Salaam ‘ one of kindest and sweetest souls’

When you spend 20 years as part of one team’s radio broadcast crew, you meet an awful lot of players who come and go.

Relationships are formed and some even become friends after football.

One of t he s pecial ones was Rashaan Salaam, and the news of his passing early Tuesday hit like a sledgehammer.

The cynical and disappointed Bears fans of the 90s will probably remember him as another failed No. 1 draft choice and that is a true shame.

Salaam was one of the great running backs, a Heisman Trophy winner in 1994 and the NFC’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1995 after the Bears tabbed him with the 21st pick in the draft.

He rushed for 1,074 yards and 10 t ouchdowns t hat rookie season, moving into the starter’s role after Raymont Harris broke his collarbone in the season opener versus Minnesota, and head coach Dave Wannstedt promoted Salaam over Lewis Tillman into the top spot in Week Four against the Cardinals.

He responded with five 100- plus yard rushing efforts, and t he hope was that a healthy Harris would rejoin him in the backfield as the fullback in a two-back or what we used to call a“Pro-Set” backfield.

There was, however, one negative in that rookie campaign that developed into an epidemic: Salaam couldn’t hold onto t he ball and would fumble it nine times, losing eight during that first season.

Things went downhill quickly from there. He battled ankle injuries and fumbles throughout the 1996 season, and early in 1997 he broke his leg, not only ending his season but also signaling the end of his NFL career.

The Bears attempted to trade him to the Dolphins in 1998, but a failed physical, presumably because of his leg and ankle issues, nixed the deal.

In addition to his problems holding onto the football, Salaam had an affinity for pot, a problem he at times referred to as an addiction.

After failed comeback attempts with Cleveland and Green Bay, he went public with his marijuana issues, a move that was met with mixed reviews by a public and league that was not as ready to embrace the issue as it might be today.

Salaam wondered at times if it may have even been his pot use that caused issues with his focus and concentration, exacerbating his fumbling problems.

Through it all though, Rashaan Salaam remained one of the sweetest and warmest young men you could ever meet.

I think he took to me because he was just a few years older than my oldest son and I understood his pot problem didn’t make him a villain, it made him a kid struggling to find his way in an adult world.

When I called Salaam’s first NFL coach, Dave Wannstedt, to break the news to him, Dave told me, “Rashaan was a pleasure to coach and be around, always a smile and wanting to learn. All the coaches, staff and players were so excited to have him be part of our team.”

We talked for about 15 minutes and his failed career never came up – from his coach! Mention Rashaan Salaam to anyone who knew him and the overwhelming response is always about the sweet young man, rarely the football player.

Salaam would often become despondent around Heisman time, beating himself up all too often about what he didn’t accomplish on an NFL football field.

He had his demons and was a bit of a lost soul this past decade- and- ahalf or so, unable to let go of the past and unwilling to grasp the future, but he was one of the kindest and sweetest souls I’ve ever known.

In most ways, Rashaan Salaam was just a big kid who never fully grew up, and if that eventually was his undoing, it was also in many ways his most endearing trait.

With all my heart I hope he will now find the peace at rest he could never quite grasp on the field.