Friends, ex-teammates and former coaches remembered 1994 Heisman Trophy winner
Rashaan Salaam as much more than a football star upon hearing of his death in a
park not far from the University of Colorado, where he stamped his name as one
of the greatest players in the programs history.
Cheap Nike
Air Max Shoes Free Shipping .This is a great loss to the lives he
had touched, said former Buffaloes assistant coach Brian Cabral, who recruited
Salaam to Boulder.Ex-teammate Kordell Stewart, who went on to achieve the kind
of NFL success that eluded Salaam, said, This is a tough one. He was our jewel.
He said Salaam never wanted to be celebrated, he just wanted to play football.He
just wanted to be one of the guys, a big kid playing a childs game, and he won
the biggest prize there is, Stewart said. Football wasnt who he was; it was just
what he did. He didnt care about his accomplishments. He cared about the people
around him.Salaam was found dead Monday night in Eben B. Fine Park in Boulder,
less than 2 miles from Folsom Field, where he carved his name into the schools
record book from 1992-94. Police said foul play wasnt suspected.Salaams mother,
Khalada, told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday that police said they suspect he
killed himself. They said they found a note and would share that with us when we
get there, Salaams mother said.Dave Plati, associate athletic director at
Colorado and a close friend of Salaams, said the former Buffaloes star never let
on that he was hurting : When you were around him he was just the same old
Rashaan. You know, effervescent, jolly-go-lucky, smiling all the time, doing
things for other people.There was just no way to tell Salaam had these kind of
demons inside him, Plati added. I was as close to him as anybody and loved the
guy ... and wish I could have noticed or done something for him or wished that
he would have called me.Salaams death stunned the Colorado football community,
which this year celebrated a revival with the teams 10-3 record, an appearance
in the Pac-12 championship game and the Buffaloes first bowl bid in almost a
decade.You talk about a young man who was smart, handsome, talented. He was
very, very gifted. He was humble. He was a team guy, former Colorado coach Bill
McCartney told The Associated Press.Salaam rushed for 2,055 yards and 24
touchdowns as a junior in 1994, leading the Buffaloes to an 11-1 record, a win
over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and a No. 3 finish in the final polls.We are
all hurting tremendously today, said former teammate Blake Anderson, who lauded
Salaams work ethic, strength and dedication.Salaam was one of the nations most
prized high-school recruits coming out of eight-man football at La Jolla Country
Day, a private school in San Diego. His father played freshman football at CU in
1963 before transferring to San Diego State to be closer to home.When we
recruited him and got him to commit, it was huge, McCartney said. We knew that
he was going to distinguish himself. He was very highly recruited. I can
remember how happy we were. He lived up to all our expectations.The Chicago
Bears made Salaam a first-round draft pick in 1995, and he rushed for 1,074
yards and 10 touchdowns in winning NFC Rookie of the Year honors.Injuries cut
short his career. He rushed for only three TDs over the next two years in
Chicago and played his last NFL game with the Cleveland Browns in 1999. Salaam
played for the Memphis Maniax of the defunct XFL and attempted one last comeback
with the NFL before retiring.He was the only Heisman Trophy winner in the state
of Colorado, Plati said. That could have been a burden in later years because he
kind of felt he didnt have the great professional career that should have
followed that. But that doesnt matter, its what you did to win the Heisman, and
hes an icon in college football.Former teammate Matt Russell, now the Denver
Broncos director of player personnel, said Salaam was a fiercely loyal friend,
the ultimate teammate and the very definition of a winner.Rick Neuheisel, an
assistant coach in Boulder when Salaam won the Heisman, said the play that
epitomizes Salaam was the Miracle at Michigan, when Stewarts 64-yard Hail Mary
pass to Michael Westbrook on the final play beat the Wolverines 27-26 on Sept.
24, 1994.All he did was create time for Kordell Stewart to get that play off,
Neuheisel said. And if you ever see that play, Rashaan Salaam had one blocking
assignment and then came back and got another blocking assignment, which allowed
Kordell to kind of crow-hop up in the pocket and make the throw that well all
remember for a lifetime.But there was the Heisman Trophy winner. He wasnt just
about getting the ball or catching the ball. He was about, what do I need to do
for my guys so that we can have the best possible chance for success? And
whether he had the ball or didnt, it didnt matter, he was going to go all-out,
Neuheisel said.And its a very tough time because hes too young. ... I think all
of us that had that special time with him all wish we would have known what was
going on in his life. And Im not sure we ever will. But we will know that the
time we spent with Salaam was really cool.---AP College Football Writer Ralph
Russo, Associated Press writer Sadie Gurman, Associated Press videographer Peter
Banda and Associated Press photographer Brennan Linsey contributed to this
story.---More AP college football:
http://collegefootball.ap.org Cheap Nike
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Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. A daring ride by apprentice Regan
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