In the early days of September one of the finest men I have ever known left the mortal coil. Certainly not by his choosing, but at the hands of fate that are always not so kind. In the days that followed, sportswriter Gary Shelton wrote these words…
“Today, Tampa Bay is not as kind as it was, it is not as gracious. It is not as decent.
The best of us has been taken away.
Lee Roy Selmon, a legend of a man with the demeanor of a common man has died. All of the lives he touched, all of the people he enriched, mourn his passing
It is too sad for words, and it is too soon for reason. As a community, Tampa Bay was not yet done with Lee Roy. We needed to hear his soft voice, and to be comforted by his immense presence, for a while longer. He was only 56, and we needed to know he was there and that he made the rest of us better for years to come.
Lee Roy is gone… A giant has fallen.
And now, who is going to help fill the crater?”
And I replied…
I think those words were as powerful as any I have read about the man. And it takes some measure of strength and composure to even sit and write you as I am doing now. I was touched by what you said, so I had to say something back to you.
Lee Roy and I knew each other very well during the last four-plus years of his playing career. And that friendship continued on. He was a friend, a mentor, in a sense a spiritual guide, and what I often referred to him as–an angel. Because surely men like Lee Roy just don’t exist in the real world. And sadly, they no longer do.
Lee Roy and I stayed in touch over the years, I now 54, and he, of course, dying at 56. I knew him when he was a football player, a banker, a restaurant owner, an athletic director. A husband, a father, a man of God, a friend to so many. I knew him through my marriage, the birth of my daughter, and the divorce of my husband. Lee Roy was always out there for me if I needed him, always there. Never did I feel I interrupted his life, never did I feel as if I had disturbed his day in any way. He just made everyone, anyone feel that way. And as you note, just knowing he was there made me know that I was cared for. Cared about.
