River Ridge’s Ryan Benjamin mourns, but always inspired by Lee Roy Selmon’s actions, humility

Posted Sep 5, 2011 by Mike Camunas

Updated Sep 5, 2011 at 03:49 PM

First-year River Ridge coach Ryan Benjamin had two direct connections to the late Lee Roy Selmon.

But it’s better if Benjamin tells it.

“I remember when USF unveiled the new athletic complex,” said Benjamin, a former USF football player, who also played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and picked up a Super Bowl ring in 2003 as a long snapper. “Of course, Lee Roy was there, and I walked up to him thinking he’s not going to remember me. I say, ‘Hey, Lee Roy, I’m Ry —’ and he didn’t let me finish because he was like, ‘Ryan! How you doing? Good to see you!’ He called me by first name and remembered who I was and what I did.

“Then,” Benjamin added, “this was right after we had won the Super Bowl, and I was wearing my ring, and he sees it. His face lights up, and he goes, ‘Ohhhh. Can I see it?’ … I let him wear it, and you should have seen his face. Here’s a guy, who’s accomplished so much in his career and he’s looking at the one thing he missed out on. You could tell he just wanted one so much, but he’s so humble about it and gives it back and just praises me on winning and a job well done.

“That just shows you the kind of guy he was, how he always was with people.”

Benjamin, who returned to his alma mater River Ridge in May to guide the Royal Knights back to winning ways, said he was “very sad” when he heard the news of Selmon’s passing Sunday evening. In fact, just minutes after River Ridge edged rival Fivay 17-14 on Friday, Benjamin was told of Selmon’s stroke, only to lose much of the wind in his sails for his team’s celebration.

That’s because Benjamin’s last conversation with Selmon wasn’t too long ago. Benjamin asked Selmon for a letter of reference when applying for the head coach position at River Ridge.

“He would do anything for anyone,” Benjamin said. “When I called him up and asked him, he said absolutely and thought I had a lot to give back. He made sure not to just mention football, but what I could bring to the kids and the lifeskills they need. He really always emphasized that and gave me his blessing and told anyone that would listen just great things about me.

“That’s what he did as a person,” Benjamin added. “When he spoke, he had this presence that would leave you awestruck, that made you want to be a better person. You’d always leave him going, ‘What have I done that’s good enough? Probably not enough’ and you’d anything you could to get to be as good as a person as him.

“You never heard a single person say one bad thing about Lee Roy Selmon, and that’s why right there.”

Benjamin is a close friend of the Selmon family, having played with Lee Roy, Jr. at USF. Benjamin says there’s nothing set it stone yet, but the team plans to honor Selmon for the rest of the season, whether it be a uniform patch or helmet sticker.

One thing’s for sure: Benjamin’s teams at River Ridge will always have a direct connection to Lee Roy Selmon.

“My players are going to know who he is because he was a heck of a football player,” Benjamin said, “but they’re going to hear from me that he was a great person. We’re going to use his on and off the field examples and use his lessons of the type of person he was to mold players, current and future.

“But he’s going to be deeply missed because … God took a good one from us.”

Correspondent Mike Camunas can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MikeCamunasTrib.

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