In retrospect, Dewey Selmon's path to Oklahoma seemed like a no-brainer. His older brother Lucious was already in Norman, starring on the Sooners' defensive line. The family's farm was just 120 miles away from campus. He took other visits, but it quickly became apparent that OU was home.
 
"Initially we were in awe of the players and the environment that we came into," Selmon said. "This is one of the top teams in the country, and the people we were going to be playing were as good as they were, and the size of the guys we were going to be playing against and their abilities — we had to really evaluate ourselves and then follow the lead of a bunch of good juniors and seniors in front of us."
 
Iron sharpened iron, both inside the Selmon household and on the Oklahoma practice fields. A legacy was built, on and off the field. All of it has added up to make Selmon a College Football Hall of Famer, the 23^rd Sooner player to make the Hall and the second Selmon brother to accomplish the feat. (Lee Roy Selmon made it in 1988.)
 
To say that Dewey was overwhelmed upon receiving the news would be an understatement, as the announcement brought tears to his eyes.
 
"I loved the game, and I loved playing. And I loved people, and we won a lot of games," Selmon said. "Humbling. It really was. In my opinion, this is the most humbling award I have ever gotten. It really is."
 
That is saying something considering Selmon's resume to date. The interior defensive lineman was part of four straight Big Eight championship teams during his time at Oklahoma, which won national titles during Selmon's final two seasons, in 1974 and '75. The Sooners went 43-2-1 during Selmon's career, during which he tallied 325 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
 
"We had coaches who were excellent teachers," Selmon said. "All these guys became top-notch head coaches and winners in the world of football, and we were exposed to them, and they exposed their coaching knowledge to us, and because of that stuff we really grew.
 
"We grew as players. We grew in size. We grew in knowledge of the game, and we grew in ability. A lot of my success is built on the people who were around me, because at that time I was about 6-2.5, weighing about 255 at my heaviest. So, my ability was built upon techniques, how to play the game and determination. And it was a love affair between myself, and my teammates and coaches and a state called Oklahoma."
 
Selmon never played on a Sooners team that finished lower than No. 3 in the AP rankings. He and brothers Lucious and Lee Roy all earned All-America honors on Oklahoma's defensive line, and all played together in 1972 and '73. The school dedicated a statue to the Selmons outside of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 2022.
 
He counts two favorite memories from his time with the program: the 1972 tie at No. 1 USC that showed him how good his team could be, and the 1973 rout of Colorado one year after losing in Boulder, with the memory of Buffaloes players taunting Sooners players fresh in his and his teammates' minds.
 
"Our warmup drills went to live contact, I looked at Lee Roy and said: 'Somebody's going to get hurt out here today,'" Selmon said. "Needless to say, we completely beat up on Colorado the whole day. It was one where the whole team just developed an internal spirit and goal, and everybody bought into it."
 
Selmon spent seven years in the NFL, six with Tampa Bay. He opened his own construction business after his playing career, and he dedicated much of his life to youth in need. He has made several trips to West Africa to build a school for an orphanage, among many other charitable endeavors, and his kids founded the Shine Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to serving those in need.
 
"I soon found out that you don't get anything by yourself. You can't do anything by yourself," Selmon said. "Our progress and production is a team affair. It requires more than just one person to do it. It requires faith and people with a shared goal. And in my case, off the field was a shared goal between my wife Kathryn and our children: Zachary, Shannon, Megan and Lauren.

"We had a goal, and that goal was to be there to help people to make a difference in their world."
 
DEWEY SELMON: UP CLOSE
 

• Twice named a two-time First Team All-American (consensus in 1975) and twice named a CoSIDA Academic All-American (1975 First Team).
• Helped the Sooners tally a remarkable 32-1-1 record as a starter, including two national titles (1974, 75) and four-consecutive top-three final AP rankings and four-straight Big Eight titles.
• Finished his OU career with 325 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
• Played for College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer 
• Becomes the 23^rd Oklahoma player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.