Hall of Fame Profile: George Selvie
USF Athletic Hall of Fame Profile Series
Senior Writer Tom Zebold takes a look at the next USF Athletic Hall of Fame class that will be inducted on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Marshall Student Center on the USF campus. The sixth class of inductees includes Shantia Grace (women's basketball, 2005-09), Sara Nevins (softball, 2011-14) and George Selvie (football, 2006-09).
Read Hall of Fame series features on Grace and Nevins.
Name: George Selvie
Sport: Football
Years at USF: 2006-09
Position: Defensive end
Hometown: Pensacola, Fla.
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, NOV. 14, 2019 – Much like USF football,
George Selvie made a meteoric rise to national prominence during his storied career with the Bulls.
After arriving at USF as a center in 2005, Selvie didn't waste time becoming a dominant defensive end who helped the program skyrocket to No. 2 in the national rankings during his historic redshirt sophomore season in 2007.
"Just watching the program build and being a part of it, it was just awesome to see that," he said.
Twelve years later, USF's only two-time first team All-American will receive the ultimate recognition for his incredible contributions to the program when he enters the USF Athletic Hall of Fame. Selvie, along with fellow Class of 2019 members Shantia Grace (women's basketball) and Sara Nevins (softball) will be celebrated Friday evening during induction dinner and ceremony at the Marshall Student Center ballroom on campus.
"I'm honored to be a part of it. I'm glad to see that my years and all my hard work didn't go to waste," Selvie said. "They saw the effort that I put into this, and all the blood and tears that I put into this program. I love this program."
Bulls Nation certainly feels the same about a player who achieved greatness in the golden age of USF football.
During the magical 2007 season, Selvie was a big play machine who led all of FBS football with 31.5 tackles for loss, one shy of the NCAA record. The 2007 Big East Defensive Player of the Year also ranked second in the country with a school-record 14.5 sacks, four of which were tallied in the season opener (tied for most in USF history) against Elon that helped Selvie set the Bulls' single-game record with six tackles for loss. The eventual All-American also had four-TFL outings that year against Cincinnati and in a 64-12 rout of UCF at Raymond James Stadium.
"I had a great game that game. I got a fumble. I knocked the ball out of the quarterback's hand. Aaron Harris had three sacks," Selvie said of the UCF game. "It was just an exciting game and plus, it was against our rival. They thought they had us. You know how it is today, but back then it wasn't really a rivalry. That game, it was live. We had our crowd there. It was just a big game for us."
Selvie made more history in 2008, earning first team All-America honors again, before playing a key role of another marquee win for the Bulls in 2009. On a steamy September afternoon in Tallahassee, USF's defense sizzled while Selvie shined with two tackles for loss, one sack, a fumble recovery and three quarterback hurries in a 17-7 statement win over No. 18 Florida State.
USF didn't surrender a point to the Seminoles until the fourth quarter of the program's first victory over the state's "Big Three" at the time – Miami, Florida, FSU. Bulls fans stayed in the end zone to chant, "USF, USF," long after the first-ever meeting between the schools was in the books.
"Everybody was just on fire and we knew this was a big chance for us as a program," Selvie said. "We beat Auburn (in 2007) and all that stuff, but getting somebody else in-state like Florida State and to go out there and win that game, it was gonna be big for us."
After four straight bowl trips (three wins), Selvie helped spread the word about USF even more on the national stage when he was selected in the 2010 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Selvie headed to the pros as the Bulls' career leader in tackles for loss (69.5), sacks (29), forced fumbles (9) and starts (50).
Not bad for a former prep center who once played the position at 200 pounds and received only one D1 offer out of Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Fla.
"I've watched (USF football) go from little to big, and I wanted to be a part of that," said Selvie, who stayed long after he could have left for the NFL. "The individual stuff, I just went out and played hard. I didn't want to let my teammates down on the field and I did my job. That's all they asked me to do and I did that."
More About Selvie
NFL VETERAN: After being drafted by St. Louis, Selvie went on to play six NFL seasons (2010-15) for the Rams, Giants, Cowboys, Buccaneers, Jaguars and Panthers. "I'm a Dallas Cowboy for life," he said. "My favorite stop had to be the Cowboys." His favorite NFL memory was at the end of the 2014 season with Dallas. "I played for a long time, but I only had one chance to go to the playoffs," he said. "We had a great group of guys. It wasn't a team full of superstars, but had had guys that worked hard and we made it to the playoffs. We should have won the Super Bowl that year, but they said the catch wasn't a catch."- FROM CENTER TO DEFENSIVE END: When Selvie arrived at USF in 2005, former Bulls head coach Jim Leavitt allowed him to play the position he wanted. "I played center for a spring. Then he was like, 'Go play defensive end,'" Selvie said. "I was like, 'Is it gonna get me on the field?' He was like, 'Yes.' I said I'll play it then. That's how it went." The rest is USF history.
FUNNY FIRST EXPERIENCE ON DEFENSE: Once Selvie made the switch to defense during his redshirt year in 2005, he tried to make an impression by stopping a very valuable Bull in his first practice as an end. "All I knew was chase the ball," Selvie said. "I tackled Andre Hall and Coach Rick Kravitz came up to me and he said, 'Son, you can't do that. I love the way you chased the ball. You're doing a great job, but that guy right there, our jobs all depend on him. But I love the way you chased the ball. You're gonna be something special. Keep doing that and you'll be OK, but just don't tackle Andre Hall. You can tackle anybody else out here, but don't tackle him.'"- FAVORITE ROAD GAME AS A BULL: Although USF's historic 2007 run was sparked by a 26-23 overtime win at No. 17 Auburn, Selvie's favorite road game set the tone for the Bulls' uprising the year before – a 24-19 victory at No. 7 West Virginia in the 2006 regular season finale. As a redshirt freshman, Selvie scooped up a fumble at the Mountaineers' 9 and scored to give the Bulls the lead midway through the second quarter. "I was young and that was my first touchdown," he said. "… We came and shocked the world. After that, our momentum kept going into the next year. I know that we were gonna be something special then."
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
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– #GoBulls –
