Wednesday, December 7, 2016

The Passing Of Rashaan Salaam


Another former NFL running back lost his life in a tragic event Monday night in Boulder, Colorado. A passer-by found Rashaan Salaam’s body in a parking lot at Ebin G. Fine Park in Boulder on Monday night, he was 42-years old. The Boulder Police said that there does not appear to be any foul play and that an autopsy will be performed shortly to determine the cause of death.
 
Salaam was one of my first football player prospects, he had won the 1994 Heisman Trophy and when the Chicago Bears selected him in the First Round of the 1995 NFL Draft I thought he was a lock. I had received a promo pack from Collector’s Edge which included a very cool acetate and die-cut Rashaan Salaam card and I was hooked. I picked up what I could of his and after he became the youngest player to rush for 1,000 yards (1,074 yards and 10 TDs his first season) his future was bright. Sadly, he went on to have a couple of injury plagued seasons and never returned to be that shining star and was cut by the Bears in 1998. Over the next six seasons he signed with the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Memphis Maniax (of the XFL), San Francisco 49ers and finally the Toronto Argonauts (of the CFL). In all he played a total of 33 games, rushing 471 times for 1,684 yards and 13 touchdowns.  

In a follow up to the shooting that took the life of former Jets running Back Joe McKnight, the shooter Ronald Gasser was arrested yesterday and charged with Manslaughter.


3 comments:

  1. It was tragic to hear about Salaam - from what I heard, there was a note found at the scene. CTE is no joke and it's a shame that the NFL doesn't really want to hear it.

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  2. Oh dang, that's horrible (as is McKnight's case). I just don't even know how to process these things right now.

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  3. I remember pulling cards of Salaam and feeling like I hit the jackpot. He was such a gifted athlete and very, very fun to watch in college.

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