Heisman Winner Rashaan Salaam Selected To College Football Hall Of Fame Class Of 2022
Rashaan Salaam, the 1994 Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado, was among 18 All-Americans first teamers and three coaches named to the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022, announced by the National Football Foundation on Monday (Jan. 10).
Salaam is the 67th Heisman Trophy winner to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the third in a row following USC’s Carson Palmer’s inclusion in the Class of 2021 and Nebraska’s Eric Crouch’s membership in the 2020 class. Most recently before Crouch was Michigan’s Charles Woodson in 2018 and Palmer’s USC teammate Matt Leinart in 2017.
To be eligible, a player must have “received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise its consensus All-America teams,” per the NFF and “a player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation’s Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.”
The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will officially be inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6 (location TBD).
The full release for the 2021 class and the complete criteria for the award is available here.
Below is the National Football Foundation’s bio of Salaam.
The winner of the 1994 Heisman Trophy, Rashaan Salaam was just the fourth player in NCAA history to run for 2,000 yards in a season. The San Diego native becomes the ninth Buff player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
A unanimous First Team All-American in 1994, Salaam also claimed the Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards in addition to the Heisman Trophy. That season, the 1994 Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year led the nation in rushing yards (2,055), scoring (144) and all-purpose yards (2,349), all while not playing in the fourth quarter in five games. Salaam led the 1994 Buffs to an 11-1 record and the No. 3 final ranking after a win over Notre Dame in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl. He led Colorado to two other bowl berths, including a win in the 1993 Aloha Bowl where he was named MVP, and two other top 20 finishes in 1992 (No. 13) and 1993 (No. 16).
Salaam was a two-time First Team All-Big Eight selection, including unanimous recognition in 1994, and he led the Buffs to second place finishes in the conference all three seasons. He still owns 18 school records, including many single-season marks for rushing yards (2,055), touchdowns (24), points (144) and all-purpose yards (2,349), all set during his 1994 Heisman campaign. That season, Salaam also set Colorado single-season records with 10 games of 100 yards rushing, four games of 200 yards rushing and nine consecutive games with 100 yards rushing. He finished his career with 3,057 rushing yards, which rank fourth all-time at Colorado. During his time in Boulder, Salaam played for College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bill McCartney and alongside Hall of Famer Michael Westbrook.
A first-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, Salaam played three seasons with the Bears (1995-97), and he was named the NFC Rookie of the Year in 1995. He spent the 1999 season with the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers before playing with the XFL’s Memphis Maniax in 2001.
A member of both the CU Athletic and the State of Colorado Sports halls of fame, Salaam’s No. 19 jersey was retired by the university in 2017. He died Dec. 5, 2016, at the age of 42.
