A late college football player’s Heisman Trophy joins the battle against CTE

A Heisman Trophy has joined the battle against CTE.

Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam won college football’s top individual award in 1994. He died in December 2016 in Boulder, Colo., of an apparent suicide, a gunshot wound to the head.

His Heisman Trophy was sold in 2014 to a sports memorabilia dealer who resold it to current owner Tyler Tysdal, a Denver-based real estate and private equity investor and collector.

Tysdal said he plans to donate all net proceeds from the trophy’s sale to the National Institutes of Health to support research on athletes’ medical conditions, including brain injuries and CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

“A gifted football player won this trophy,” Tysdal said in a release. “We wanted to honor him by utilizing to benefit other players who need help.”

Salaam was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears and was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after a 1,000-yard rushing season. Knee and ankle injuries cut short his pro career.

The auction, conducted by SCP Auctions of Laguna Beach, Calif., is open and runs through Jan. 20. The company said it expects the Heisman to sell for more than $300,000.

Other Heisman’s have fetched six figures, including O.J. Simpson’s 1968 trophy for $255,000 and Charlie White’s 1979 trophy for $293,750.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 2:41 PM with the headline "A late college football player’s Heisman Trophy joins the battle against CTE."