Tag: Rashaan Salaam

NFF to honor Rashaan Salaam’s College Football Hall of Fame election during CU-UCLA game

The NFF will present Rashaan Salaam’s mother and brother with a commemorative hall of fame plaque between the first and second quarters of Saturday’s CU-UCLA game

The late Rashaan Salaam will be honored by the National Football Foundation (NFF) with an On-Campus Salute during Saturday’s Colorado-UCLA game at Folsom Field in recognition of his election to the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class.

The ceremony will take place between the first and second quarters. Salaam’s mother, Khalada Salaam-Alaji, and his brother, Kabali, will receive a replicative plaque of the one that will be placed in the hall of fame.

Colorado’s 10th half of fame electee and the rest of the 2022 class will be officially inducted into the hall of fame during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas on Dec. 6.

“Rashaan Salaam was a legendary running back at Colorado, and he put together a sensational 1994 season when he won the Heisman Trophy,” NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell, a CU alum, said in a press release. “He is truly missed. We are thrilled to pay tribute to his legacy at Folsom Field.”

According to the NFF, the On-Campus Salute tradition began in 1951 with the inaugural College Football HOF class.

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Colorado football countdown to Week 1 kickoff: 19 days

Another Buffalo great greets us at the 19-day mark

The first thing that comes to mind for any Buffaloes fan who sees the number 19 is Rashaan Salaam, who was a force in the early 1990s for the University of Colorado. He achieved the highest honor in all the land when he became the school’s only Heisman Trophy winner in 1994.

Salaam enrolled at CU in 1992 and would receive spot duty in his freshman season as the team relied on veterans like Lamont Warren, Kordell Stewart and the receiving duo of Michael Westbrook and Charles Johnson. Salaam’s sophomore season brought about a change in both status and number as he would rush for 885 yards in only nine games while switching from No. 3 to his iconic 19.

Expectations were high for the Buffaloes running back as he entered the 1994 season and he didn’t disappoint. Here are some highlights of that magical 1994 season for Rashaan Salaam, courtesy of CUBuffs.com;

He (Salaam) became the fifth Buffalo to earn unanimous All-America honors that year, as he became just the fourth player in college football history at the time to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season … In setting the single-season CU rushing mark with 2,055 yards, he did not play in five fourth quarters and on two other occasions, he played only briefly in the third quarter; over half of the yards (1,040) came against ranked opponents … Set a school scoring mark that same year with 24 touchdowns for 144 total points … Reeled off nine consecutive 100-yard games in ’94, including four 200-plus yard games (both school records) … Ended his career as only the second Buff to exceed 3,000 career rushing yards (3,057)…

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Two CU Buffs greats appear on ESPN’s top 100 college football running backs of the past 60 years list

Two of CU’s all-time best running backs were ranked highly on this ESPN list

Over the years, many talented running backs have passed through the Colorado Buffaloes football program. From a Heisman Winner to All-American selections, some greats have donned the black and gold in Boulder.

Recently, ESPN’s Bill Connelly published an article ranking college football’s top 100 running backs of the last 60 years. He included two of Colorado’s legends on the list: Eric Bieniemy at No. 25 and Rashaan Salaam at No. 17.

Bieniemy was a huge name of the Bill McCartney era, and he helped Colorado win its first and only national championship in 1990. From 1987-90, he totaled 3,940 rushing yards and 380 receiving yards with 42 touchdowns. He also finished third in Heisman voting in 1990.

Salaam became Colorado’s first and only Heisman Trophy winner in 1994 with a season that included 2,055 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. Colorado’s only loss that season came at the hands of the reigning national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers. In his career as a Buffalo, Salaam totaled 3,057 rushing yards, 412 receiving yards and 33 touchdowns.

In recent years, Colorado hasn’t produced greatness at the same level as it did several decades ago when the likes of Bieniemy and Salaam were playing at Folsom Field — with respect to the stellar career of Phillip Lindsay and a solid run by now Michigan State RB Jarek Broussard. But there’s no denying the program’s rich history and alumni worthy of recognition.

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Rashaan Salaam officially elected to College Football Hall of Fame

Rashaan Salaam is officially a College Football Hall of Famer

This is long overdue.

The late Rashaan Salaam, Colorado’s only Heisman Trophy winner, was named to the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022, the National Football Federation announced on Monday.

Salaam rushed for over 3,000 yards during his college career, including 2,055 yards during his Heisman winning junior season in 1994.

Just over five years after Salaam tragically took his own life in 2016. his mother, Khalada Salaam-Alaji, spoke on the honor and the need for continued work in mental health.

“I wish Rashaan was still here so that he could use this wonderful recognition to support mental and physical health issues,” Salaam-Alaji said in a statement. “His going into the College Hall of Fame is a good thing, but there is so much serious social work that has to be done on this side for our children and this planet. If Rashaan was here, I think he would enjoy this honor and celebration of him being inducted into the National Football College Football of Fame.”

The induction ceremony is set for Dec. 6.

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Colorado legend Rashaan Salaam reportedly named to College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class

Rashaan Salaam will reportedly be a member of the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class.

Rashaan Salaam, the only Colorado football player to ever win the prestigious Heisman Trophy, will reportedly be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of its 2022 class. Although the 2022 class hasn’t officially been announced, Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported that Salaam will be among those inducted later this year.

Salaam’s Heisman-winning campaign came in 1994 when he rushed for 2,055 yards (7.61 yards per carry) and 24 touchdowns. His historic junior season helped the Buffs finish with an 11-1 record, a Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame and the No. 3 spot in the final AP Poll.

In his three seasons with Colorado, Salaam accumulated 3,057 yards and 33 touchdowns before he was drafted 21st overall in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

Salaam tragically took his own life on Dec. 5, 2016, at the age of 42. But now, the Buffs legend will take his long-overdue place among college football’s all-time greats.

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Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams reportedly named as part of College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class

At long last, Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams is reportedly set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class.

At long last, one of Oklahoma’s best defensive players in program history is set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that OU defensive back Roy Williams is one of the Class of 2022 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Williams was one of the key defensive cogs on Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship team. He also helped co-author one of the most memorable plays in Red River Showdown history during the 2001 OU-Texas game.

With 2:06 to play and Oklahoma holding a 7-3 lead over the Longhorns, Williams made Cotton Bowl history.

Known fondly by Sooner fans as “The Play,” Williams famously blitzed, leapt over the line of scrimmage and hit Texas quarterback Chris Simms. It sprung the football loose from Simms up into the air and into the waiting arms of linebacker Teddy Lehman who raced in for the game-clinching score.

In the 2001 season, Williams became the first college player to win the Bronko Nagurski Award (nation’s best defensive player) and Jim Thorpe Award (nation’s best defensive back) in the same season. Williams recorded 107 tackles and 22 pass breakups in that 2001 season to become a unanimous All-American. Williams is just one of four defensive backs to win the Nagurski. That group includes Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson, and fellow Sooner Derrick Strait.

According to SoonerStats.com, Williams’ 22 pass breakups in 2001 still stands as the Sooners’ single-season record.

Williams finished his OU career with 287 tackles and 44 pass breakups. His 44 pass breakups only trails Derrick Strait’s 55 career pass breakups in Oklahoma history.

After his junior season, Williams was selected No. 8 overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2002 NFL Draft.

On Dec. 6, the Class of 2022 will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at the 64th annual National Football Foundation Awards Dinner.

He’s reportedly joined in the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class by former Colorado and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Rashaan Salaam, Oklahoma State running back Terry Miller, Florida State linebacker Marvin Jones and former Toledo and Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel.

In the past decade, four Sooners have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Linebacker Rod Shoate was inducted in 2013, linebacker Brian Bosworth in 2015, safety Rickey Dixon in 2019 and head football coach Bob Stoops in 2021.

OU has placed 22 players and six coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame in its program’s history.

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