Pretty much cleared out Sloan’s cards with this fell swoop in a very short 5 days via his work. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s one more hanging around out there I’ll hold on to for an in person event or camp. I really like how the Upper Deck HACK set is shaping up. I’m getting a fair amount of guys who should’ve been in the set or flew under the radar. -Sloan being one of them.
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.
I fought my way through a torrential downpour and traffic from the north part of town all the way to New Braunfels to see Aaron. I had printed his hack card on a whim a few months ago since he had signed in person for me in the past. When I originally printed the card I made a mistake and hadn’t updated the back so I had to reprint it with the correct player information. Aaron really liked the hack card I gave him and he gave it to his son.
We talked briefly about the game that was played today (Vanderbilt) and how Texas toppled #7 all the way from #20. I also lamented about how people have been treating Arch- which he wholeheartedly agreed. As I left I realized that the hack card he signed for me in bronze had smeared. Luckily my friend Mark had a white eraser and we were able to take most of it off and have him resign it properly. It looks fantastic!
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
