J.W. Slack never played a down of pro football. He showed up at the initial LA Chargers camp in 1960 after a stellar career at Louisiana Tech, but he was a small town boy from the Deep South. He was horribly homesick, and admitted he didn’t try very hard. Plus, he was married (while still in high school) and he had a young family back home. So he left camp, thinking his career was over…
But the Chargers STILL wanted him, and invited him back in 1961. But this time, he quit because he had a job opportunity in Louisiana. The Chargers never bothered to check with J.W. in 1962.
So, J.W. never did play pro football. Of course, Fleer in 1960 was picking players at random at the first Chargers camp to fill their first AFL set, and the Little All-American wound up with his own card. Just like his fellow Louisianan Jim Taylor with the Packers, but Fleer managed to use the right picture, unlike Taylor’s first two Topps cards.
When he finally came home for good, J.W. worked in law enforcement for twenty years, specializing in being a juvenile officer. He also served on the local school board, and he watched his sons’ play high school football, and never interfered with their coaches. His grandson played at Calvary Baptist High School under Doug Pederson, some years before winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles. Two of his sons played for Tech, as did his grandson. Pretty nice legacy.
His obituary stretches the truth a bit–it claims that he “spent two years” with the Chargers. But no harm done.
He wasn’t destined to be Abner Haynes or Cookie Gilchrist. Heck, he wasn’t even Elbert Dubenion. But thanks to Fleer’s “throw it on the wall and see if it sticks” wisdom, he’s got a card, just like them. Eternal life is what you make of it.
