‘ JUST A GREAT TEAMMATE’
BOULDER, COLO. Rashaan Salaam was buried here Friday, dead at 42 and carried to his grave by the same teammates who helped him win the Heisman Trophy in 1994.
It was their final play together, they said.
“It was an honor being a pallbearer for him, because we felt like we got to block for him one more time,” said Derek West, a former University of Colorado offensive lineman who helped pave the way for somany of Salaam’s big runs that season as a CU running back. “It was our final block for him.” After they walked across snow and grass to bring him to his grave, the pallbearers finally let go. Another group of men then removed the top of the coffin and pulled out Salaam’s cloth- covered body before lowering it into the ground at his final resting spot, according to Muslim burial customs.
“He’s not taking anything with him,” a Muslim burial officiant told family, friends and teammates. “As you can see, just the white cloth is what he’s taking with him. We take nothing with us. We leave all family, everything behind us. It’s just us and the grave.”
It was a sad, chilly day at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It also remained clouded in mystery, because many questions about what led to this moment might never be answered.
Salaam was found dead at a park here Monday night, not far from where he starred as a CU running back from 1992 to 1994. Salaam’s mother, Khalada, told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday that Boulder police suspect he took his own life and that a note was found indicating as much.
Boulder police said they were investigating the cause of death and had no further information to disclose about it at this time.
At the funeral before the burial, Salaam’s father, Sultan Salaam, described his son as having a “mental breakdown.”
But he called for others to find inspiration in his son, a player and student many remembered for his smile, his humility and his deflections of praise to his teammates, especially his blockers.
“Do your best. That’s what Rashaan did,” Salaam’s father said about his son’s life and what can be learned from it. “He went to the top. Go to the top.”
Salaam went to the top as a junior at CU in ’ 94, when he rushed for a schoolrecord 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns as Colorado finished the season with an 11- 1 record and No. 3 national ranking. Their only loss was to Nebraska, the eventual national champion — the lone stain on a season that otherwise was filled with magic and amiracle.
The latter came at Michigan, where Salaam rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns before blocking on the game’s final play for Kordell Stewart, his quarterback. With Salaam’s help, Stewart then completed a Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Westbrook to win the game as time expired 27- 26.
Westbrook was among many former Buffaloes among the funeral service crowd of about 250 people at the Islamic Center of Boulder.
“He was always happy, always happy,” Westbrook told USA TODAY Sports after the funeral. “His attitude was just so good- natured. If there was tension in the room, it would automatically come down because he came in the room.”
Westbrook embraced former Colorado head coach Bill McCartney before the funeral, one of many hugs shared Friday in a reunion of sorts for a shaken CU community. Besides West, former CU offensive lineman Heath Irwin served as a pallbearer along with former CU defensive back T. J. Cunningham, former CU linebacker Matt Russell and former defensive lineman Chris Naeole.
Former CU safety Chris Hudson flew into town, too. Hudson won the Jim Thorpe Award in 1994 as the nation’s best defensive back.
“He was just a great teammate, man,” said Hudson, now living in Tennessee. Even when Salaam won the biggest individual award in college football, Hudson said it was “always about the teammates” for Salaam.
Hudson said he spoke to Salaam recently, but, like many others, he had no idea Salaam might have been suffering.
After the ’ 94 season, Salaam turned pro and was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Chicago Bears. He rushed for 1,074 yards as a rookie but injuries soon hampered him and he never came close to regaining his form as a player in 1994 and 1995.
He was out of the league after 1999 and soon had to figure out what to do with his life after that— a common challenge for star football players in college and the pros.
He eventually made his way back to Colorado, where he recently lived until his body was found Monday.
“We still have all the wonderful memories of our brother Rashaan,” Imam Abdur-Rahim Ali said at Friday’s service. “His good spirit. His appetite for good food. You still remember all those good things. You never forget those things. Those things will live forever.”
“It was an honor being a pallbearer for him, because we felt like we got to block for him one more time. It was our final block for him.” Derek West, former Colorado offensive lineman