As time runs out to bid on Rashaan Salaam's 1994 Heisman trophy, Salaam's mother, the previous owner and a sports memorabilia auctioneer disagree on how the trophy came to be up for auction.
Khalada Salaam told CBS Sports that she believes her son's trophy was stolen from his apartment in Boulder. According to CBS Sports, Rashaan's family couldn't find the trophy when they were clearing out his apartment after his December 2016 death.
Last month - after years of not knowing where it was - the family learned it was up for auction at SCP Auctions.
9NEWS Sports spoke with the trophy's current owner, Tyler Tysdal, a Denver-based real estate and private equity investor, who disputes the claim.
Michael Russek, the Director of Operations for Grey Flannel Auctions who originally bought the item said that he's shocked to hear the Salaam family claims. He also disputes the claims.
He told 9NEWS that Rashaan was "a pleasure to work with and it was one of those transactions that was seamless."
Russek said he went to the University of Colorado and was contacted by Rashaan in late 2014 to be the private broker in the selling of his Heisman trophy.
He said he wasn't even an owner of the trophy and that he only arranged the buy and then immediately sold it to Tyler.
Since the Salaam's family claims have come to light, SCP Auctions has put the original letter of sale up on the auction site (check it out at this link).
Russek said that he's also got a voicemail from Rashaan thanking him for the sale but is not making that public out of respect for the family.
The auction opened up on January 8th with a starting bid of $45,000. As of 11:00 p.m Friday night, the highest bid is $275,213.
Tysdal placed the trophy up for auction to raise awareness for brain-related injuries. His inspiration came from his two daughters, who both have experienced serious concussions. All of the profits from the auction will go to the National Health Institutes of Health.
Letter purportedly from Rashaan:
Certificate of authenticity:
