Alabama safety Malachi Moore apologized for his late-game outburst during a weekend loss to Vanderbilt.
The two-time team captain shoved the head of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at the end of a play, threw his mouthguard and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for kicking the football in the 40-35 game that gave the Crimson Tide the number 1 cost. ranking. Moore also appeared to refuse coaches’ orders to come off the field as they tried to replace him.
He apologized for his actions on social media.
“I was completely out of line,” Moore said in a post on X. “I let the emotions of the game get the best of me and put myself before the team. As a two-time captain and fifth-year player, I understand the standard we must meet at Alabama, and I failed to do so by acting in a selfish and unacceptable manner.”
Coach Kalen DeBoer did not elaborate on what possible punishment Moore would receive.
“We handled it,” DeBoer said. “I’m just going to say this about Malachi, what he did, he did his level best to take responsibility for it. This is almost immediately after the match until this morning. Things that are all inspired by him, but are also part of our conversations.
“What I want to make sure ‘Bama fans know is that this man has been making a strong and critical contribution since January, along with a number of others, to keeping this thing together. When many boys chose to leave, this man stood firm. This guy loves Alabama football.”
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack did not immediately respond when asked whether Moore refused orders to leave the field.
“Just at that point, I think (Moore) got a little emotional,” Wommack said. “So at that point we were going to try to calm him down a little bit. Sometimes in such situations it is better to let them calm down at a later time.
“But I thought he’s handled things really well since then and taken the level of responsibility that coach DeBoer implemented and done a really good job going forward.”
Offensive lineman Tyler Booker, another team captain, said Moore has spoken to the team.
“Did he handle it the right way? No,” Booker said on “The Next Round” podcast. “But we all appreciate how much Malachi cares. I want to get that out there first and foremost. That’s my teammate. I will always have his back.
“The way I deal with it is that the first thing I think about, when I was on the sidelines at that moment, was like, okay, what could I have done better? How can I prevent this from happening in the future? I learned that from Malachi.”
