Card: Sage 2019
Acquired: BB, 2019

Well I wasn’t too impressed by Sage’s 2019 entry. I thought their base cards were particularly busy, a bit too glossy, and too dark, making them terrible candidates for autographs. Their autograph inserts weren’t bad looking. Although they are quite original looking with the player name smack dab in the center of a portrait framed card, I still felt they could’ve had a larger photo canvas for the player image. Still among the 4 that I pulled I was happy to get Dakota Allen as he has a unique story of redemption on his way to a path in professional football.

Originally a Texas Tech commit, Dakota was a solid inside linebacker for the Red Raiders posting 87 total tackles, which ranked second on the team. Unfortunately he got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and was busted for burglary and dismissed from the team after the 2015 campaign.

Doing some soul searching, he transferred to East Mississippi Community College, where he became one of the main focuses of the show, “Last Chance U”. After a banner season at the school, and receiving multiple scholarship offers, he decided to return to Texas Tech in 2017. Starting 13 games as a Junior, Dakota had 101 total tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 pass deflections and a forced fumble- earning First Big 12 Honors. He’d return for his Senior season, and afterwards be selected in the 7th round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.

Allen earned a spot on the team’s practice squad, but was signed away by the Oakland Raiders in late September. He appeared in two games with the Raiders, and then returned to the Rams practice squad. Late in the season, he was signed to the Jaguars roster.