ARLINGTON, Texas –  Derrick Malone sat between his locker about twenty minutes after his Oregon football career had ended. He sat there calm and reflective – a typical demeanor for the Ducks linebacker. For the second time in his collegiate career, he had missed out on a chance to hoist the national championship trophy.
But that’s not where his mind was at. Instead, he looked around at his teammates and appreciated all the stuff that they, as a team, had accomplished this year.
Malone sat down with the Emerald after Oregon’s 42-20 loss to Ohio State.
You’ve had your initial thoughts now and you’ve kind of had a little bit of time to take it in – what’s going through your head right now?
How proud I am of each and everyone of us for getting this far. We’ve accomplished so much – we were Pac-12 champions, we were Rose Bowl champions – and we’ve endured so much. We’ve been hit in the guy a few times and we bounced back so many times. These guys are resilient and I’m so proud of each and every one of them.
You said you’re proud of them, but how much do you appreciate what you guys did this season?
I appreciate this season so much because it helped me grow as a man. I’ve been here for a very, very long time and throughout it all, I’ve grown so much. I went through the adversity with this team and I’ve seen the benefits of doing things the right way. Even though we lost this game, we’ve accomplished so much and no one can take that away from us.
There’s more to life than just football – it’s something you always say. Is this loss just another adversity in your life?
For me personally, I wouldn’t call this an adversity because I’ve learned so much from it. You know, the guys that are here, they’re going to start conditioning in a couple days and it’s adversity for them, because they’re going to come back and fight for another chance to get a national championship.
For me, I take this as a learning experience. It’s not an adversity I’ve had to overcome because I’ve learned so much from it. I’ve gained so much from it. It’s a blessing and a curse, but I take it for what it is.
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt