Denver, CO
Keeler: CU Buffs legend Rashaan Salaam “would love” seeing Travis Hunter win Heisman Trophy, Salaam’s mother says
Rashaan Salaam would want the company.
“He would love 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 love that.
“These young men, who weren’t even born when he was playing football — he’s old enough to be their father. He would love to be a part of that. I know Rashaan would really love this. I hope it happens. It’s amazing.”
Some 2,700 miles and a coast away from Manhattan, Salaam-Alaji on Saturday will be rooting in San Diego for Hunter to become CU’s second member of the Heisman fraternity. Because nobody would be pulling harder for #HE12MAN, the Buffs’ two-way star, than her late son.
“He’s in Colorado,” Khalada said of Salaam, the ex-CU tailback whose Heisman victory (Dec. 10, 1994) celebrated its 30th anniversary on Tuesday. “His remains are in Boulder. His spirit’s 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 for good. She represented Rashaan when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2022 and into the California High School Hall of Fame at the Rose Bowl last year.
These days, Salaam-Alaji is the wind beneath the wings of The Rashaan Salaam Foundation, a non-profit committed to “help children, adolescents, young adults, and athletes navigate through our complex and mentally challenging society.” The foundation held a fundraiser in Atlanta earlier this month in honor of Rashaan’s 50th birthday (Oct. 4).
“What we’re hoping is we can use all the wonderful recognition in his memory that we’ve received since he’s been gone, and do something with it,” Khalada said. “And we want the foundation to be generational. We want it to be here long after I’m gone.”
Salaam took his own life in Boulder on Dec. 5, 2016. He was 42.
“It’s so difficult this week,” Salaam-Alaji said. “It’s so difficult.”
For most Buffs fans over 35, Salaam still runs to daylight in their hearts. The minute he de-planed in Broomfield, Deion Sanders stuck a giant CU pin on the national map again. If you happened to join Buffs Nation on Dec. 3, 2022, do yourself a favor: Go to YouTube.com, or Google. Then type “Rashaan Salaam, highlights.”
Watch him juke one Miami defender, then drag two more Hurricanes with him into the end zone. Watch him fly like Superman into the end zone at Michigan Stadium. Watch him hurdle Oklahoma defenders. Watch him shatter about 486 Kansas State arm tackles. Watch him rumble for 134 yards at Nebraska. Just for fun.
Peak Salaam was the complete package, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound hammer who ran with Leroy Kelly’s anger and Gene Kelly’s grace.
In 1994, he became just the fourth Football Bowl Subdivision player to rack up at least 2,000 rushing yards before a bowl game. He led the country in rushing, scoring (24 TDs) and all-purpose yardage. His 141 yards at Michigan were the most by any opponent in Ann Arbor since Archie Griffin’s 163 back in 1973. His 11-1 Buffs faced six ranked teams over the season’s first eight weeks. Salaam averaged 173.5 rushing yards against that dirty half-dozen.
And yet the play he was proudest of came on Sept. 24, 1994, at the Big House — the block in the backfield that freed up teammate Kordell Stewart to throw the “Miracle at Michigan” to Michael Westbrook. On a team of superstars, Salaam was a bashful giant, deferential and unselfish to the last.
“I would tell (Hunter’s family) to not be fearful,” Khalada continued. “To enjoy the moment. And to help him with his finances, to make sure that (that’s taken care of) … football’s not going to last forever.
“Just enjoy it. Enjoy it. Try not to ego-trip it too hard, with the Heisman … stay connected to the God within. In the long run, that’s all I would say. Take care of yourself. Enjoy it. But protect your finances if you can.
“I appreciate it now more so than I did when it was happening.”
Her son’s relationship with the Heisman, and the expectations that came with it, became complicated. Over the 22 years after winning the award, the ex-Buffs great returned to the Heisman ceremony, as a member of college football’s most elite fraternity, just five more times. This week, like the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio, is a homecoming weekend for past winners, a chance to share in the spotlight again, to catch up.
Salaam wanted to move on. He sold his Heisman ring for roughly $8,000 in 2011; he sold his statue three years later. In 2016, it fetched $399,608 in an online auction, raising funds to CTE-related medical research in Salaam’s memory.
When the soft-spoken Buffs back attended Heisman festivities as a finalist, one of his running buddies in New York was a gregarious Miami Hurricane defensive lineman named Warren Sapp.
Three decades later, that same Sapp is now a member of the CU football family, having joined Sanders’ coaching staff as a senior quality control analyst.
Sometimes, history can tie things together with wonderful, unexpected bows.
“He would love (Hunter),” Salaam-Alaji said. “There would be no competition. It would be only encouragement. And being proud. That’s who Rashaan was.”
•••
For more information on The Rashaan Salaam Foundation, or to donate, visit rashaansalaamfoundation.org
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Originally Published:
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
For the first time in the team’s history, Altitude Sports is broadcasting Denver Nuggets home games in Spanish. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment announced it has contracted a team to broadcast its games in Spanish for the playoffs.
“I think that is what the public wanted,” said Ivan De La Garza, producer for the broadcast team.
A team of three people, two commentators and a producer, sit in a press box at the top of Ball Arena. Their commentary is then synced with the traditional Altitude broadcast video and shared on the Altitude Plus application.
“With the Nuggets winning in the last five years, there is a tremendous amount of following from Latino people trying to listen to and watch the games in Spanish,” said Andres Casas, color commentator for the broadcast.
Casas said he strives to bring the same energy fans get during soccer broadcasts into the basketball broadcasts.
“That excitement that gets you. We want people to feel they are at the game,” Casas said.
“It has been so amazing to be a part of the Spanish broadcast for the Nuggets. I have been a fan of the Nuggets for my whole life,” said Jena Garcia, play-by-play commentator.
Garcia said it has been a dream come true to help bring this broadcast to her community.
“I’ve always desired to hear a Spanish broadcast, just as a fan. To be a part of it is just incredible,” Garcia said.
Those working in the broadcast said they are honored to help expand the reach of the Nuggets and sports in accessing diverse communities.
“We love sports. We are passionate, we are loud. We like to get together and enjoy sports,” De La Garza said.
“The Nuggets have a huge following, especially on the Spanish side. So, it is great for them to be able to listen to what is going on, game by game, especially into the playoffs,” Casas said.
“It is just another step of access that they are getting to be a fan of basketball,” Garcia said.
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