IRVING, Texas (Aug. 29, 2024) – Oklahoma and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2024 College Football Hall of Fame electee
Dewey Selmon with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments®. The Salute will take place this Friday, Aug. 30, during the Sooners' home football game against Temple, which will kick off at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
"An All-American on the Oklahoma teams that claimed back-to-back national titles, Dewey Selmon dominated on the defensive line for the Sooners during one of the most impressive winning streaks in college football history," said NFF President & CEO
Steve Hatchell. "We are thrilled to honor him in Norman at the Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as a member of the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class."
The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program, which began with the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame Class in 1951, has become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events remain the first of numerous activities in the Hall of Fame experience.
During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each electee returns to his respective school to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will stay on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many Hall of Famers cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and be recognized in front of their home crowd.
A two-time First Team All-American (consensus in 1975), Selmon starred for Hall of Fame coach
Barry Switzer and the Sooners from 1972-75, helping them to national titles in 1974 and 1975. Oklahoma sewed up the 1975 national championship by beating No. 5 Michigan 14-6 in the Orange Bowl as Selmon recorded 13 tackles, an OU bowl game record by a defensive lineman. His Sooners held the Wolverines to just 202 offensive yards in the game.
With Selmon as a starter from 1973-75, OU went a remarkable 32-1-1, boasting four-consecutive top-three final AP rankings at No. 2 in 1972, No. 3 in 1973 and No. 1 in 1974 and 1975. 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. His teammates included his brothers
Lee Roy Selmon a fellow Hall of Fame inductee and a 1975 NFF National Scholar-Athlete, and
Lucious Selmon, also a First Team All-American. In 2022, OU unveiled a statue of the three brothers in recognition of their unique contributions at OU.
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 is one of only five OU defensive linemen in school history to record 100-plus tackle seasons twice. A two-time First Team All-Big Eight selection, Selmon contributions also included four-straight Big Eight titles from 1972-75 by the Sooners.
Selmon also excelled in the classroom, earning recognition as a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (1975 First Team and 1974 Second Team) and a four-time Academic All-Big Eight selection. He was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2010.
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.
His profile work in the community includes volunteering with the United Way, serving on the board of the Shine Foundation, chairing fundraising campaigns for the Sam Nobel Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, the American Lung Association, the Ronald McDonald House and the Children's Miracle Network. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame in 2022. His son, Zac, is the director of athletics at Mississippi State.
The Eufaula, Oklahoma product now becomes the 24th Oklahoma player to enter the Hall, joining
Claude Reeds (1910-13
), Forest Geyer (1913-15),
Waddy Young (1936-38),
Jim Owens (1946-49),
Jim Weatherall (1948-51),
Billy Vessels (1950-52),
J.D. Roberts (1951-53),
Kurt Burris (1951-54),
Tommy McDonald (1954-56),
Jerry Tubbs (1954-56),
Clendon Thomas (1955-57),
Steve Owens (1967-69),
Tom Brahaney (1970-72),
Greg Pruitt (1970-72),
Rod Shoate (1972-74),
Lee Roy Selmon (1972-75),
Joe Washington (1972-75),
Billy Sims (1975-79),
Tony Casillas (1982-85),
Brian Bosworth (1984-86),
Keith Jackson (1984-87),
Rickey Dixon (1984-87), and
Roy Williams (1999-2001).
Hall of Fame coaches who headed the Sooner program include
Lawrence Jones, Bennie Owen, Bob Stoops, Barry Switzer, Jim Tatum, and
Bud Wilkson.
The 2024 class includes
Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State), the late
Paul Cameron (UCLA),
Tim Couch (Kentucky),
Warrick Dunn (Florida State),
Armanti Edwards (Appalachian State),
Deon Figures (Colorado),
Larry Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh),
Toby Gerhart (Stanford),
Dan Hampton (Arkansas),
Steve Hutchinson (Michigan),
Antonio Langham (Alabama),
Randy Moss (Marshall),
Julius Peppers (North Carolina),
Paul Posluszny (Penn State),
Dewey Selmon (Oklahoma),
Alex Smith (Utah),
Kevin Smith (Texas A&M),
Chris Ward (Ohio State),
Danny Woodhead (Chadron State [NE]), and coaches
Mark Dantonio (Cincinnati, Michigan State);
Danny Hale (West Chester [PA], Bloomsburg [PA]); and
Frank Solich (Nebraska, Ohio).
The 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the National Football Foundation's 66
th Annual Awards Dinner presented by Las Vegas on Tuesday December 10 at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and hotel rates at the Bellagio.
The accomplishments of the 2024 Class will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and each inductee will receive a custom ring created by Jostens, the official and exclusive supplier of NFF rings.
Including the 2024 Hall of Fame Class, only 1,093 players and 233 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.79 million who have played or coached the game during the past 156 years. In other words, less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of the individuals who have played the game have earned this distinction.
Fidelity Investments has served as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes since 2010. The salutes are one component of a multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education. Fidelity is also the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, and it helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes in 2011, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives around the country.
ABOUT FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
Fidelity's mission is to strengthen the financial well-being of our customers and deliver better outcomes for the clients and businesses we serve. Fidelity's strength comes from the scale of our diversified, market-leading financial services businesses that serve individuals, families, employers, wealth management firms, and institutions. With assets under administration of $14.1 trillion, including discretionary assets of $5.5 trillion as of June 30, 2024, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a broad and growing customer base. Privately held for 78 years, Fidelity employs more than 75,000 associates across the United States, Ireland, and India. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about-fidelity/our-company.
ABOUT The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters in 47 states, NFF programs include the selection and induction of members of the College Football Hall of Fame; the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta; Future For Football; The William V. Campbell Trophy®; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments; the NFF National High School Academic Excellence Award; and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Jostens, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the New York Athletic Club, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.
