After Alabama football's 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt Saturday, safety Malachi Moore said it did not take long for him to return to his leadership role after his late-game outburst.
"I kind of had to lock back in and look at my brothers and see that they were hurting as well," Moore said. "I had to be there for them as well and lift them up."
Moore's hurt went viral . The Alabama safety grabbed Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia's face mask and pushed it into the turf. In victory formation, Moore kicked the football leading to an unsportsmanlike penalty. He yelled toward the Alabama coaches on the sideline and refused to be substituted out.
The way Moore acted was out of frustration, he said. But he made it clear that he was not in the right.
How Alabama football handled Malachi Moore outburst
"Not to play up to our standard, it definitely was frustrating to me, but I take full accountability for that," Moore said. "Let my actions get the best of me. It won't happen again."
Moore said he reached out to Pavia via Instagram to apologize, and said he and the Vanderbilt quarterback are "good."
Moore sent out a public apology Monday after apologizing to his teammates.
"I let them down as a leader in that moment," Moore said. "In a moment where your captain and your leader is supposed to be strong, in that moment, I let my emotions get the best of me and kind of just acted out of character. So I apologized to them for that and told them that's not the way we do stuff here, that it won't happen again."
While people such as Damien Harris blasted Moore for his actions — someone Moore said he has not heard from — the Alabama safety said he's received support not only from his teammates, but from the coaching staff as well.
And to Moore, those are the only opinion's he's worried about.
"I didn't mean for this situation to blow up as I did," Moore said. "And to have my head coach just come to me and tell me that he had my back without us even having a conversation about it first or anything like that. Some coaches can not stick up for their players, but it says a lot about coach DeBoer, and it really meant the world as well."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama safety Malachi Moore addresses Vanderbilt outburst
