Emotions were running high for one Alabama player in the closing minute of Vanderbilt’s 40-35 upset of at the time No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.
Alabama fifth-year safety and captain Malachi Moore did not handle his emotions very well and threw a temper tantrum on the field.
After Vanderbilt made the game-clinching first down, Moore erupted on his teammates and eventually received an unsportsmanlike penalty for kicking the football after the officials spotted the ball. Moore also refused to come off the field after the Alabama coaching staff tried to substitute him to diffuse the situation.
On Monday morning Moore released a statement on Instagram and X apologizing for his actions.
“I want to apologize to my teammates, our coaches, the fans, our alumni and my family for the way I acted on Saturday,” Moore said. “I was completely out of line. I let the emotions of the game get the best of me and put myself before the team.”
“As a two-time captain and a fifth-year player, I understand the standard that we are expected to live up to at Alabama, and I failed to do so by acting in a selfish and unacceptable manner. I came back this season to represent myself, this team and this University because it means something to me," he continued. “I am blessed to be able to wear the ‘A’ on my chest, and I know all that comes with the responsibility of representing this program. I will do better to uphold the Alabama standard moving forward, and I will continue to work and improve while conducting myself in a first-class manner.”
Alabama captain Tyler Booker weighed in on Moore’s outburst with “The Next Round” on Monday.
"We all had conversations with Malachi," Booker stated. "We all understand where he's coming from. Like, he's a competitor. Anybody who has been in a situation like that, anybody who has been here for their fifth year, they would feel the same way.”
"Did he go about it the right way? No. But we all appreciate how much Malachi cares. I just want to put that out there first and foremost. That's my teammate. I'm always going to have his back. … We trust, believe and love him. We're very excited to see how he responds this week. We're all behind Malachi. We all have his back," he added.
In regards to Moore refusing to obey his coaches when they tried to substitute him out, Booker was also asked if the players had the same amount of respect for Kalen DeBoer’s staff as they did for Nick Saban’s staff.
"Definitely the same level of respect," Booker responded. "Whatever happened on the field during that, I didn't see. I wasn't clued into what was going on then. I was talking to my coach, so I didn't even see that go down. I know for a fact there's the same level of respect for this coaching staff as there was for the last one, as well. Like, we have a tremendous amount of respect for this coaching staff.”
"Malachi, he's so prideful about the University of Alabama," he continued. "I've learned so much about being an Alabama football player from Malachi. It means so much to him. Yeah, he had an emotional moment at the end of the game but when he got into the locker room, he was the leader he needed to be. Just having a conversation with him, we just talked about how bad both of us wanted it. Because Malachi has won a national championship as a freshman, and he wants to go out the right way, just as I do and just as everybody else on the team does. We all understand where his frustration was coming from."
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