CARDS: Playoff 1994, UT Upper Deck 2011 HACK
ACQUIRED: TTM 2025, C/o Work
SENT: 9/29 RECEIVED: 10/14 (15 Days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

• Van Malone played DB at Texas from 1990-’93.
• Hard hitting safety and fearsome special teams player.
• Drafted in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
• Saw action in 55 contests over NFL career, starting in 19 of them.
• Posted 3 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, and 102 total tackles over 4 seasons.
• Finished 1997 on IR and signed with the Arizona Cardinals after the season, but was released with an injury settlement.
• Went into coaching and philantropy.
• Climbed the coaching ranks from high school into college, where as of 2020 he is the Assistant Head Coach at Kansas State.

NOTES:

When I started the UT Upper Deck HACK collection, I thought to myself, I need deep cut players. Guys like Van Malone. Here at Texas, we all knew about the hard hitting, in the box, enforcing safety that was Van Malone. Like many other Lifetime Longhorns, I was surprised he was not in the set. I think the card I made completely encapsulates him and I captured it perfectly!

He hadn’t signed in a while, but I was confident, he’d take one look at the card, smile, and sign away. I tossed in the 1994 Playoff card to go along with it and crossed my fingers, sending it off to K-State. I was surprised to get it back just a bit over two weeks later, both signed in blue.