Ex-Bears Running Back Rashaan Salaam Found Dead in Colorado Park

Former Chicago Bears running back Rashaan Salaam was found dead Monday night in a Colorado park, according to the athletics department for the University of Colorado, the school he played college football for in the 1990s. Salaam was 42.

While there were no signs of foul play at the scene, authorities are investigating his death as a possible suicide, according to the Daily Camera, a newspaer in Boulder, Colorado, where Salaam's body was found. Boulder also is the home of the University of Colorado, and Salaam won the Heisman Trophy in 1994 while playing for the Buffaloes.

Salaam was the Bears' first-round pick in the 1995 NFL draft — the 21st overall selection — and spent three seasons with the team, from 1995 to 1997. With Chicago, he became the youngest NFL player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season as a rookie. But his peformance was inconsistent for the rest of his time in Chicago, marred by injuries, fumbles and marijuana use.

"It probably had me out there lackadaisical instead of going out there 100 percent," Salaam told ESPN about his pot use in a 1999 interview. "Everybody thinks getting high is cool, you can let it go when you want to let it go. But it's just as potent as cocaine."

RELATED: Rashaan Salaam Auctions Off Heisman Trophy Ring for Nearly $10K

Salaam was cut by the Bears after going through drug rehab, and he wasn't in the NFL again until 1999 when he joined the Cleveland Browns, playing only two games for them. Although he was signed to various teams until 2004 — the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers, as well as the Memphis Maniax of the defunct XFL and the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts — that was the last time Salaam played in a regular season NFL game.

The son of former Cincinnati running back Teddy Washington, Salaam was born in San Diego and graduated from La Jolla Country Day School.

In 2011, Salaam auctioned off his Heisman Trophy ring for $9,768.

photo via Patch archive

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