Alabama safety Malachi Moore apologizes for his tantrum late in loss to Vanderbilt

Associated Press

Alabama safety Malachi Moore apologized Monday for his late-game tantrum during a weekend loss to Vanderbilt.

The two-time team captain pushed Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia's head to the ground at the end of a play, threw down his mouthguard and incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for kicking the football in the 40-35 upset that swept the Crimson Tide the No. 1 cost rank. Moore also appeared to defy coaches' orders to leave the field when they tried to replace him.

He apologized for his actions on social media on Monday.

“I went completely out of line,” Moore said in a post on “We are supposed to live up to that in Alabama, and I have failed to do so by acting selfishly and unacceptable.”

Coach Kalen DeBoer did not say what punishment, if any, Moore would face.

“We got through it,” DeBoer said Monday. “I just want to say this about Malachi, what he did, he did everything he could to take responsibility for it. That's pretty much immediately after the game until this morning. Things that were all initiated by him, but also some of our conversations.

“I want to make sure Bama fans know that this guy has been rock solid since January and, along with a few others, has been instrumental in holding this thing together.” When a lot of people decided to leave, this guy stood his ground. This guy loves Alabama football.”

Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack did not immediately respond when asked if Moore refused orders to leave the field.

“Just at that moment, I think (Moore) got a little emotional,” Wommack said. “So at that moment we wanted to try to calm him down a little bit. Sometimes in such situations it is better to let them calm down at a later date.

“But I think he's handled things really well since then, taken on 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 do it right? No,” Booker said on “The Next Round” podcast. “But we all appreciate how much Malachi cares. First and foremost, I just want to get this out there. This is my teammate. I will always have his back.

“The way I deal with it, the first thing I think of when I was standing on the sideline in that moment is: OK, what could I have done better? How can I prevent this from happening in the future? I learned that from Malachi.”

___

Get alerts about the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Register here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll