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Eight years since Rashaan Salaam died by suicide in Colorado, his girlfriend still feels the pain of his loss.
“Not one day goes by” that she doesn’t, said Salaam’s girlfriend, Shelley Martin. But she hopes the 30th anniversary of his Heisman Trophy win will renew interest in his memory, especially now that two-way star Travis Hunter is on the verge of winning Colorado’s first Heisman since Salaam won it as a junior running back at Colorado on Dec. 10, 1994.
“He’s just a beautiful soul,” Martin said of Salaam this week in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “It needs to be told… about mental health and concussions. That is real. I saw it.”
This is normally a time of reflection for Salaam’s family and friends. He died on Dec. 5, 2016 at age 42. The Heisman Trophy ceremony usually comes shortly after that every year. Only this time it’s a little more personal. If Hunter wins it Saturday, they hope it raises even more awareness about Colorado’s first Heisman winner, thereby bringing more attention to suicide prevention and who Salaam was as a person.
In many ways, he was like Hunter – the gifted football player and humble homebody with the bright smile who often deflected praise toward his teammates.
“You can think you’re having a bad day and then just think back about Rashaan and the smile he always had,” his former Colorado teammate Derek West said this week. “It’s always uplighting. It kind of pulls you out of any funk you may be in. I just smiled thinking about it.”
Two Heisman Trophies at Colorado, 30 years apart?
Each year, two actual Heisman Trophies are given out – one to the college football player who wins…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/travis-hunter-colorado-won-heisman-113120031.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-12-13 11:31:00
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