“The CU Buffs’ Rashaan Salaam would love to see Travis Hunter win the Heisman,” says Mutter

Rashaan Salaam would want the company.

“He would like that,” Khalada Salaam-Alaji, mother of the late CU Buffs icon, told me Tuesday when I asked about Travis Hunter and the 2024 Heisman Trophy. “He would like that.

“These young men who weren’t even born when he played football – he’s old enough to be their father. He would like to be a part of it. I know Rashaan would really love this. I hope it happens. It’s amazing.”

About 2,700 miles and one coast from Manhattan, Salaam-Alaji will fight Saturday in San Diego to ensure Hunter becomes CU’s second member of the Heisman fraternity. Because no one would champion #HE12MAN, the Buffs’ two-way star, more than her late son.

“He’s in Colorado,” Khalada said of Salaam, the former CU tailback whose Heisman win (Dec. 10, 1994) celebrated its 30th anniversary Tuesday. “His remains are in Boulder. His spirit is there. He would really want something good to happen in Boulder.”

Khalada continues to honor her son’s legacy and his memory as a driver forever. She represented Rashaan when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2022 and the California High School Hall of Fame at last year’s Rose Bowl.

Today, Salaam-Alaji is the wind beneath the wings of the Rashaan Salaam Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “helping children, teens, young adults and athletes navigate our complex and mentally challenging society.” The foundation held a fundraiser in Atlanta earlier this month in honor of Rashaan’s 50th birthday (October 4).

“We hope we can take all of the wonderful recognition we have received in his memory since his death and do something with it,” Khalada said. “And we want the foundation to be cross-generational. We want it to stay here long after I’m gone.”

Salaam took his own life on December 5, 2016 in Boulder. He was 42 years old.

“It’s so difficult this week,” Salaam-Alaji said. “It’s so difficult.”