Sack Exchange’s Abdul Salaam, Jets’ ‘Quiet Philosopher,’ ‘Soldier of Peace,’ Dies at 71

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Abdul Salaam, the first player to arrive among the original members of the most influential foursome in Jets history, the New York Sack Exchange, has passed away. His age was 71. Named for the “soldier of peace,” Salaam was once known as Larry Faulk, a defensive end from Kent State who was taken by the Jets in the seventh round of the 1976 NFL Draft. The following year, he converted to Islam. He was known as the Jets’ “quiet philosopher” because of his reserved, serious demeanor in the locker room, while at the same time implied a fierce warrior on the field.

Salaam once remarked, “You don’t get anything without a struggle,” in 1980. But I enjoy a good fight. It’s difficult every day. I know it’s hard for you to perform your work every day, just as it’s hard for me to do mine. However, you won’t be able to wake up in the morning if you don’t fight.” Back then, head coach Walt Michaels said of Abdul, “You never hear much from him, but out on the field, he gets the job done.”

“I always pictured him as that quiet man, John Wayne,” said veteran PR director Frank Ramos in a statement today. “And he simply made no tackle errors. As soon as he touched you, the relationship ended. Additionally, he never desired attention. He simply did his job, went to work like a lunchpail person, and never said a thing.”

Salaam’s struggles, which stem from his early years in Cincinnati, helped him and the other members of the Sack Exchange grow into magnificent individuals that the Green & White and their supporters can admire. In 1978, Joe Klecko, Mark Gastineau, and Marty Lyons were drafted. Salaam switched to tackle, and for an all too brief but extremely successful period of time, he and his three teammates were the stuff of NFL legends and nightmares for opposition offenses.

The 1981 season, when they led the fierce pass rush to a franchise-record 66 sacks, stands as the front four’s best accomplishment. The individual sacks—Klecko’s 20.5, Gastineau’s 20, Salaam’s 7, and Lyons’ 6.5—came during the season prior to the official designation of player sacks. However, the team sacks are official. Still, it doesn’t matter. For the quarterbacks that were taken out, including Lynn Dickey, Ken Stabler, and Phil Simms—all of whom were sacked at least seven times in a game—they all seemed extremely real.

When Salaam spoke with Jim Gehman of newyorkjets.com in 2021, he recalled working closely not only with Lyons on his right but also with Gastineau on the left edge of the line. “When Mark did the sack dance, I knew he was sincerely happy about getting the sack, so it was kind of a dance for me, too,” said Salaam. “But I was in the middle and wasn’t able to get as many, so I wasn’t able to dance as good.” “He was a soldier,” Gastineau declared in the present. “He released me to sprint up and enter.”

“He was a soldier,” Gastineau declared in the present. “He gave me free rein to do as I pleased, letting me run up, run in, and run out. And it’s what made me who I am.” “Abdul had an enormous life span. He relished life,” Lyons added. Even though he wasn’t always a rah-rah man, you listened to him when he talked. And when we got to the field, I was pressed up against Joe and him in the center, and we all knew what had to be done. Abdul and I had good communication. “Soldier of Peace is what his name tells it all. That’s what he carried out. He was always there to mediate any disputes amongst the four of us.

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