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