Catching up with former Buffs great Eric Bieniemy

When Colorado and the McCartney family announced on Monday that legendary CU coach Bill McCartney has been diagnosed with late-onset dementia/Alzheimer's, I wanted to reach out to a few of his former players and get their thoughts on their coach.

One of the players I contacted was Eric Bieniemy, the Buffs' all-time leading rusher who played for McCartney from 1987-90. Because of his busy schedule as the running backs coach for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, Bieniemy and I connected too late to get his comments in my story on McCartney. He also had not heard about McCartney's diagnosis until I told him.

Although the McCartney story was already on its way to the press, I wanted to share…