Random Bear of the Week: Rashaan Salaam

[DC]

Thanks for posting, FT. This one really brought back some memories. I believe he became an Akido instructor later in life, before his demons got the best of him in Boulder. Local radio was shook upon that news when it broke, FWIW. "Big Al" Williams cried on 104.3 the fan. Shivers.

 

[mecha]

I forgot he died. I was never into the Wannstedt era, I guess I picked a good one to skip.

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

Highlight of Salami’s career was ripping bong hits inside the huddle. The guy made Snoop Dog look like an AA member. Literally jammed out to Dark Side of the Moon and ate cool ranch Doritos on the side lines.

Getting 1000 yards on 600 carries is like an average of -1 yards per carry.

Anyways RIP. Just because he sucked at sports doesn’t mean he deserved to die.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rory Sparrow]

*Entering the NFL draft Salaam was thought to be a sure fire Top 10 pick, however he showed up at the combine slightly out of shape and his stock slid.

*By the end of the season Salaam had run nearly 300 times for 1,074 yards, breaking Beattie Feather’s 61-year-old team record for rushing yards by a rookie, and scoring 10 touchdowns. Salaam did have fumbling issues throughout the season(9 fumbles)

I don't remember people being that high on Salaam going into the draft. He kind of came out of nowhere to win the Heisman, and more importantly those Big 8 I-Bone tailbacks would never do anything in the NFL...Doug DuBose, Ken Clark, and Colorado had Eric Bienemy before Salaam and he was an NFL bust, too. The thought was that the I-Bone tailback just needed straight line speed...get the pitch with no defender in front of you, and run to the end zone. Salaam was very good at doing that in college. It seemed like in the NFL he had decent speed and OK size, but he was a tweener who couldn't outrun or overpower you. His inability to hang on to the football after contact was a game-killer. He was also a terrible blocker and receiver. Due to his high fumbles, low YPC and lack of pass receptions, Salaam may have been the most inefficient 1000-yard RB in NFL history.

As for that rookie record which Beattie Feathers held...it took Feathers 119 carries to set the record, and it took Salaam 296 carries to break it.

 

[Midway Fields]

OP - “I’m going to take this time to focus on his pro career.” Proceeds to go through his entire college career :shrug:

 

[Aquineas]

Holy cow, that 95 Bears team only had two holding penalties all year!!?

 

[Aquineas]

Also awesome to see a still healthy Walter Payton to honor the 10 year anniversary of the 85 team.

 

[FirstTimer]

Salaam was the first big draft bust I can remember. My dad always called him "Fumble Fingers Baloney." Its pretty crazy that the Bears struck out on two high regarding RB's (Salaam and Enis) in the 90's. For that era of football taking a highly thought of RB would seem like one of the safest bets around and yet the Bears managed to whiff on both picks.

Its pretty crazy how much first round draft capitol the Bears invested in the RB spot from 95-05 and the best of the bunch was Cedric Benson.

Salaam- 21st
Enis-5th
Benson- 5th

Average draft spot of 10th overall.

Enis was interesting because people forget he had a degenerative knee issue and that basically killed his career.

 

[FirstTimer]

OP - “I’m going to take this time to focus on his pro career.” Proceeds to go through his entire college career :shrug:

Are YOU high? I spent ~5 sentences of a 7 paragraph story on his college career.

 

[FirstTimer]

I don't remember people being that high on Salaam going into the draft. He kind of came out of nowhere to win the Heisman, and more importantly those Big 8 I-Bone tailbacks would never do anything in the NFL...Doug DuBose, Ken Clark, and Colorado had Eric Bienemy before Salaam and he was an NFL bust, too. The thought was that the I-Bone tailback just needed straight line speed...get the pitch with no defender in front of you, and run to the end zone. Salaam was very good at doing that in college. It seemed like in the NFL he had decent speed and OK size, but he was a tweener who couldn't outrun or overpower you. His inability to hang on to the football after contact was a game-killer. He was also a terrible blocker and receiver. Due to his high fumbles, low YPC and lack of pass receptions, Salaam may have been the most inefficient 1000-yard RB in NFL history.

As for that rookie record which Beattie Feathers held...it took Feathers 119 carries to set the record, and it took Salaam 296 carries to break it.

Only reason I know about the expected top pick stuff is I still have old Bear Reports from back then. Salaam was listed highly until the combine. Also, the Feathers stuff has come under scrutiny because there is talk they used KO/Punt return yardage as "rushing" stats and inflated the totals to get to 1,004. I always had good memories of Salaam, aside from the fumbles. He was a long strider who needed to get moving forward ASAP but for what Turner wanted to do, it worked.

 

[FirstTimer]

I remember liking Raymont Harris better because he could pick up the slack when Salaam wasn't panning out. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in '97. Those were the lean years '97 - '98. Only 4 wins each year. Some really bad teams.

I loved Harris too. Complete tweener though. Came along at an odd time. A few year later and he could have been an amazing H-Back. I just remember Turner always hoping to be able to use him like the 49ers used William Floyd, but Harris could never stay healthy.

 

[Aquineas]

My first "concern" with Salaam was when there was some kind of all-star game he attended but then elected not to play in it (but he attended)? Been almost 23 years and I forget the details. I was still super-excited to get him though.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

Also, the Feathers stuff has come under scrutiny because there is talk they used KO/Punt return yardage as "rushing" stats and inflated the totals to get to 1,004.

That talk is unsubstantiated.

 

[FirstTimer]

That talk is unsubstantiated.

When was that killed off? Could have sworn I read a bunch about it years ago.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

When was that killed off? Could have sworn I read a bunch about it years ago.

Lack of evidence.

 

[Bort]

Salaam was never very good. He lost his starting job to Raymont Harris in 1996 because Harris was better. Salaam never even averaged over 3.6 yards per carry in any season.

Also, the Forte comparison is kind of ridiculous. Forte ran a legit 4.46 40 at the combine at 6'2 and 223 pounds. Salaam showed up out of shape at the combine and didn't even run the 40, and was generally considered to be a 4.6+ 40 guy, and the only claim that he ran a 4.5 40 was from one of the Bears' front office people who said he hand timed it at a workout.

 

[SuperDitkaMan]

For the era and some of the games he had, he was brilliant. He only started 11 games. His last few games of the season he was pretty unreal. 79 att 361 yards 4 TD's. Also keep in mind since 1995 no Bears RB has scored more than his 10 rushing scores that year..(Raymont Harris tied it in 1997).... 23 years later.

He was not "brilliant". Ever. Good down hill runner. Not much else. He was an Emmitt Smith at best. Which isnt saying much because Smith was only good because he ran behind the greatest offensive line ever assesmbled.

Do an article about the best Bears RB not named Payton or Sayers: Neal Anderson.

Now that was a BRILLIANT talent. For a good 5 years before the hammy problems, he was the arguably the most versatile RB in football.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

He was not "brilliant". Ever. Good down hill runner. Not much else. He was an Emmitt Smith at best. Which isnt saying much because Smith was only good because he ran behind the greatest offensive line ever assesmbled.

Do an article about the best Bears RB not named Payton or Sayers: Neal Anderson.

Now that was a BRILLIANT talent. For a good 5 years before the hammy problems, he was the arguably the most versatile RB in football.

Okay.

 

[MDB111™]

He was not "brilliant". Ever. Good down hill runner. Not much else. He was an Emmitt Smith at best. Which isnt saying much because Smith was only good because he ran behind the greatest offensive line ever assesmbled.

Do an article about the best Bears RB not named Payton or Sayers: Neal Anderson.

Now that was a BRILLIANT talent. For a good 5 years before the hammy problems, he was the arguably the most versatile RB in football.

I think the whole point of these write ups is "obscure" and "forgotten" bears and not the same heroes we all know.

I enjoy this series and would not need a Walter Payton or even his backup Neal Anderson.

And last, emmitt smith???? The guy is the NFL's all time leading rusher! "Not saying much" what?

 

[cd35]

It would probably be better to have done it on Raymont. He had legit talent that was just wasted with injuries and bad teams. He was a heartbreaker who you thought could be awesome and wasn't

Rashaan was terrible on every level. If he could get a full head of steam, only have to run straight, and had no defenders around him, he was....still just ok. Plus he couldn't catch or hold onto the ball. He had 3 deceptively "good" games at the end of '95 bc he played against bad defenses. I remember just watching him run and thinking he didn't even look like a pro back.