The death of Salaam:
Former CU star running back, Heisman Trophy winner and Chicago Bear is found dead in a Boulder park.
Chad Brown knew Rashaan Salaam was fearless long before the running back rushed for 2,000 yards and won a Heisman Trophy.
“I remember the first time Rashaan came to my apartment and saw my snakes,” said Brown, a University of Colorado teammate of Salaam’s in the 1990s. “So many of my other teammates had a fear of them. He was curious and wanted to get close to them. He asked questions about them. He was just a nice, good, personable dude.”
Salaam, the 1994 Heisman winner, was found dead Monday night in Eben G. Fine Park in Boulder of a suspected suicide. He was 42.
Khalada Salaam, Rashaan’s mother, told USA Today police suspect the death is a suicide after finding a note. The Daily Camera also reported the death was a suspected suicide.
Salaam’s life had remarkable highs and, by his own admission, significant struggles.
Salaam won the award given to college football’s best player as a junior and was selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft. As a junior, he rushed for 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns as the Buffaloes finished 11-1.
“The Buff family will miss Rashaan,” Brown said. “Not just for the Heisman Trophy, but for the person he was. And he certainly helped establish us as one of the best football programs in the country.”
The Boulder County coroner’s office said in a release that a body found in Eben G. Fine Park on Monday was positively identified as Salaam’s. The release said the coroner’s office would be conducting an autopsy and that the cause of death is pending further investigation.
A passerby saw the body Monday night and called police, said Sarah Huntley, a Boulder spokeswoman.
“We are investigating a body that was found,” Huntley said. “We don’t believe there was foul play. We don’t believe the community is at risk.”
The CU community on Tuesday tried to come to grips with the sudden loss of one of the program’s most iconic players.
“The Buff Family has lost an outstanding young man and a great Buff today,” CU athletic director Rick George said in a school-issued release. “We are heart- broken for Rashaan and his family and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very difficult time.”
Salaam put together one of the most impressive seasons in college football history in 1994, when he became just the fourth player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He capped off that campaign with a moment that still stirs up memories at Folsom Field.
Needing 8 yards to reach the heady milestone in the fourth quarter of CU’s last game of the regular season against Iowa State, Salaam took a handoff and darted to the right. He followed his blockers, then accelerated through a hole. After a 67yard gallop, Salaam was in the end zone to put a cap on a remarkable season.
“What a golden moment that was,” CU radio play-byplay announcer Larry Zimmer said when Salaam crossed the goal line. “I’ll admit it. I’m choked up.”
Brown said it was a unique running style that allowed Salaam to be so dominant at CU.
“He had a more upright running style,” Brown said. “He was a huge moves kind of guy, but he was running so fast when he threw those moves that it made it difficult to tackle him. He was a great combination of size, strength and ability to make you miss.”
Salaam joined the Buffs in 1992 out of La Jolla Country Day in San Diego, where he played eight-man football. He became a high school All-American and his successful recruitment was a huge coup for the Buffs, who were aiming to capitalize on the momentum of the national championship they won in 1990.
“I remember when we officially signed him, we had a lot of high-fives around the coaching staff offices because we knew this kid was really special,” former CU coach Bill McCartney said in a statement. “He projected to be a tremendous can’tmiss player coming out of high school. He was big and strong, fast and tough. He was very gifted, very athletic and very competitive.”
It didn’t take long for Salaam to live up to the hype on the field. It was the way he interacted with people off it, though, that really stuck with teammates and coaches.
“Rashaan was as dynamic off the field as he was on the field as a player,” said Matt Russell, a teammate of Salaam’s from 1992-94 who is now the director of player personnel for the Denver Broncos. “He was a fiercely loyal friend, someone who was always in your corner and had your back. He was the ultimate teammate and supportive of everyone in his locker room. If there was ever a guy who was going to get a personal foul for protecting someone on his team, Rashaan was that guy.”
CU’s Football Legacy Hall in the Champions Center will be open Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m, and the public is invited to stop by to pay their respects to Salaam, the school announced Tuesday.
Salaam parlayed the success of his Heisman season into an NFL career, albeit one shorter than he had planned. Salaam was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 21st overall pick in 1995. He rushed for 1,074 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie.
But plagued by injuries, a propensity for fumbling and admitted marijuana use, Salaam’s time with the Bears ended in 1997. After a stint with the Cleveland Browns in 1999 that was cut short by injury, Salaam’s NFL career was over after only 33 games. His subsequent comeback attempts never made it past training camp.
“I was very young, very immature, and I think that caught up to me when I got to the league,” Salaam told The Denver Post in 2014. “In the pros, you have to be professional. I was 20 years old, going on 21, so I wasn’t ready mentally, physically or spiritually going into the NFL.”
Brown, himself a former NFL player, said his contact with his old college teammate since the two left the professional ranks was typically limited to CU events.
Condolences soon began pouring in from members of the college football community.
“Prayers out to the Salaam family after the passing of Rashaan,” current CU quarterback Sefo Liufau tweeted. “Rest In Peace.”
CU co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, who played for the Buffs from 1995-98, said Salaam inspired him to attend CU.
“Prayers for the Salaam family,” Chiaverini tweeted. “Watching Rashaan play from my house in Corona California made me want to be a Buffalo!”
“I will miss my Heisman brother Rashaan Salaam,” said former USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who won the award 10 years after Salaam in 2004. “He was always smiling and just a lot of fun to be around! #RIP”