Rashaan Salaam remembered at funeral: 'He was 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 offensive lineman who helped pave the way for so many of Salaam’s big runs in '94 as a University of Colorado running back.
“It was our final block for him.”
Rashaan Salaam, former Heisman winner and NFL first rounder, found dead in park
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 ritual.
“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 running back from 1992-94. Salaam’s mother, Khalada, told USA TODAY Sports Tuesday that Boulder police suspect he took his own life and that a note was found indicating as much.
Boulder police said this week the cause of death is under investigation, and they 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 Colorado in 1994, when he rushed for a school-record 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns as Colorado finished the season with an 11-1 record and No. 3 national ranking. Their only loss that year was against Nebraska, the eventual national champion — the lone stain on a season that otherwise was filled with magic and a miracle.
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 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 on Friday in a reunion of sorts for a shaken community. Besides West, former Colorado offensive linemen Chris Naeole and Heath Irwin served as pallbearers along with former CU defensive back T.J. Cunningham and former CU linebacker Matt Russell.
Former 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 1994 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.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
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