision of the organization that would join him.

For now it is better late than never for Lee Roy Selmon, the Buccaneers and their fans.