Salaam to be inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

Rashaan Salaam won’t have to wait much longer to get his roses.

The late Colorado Buffaloes running back headlines the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class announced on Monday. Salaam becomes the tenth CU alumni enshrined in Atlanta and joins his former teammate Michael Westbrook, who was part of last year’s class.

The College Football Foundation released the names of this year’s class which included Stanford’s Andrew Luck, Penn State’s LaVar Arrington and Georgia’s Champ Bailey. Salaam was the only former Heisman winner in this year’s class. Luck was a two-time runner-up for the award in back-to-back years starting in 2010.

Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, Alabama’s Sylvester Croom and Oklahoma’s Roy Williams were among the others selected. Former Toledo and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was also on the short list. He ended his 41-year career in 2015 with a 191-110-3 overall record.

Salaam left his mark on CU history as the school’s lone Heisman winner in 1994. His 3,057 career rushing yards are fourth all-time in school history, despite only playing three seasons in Boulder before forgoing his senior year to enter the 1995 NFL Draft. He was a unanimous first-team All-American that year, and also claimed the Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards in addition to college football most-prestigious hardware.

The 2,055 rushing yards Salaam put up during his Heisman campaign led the nation and was the fourth-best season in college football history at the time. In fact, his mark still stands as a CU record for most rushing yards in a season. He finished with 3,469 all-purpose yards with 33 total touchdowns.

Salaam tragically took his own life five years ago at the age of 42. Just days before he was scheduled to be in New York City for the 2016 Heisman presentation.

The 18 players and three coaches in the 2022 class were selected from a national ballot of 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision, 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks, and the National Football Foundation Veterans Committee candidates.