MINIATURE GOLF (#42): Despite the title, this is a story about three NFL football players. Lee Roy Selmon, Jeff Winans, and Lawrence Taylor. After Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology was shut down by the SEC (that’s another story), I went to work as Director of Planned Giving and Major Gifts for Abilities of Florida.
We were looking for a new fundraiser and Dianne Winning, wife of Board member Richard Winning, suggested a golf tournament with a twist – a Miniature Golf Tournament. I had met Lee Roy when I was with Seahawk and Lee Roy made a call as a Business Development Officer with a local Bank. He had slimmed down from his playing weight and was one of the nicest people I ever met. Lee Roy was a gentle giant if there ever was one.
When I joined Abilities, I invited Lee Roy for a tour so he could see the work that we were doing to help people with brain and spinal cord injuries. He was impressed and agreed to help, speaking at several of our quarterly donor breakfasts. We also worked with Lee Roy as a charity for his annual Lee Roy Selmon BBQ Cook Off. Lee Roy wasn’t a golfer, but he agreed to help with our Miniature golf tournament, even inviting Bucs head coach at the time, Sam Wyche, to play.
Dianne and Richard Winning also had a friend who had played for the Bucs, Jeff Winans. Jeff played guard, also for the Bills, Saints, and Raiders. He had won a Super Bowl ring with the Raiders. Jeff was a big, good looking, personable guy and with his help and that of Lee Roy, and Beasley Reece we had enough former Bucs to host a respectable Celebrity Golf Tournament.
I am sure some of our celebrities had overlooked the word “Miniature” in their invitation. You should have seen the look on their faces when they pulled up with their golf clubs and realized they were at a Miniature golf course on St. Pete Beach. Everyone was a good sport, however, and the morning proceeded with big men playing miniature golf and betting on each putt. One by one they all pulled me or Frank DeLucia, the Director of the Abilities Foundation, aside and said, “Guys, next year this needs to be a REAL golf tournament. We’ll help you!” Thus was born the Abilities Celebrity Golf Tournament.
On the whole, our Celebrity Golf Tournaments went well. But some sad stories stand out in my mind. At the time, the worst involved NY Giants linebacker and guaranteed future Hall Of Famer, Lawrence Taylor. Beasely Reese had gotten LT to agree to play, and he did show up. But he was demanding from the start. He wanted a Suite at the Tradewinds, not just a regular room. My friend Drew Toth, the Manager of Sales agreed to the upgrade. LT also wanted a Limo. We had to pay for that, but figured we would get our money back by auctioning footballs autographed by LT.
The afternoon before the tournament I stopped by the Tradewinds to check on our super celebrity, and did he ever give me the creeps. Even though it was nearly sunset, the curtains were drawn. LT was laying on an unmade bed in jeans, and never got up. I introduced myself. He pointed to my walking boot and said, “Achilles?” A man of few words. I replied, “Yes, it has been giving me a lot of trouble.” Then he whined, to his girl friend, who didn’t look well, “Karen, you need to take me there now.” My cue to leave. I said, “The limo will pick you up at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Just come to the lobby.”
The next morning I got a call from Drew, “Did you hear about your man LT? He got busted last night in Gulfport trying to buy cocaine. He’d still in jail.”
Damn! We had put some of our biggest donors in a foursome with LT. As soon as they got to the golf course, I told them I had good news and bad news. “The good news is you have Lawrence Taylor in your foursome. The bad news is he got busted trying to buy cocaine last night, and he’s still in jail.”We never heard from LT again, and never got any signed footballs. He was at a low point then. It seems he fought a hard fight to get back his life.
I didn’t learn how much Jeff Winans had suffered until 2002 and the 35th Reunion of my Boca Ciega High School Class. I had been informed by an email that I never read that the location of the reunion had been changed to the Don CeSar Resort, 5 blocks from our house. We hadn’t gone to the Friday night mixer because Cathy was recovering from her 4th knee surgery. We drove across town to the Jungle Prada where we thought Saturday night’s dinner was being held. The only other classmate there was Jeff’s wife, Brandi Winans.
The mix up turned out to be a good thing. We ordered dinner and Brandi told us about head injuries caused by football, and how the NFL was taking a hard line against helping. I knew football caused a lot of injuries, but hadn’t realized how serious concussions could be. Brandi told us how much Jeff was suffering from injuries, including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative brain disease.
Brandi also told us how she and Jeff had suffered emotionally and financially because of the NFL’s refusal to help. Google her book, “The Flip Side of Glory.” Since our talk with Brandi, Cathy and I have never been able to enjoy a football game the same way. Now I am reminded of Gladiators fighting for their lives. So much damage done. Jeff died from CTE in 2012.
Lee Roy Selmon went on to become Athletic Director for the University of South Florida where he launched the football program, spearheaded the construction of a new athletic facility, and led the university’s move into Conference USA, and into the Big East Conference. Citing health issues, Lee Roy resigned as the USF Athletic Director in 2004 and took the role as president of the USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics, an athletics fundraising organization.
Lee Roy died from a massive stroke in 2011. He was only 56 years old. I have alway wondered what role football played in his health issues and death.
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