By Jared Fields, Sports Editor
One year ago, ACU starting quarterback Billy Malone wasn’t playing football; doctors said he couldn’t anymore. He gave up on going to school, and he owed Tulane University money for parking tickets. He was done with it all.
Once a highly recruited quarterback out of North Lamar High School in Paris, Texas, Malone now worked from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. on an oil rig.
But as Malone says, “God had a plan for me.”
From oil rig to the football field
One of Malone’s friends, Ed Winston, an older man who Malone said is like a father, didn’t want him to give up so easily on football.
“He was always telling me every day, ‘Your window of opportunity’s closing, man. You better go play somewhere. It doesn’t matter where it’s at, just go play somewhere,'” Malone said.
After a week straight of listening to Winston, a Jersey cow dairy farmer, Malone’s opportunity came.
Malone had been contacted in December by coaches from Texas A&M-Commerce to play. Later that month, Malone heeded Winston’s persistent advice and decided to play at Commerce. However, just two days after calling the Commerce coaches back, Malone’s window of opportunity opened a little wider.
Malone received a phone call from Dan Gonzalez, his offensive coordinator in high school. Gonzalez said he was getting a job at ACU and told Malone to come play there. After hearing from Gonzalez, Malone wanted to play at ACU, but couldn’t get his transcript from Tulane, and classes had already started for ACU and other junior colleges.
“I kind of used those Commerce coaches to get me in school up there,” Malone said. “They went and talked to this guy, and I got in as a part-time student.”
Malone went to school for the spring semester, and made a 3.0 grade point average.
“First time I had ever done that,” Malone said.
After the spring semester at Commerce, Malone came to Abilene during the summer to work out. He began practicing with the team during two-a-days, and worked his way into the starting role for the Wildcats.
This is his first year to play since his senior year of high school, the fall of 2001, and he still has three years of eligibility remaining. Even though Malone graduated high school in the spring of 2002 and attended to Tulane, a checkup at the end of spring practice his first year at Tulane changed more than his eligibility status; it kept him from ever playing football at the unversity.
Tulane problems
Malone didn’t play quarterback his whole career; he was a safety until his junior year of high school. Even when he moved to quarterback, he still played defense the whole game. It was after his junior year that Malone received offers to play football from colleges across the country. He committed to the University of Texas after his junior year. Billy’s brother, Gary, who is in the same grade, only received one Division I offer to play football – from Tulane. Billy changed his mind and went to Tulane with his brother, which he says he doesn’t regret at all.
His freshman year, Malone was the third string quarterback, behind future NFL first-round draft pick, J.P. Losman. That year, the Green Wave won the Hawaii Bowl 36-28, against Hawaii.
Billy went through spring practice, and on the last day went to the doctor for a checkup; his side was bothering him when he slept from gas reflux. The doctors ran some stress tests, which came back abnormal. They went in with a catheter and scoped his heart.
The doctors found that his left coronary artery has a kink where it first branches, but the artery only ‘kinks’ when blood is flowing out and doesn’t close all the way.
Malone’s rare condition scared the doctors. He was the only athlete they knew who had the condition. After the discovery, doctors not only told Malonew that he couldn’t play, but that he couldn’t run anymore either. After years of playing two positions in football as well as playing basketball, doctors told Malone to stick to walking.
“That’s what really made me mad; they don’t have an answer for it,” Malone said. “They’re not going to let me play, and my whole life I’ve played.”
When Malone first heard the news, he said he didn’t know what to say and agreed with everything because he didn’t know anything about it. The frustrating part for him was not knowing as much about his condition as he does now.
“It’s not like it could pinch off and my whole side of my heart would just fail, and I would die,” Malone said. “It’s nothing even like that. That’s not ever going to happen.”
Doctors weren’t the only force keeping Malone from playing. Lawyers for Tulane kept Malone from returning to the field because they were afraid of possible legal issues related to his heart condition.
“Even if the doctors said ‘yeah,’ then Tulane … wouldn’t let me play.”
Malone tried to transfer to Tennessee and then Virginia, but failed tests and a lack of enough credits kept him from going elsewhere.
Malone stayed at Tulane for another year-hating football and hanging around with a bad crowd.
“I just didn’t care about school anymore, and I was going out with the wrong crowd,” Malone said. “I just totally went away from everything I believed.”
Coming Home
Malone finally left Tulane and went home to Paris in the fall of 2004. He met up with an old high school girlfriend he hadn’t talked to for two years while he was at Tulane. The girl, Ashley, is now his wife.
Malone hadn’t changed his ways much when he came home, and was sitting in front of the TV watching the History Channel when his life changed forever.
Malone still remembers the day Sept. 19, a Sunday night. He was sitting in his living room when he felt a powerful force.
“I felt like I got struck by lightning,” Malone said. “But I knew what it was, that’s why I was so scared because I know what it, was and it scared me.
“He put the fear of God in me, so I could change my life and because I wasn’t scared,” Malone said. “I mean, I didn’t even know anything about being a Christian really.”
Billy said his brother would try to talk to him about Christianity, but while at Tulane his answer was different than it is now.
“My answer was like, ‘Man, being a Christian is just a word,'” Malone said. “The Devil had a hold of me I guess, but I’ve changed a lot.”
He said he still thinks about it every day.
Billy looked at life differently from that moment on. His friends, especially those from the more rebellious days, could tell a change in him.
“I tried to tell as many people as I could about it because I couldn’t help it,” Malone said. “If I was around someone drinking I’d say, ‘Man, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me,’ and I’d tell them.”
Billy experienced another life changing moment this spring when his daughter, Cydnye, was born.
“It’s good. Being married isn’t always like what everyone says it is,” Malone said referring to his friends who thought starting a family so young would be a burden. “I was kind of all down about it, but it’s nice. It’s really a gift from God, having kids.”
Football at ACU
Malone said he wants to earn a degree. He has seven semesters left, which means he could either play two or three more years for the Wildcats. Before coming to ACU, Malone never would have imagined playing at a Division II school.
“I didn’t want to go to a Division II,” Malone said. “But then I came up here, and I see Danieal Manning, and I thought, ‘Danieal Manning, this dude’s a baler, and he was in Division II. It’s not that bad.'”
Getting back in the rhythm of playing football was a tough transition for Malone, though.
“For two years I had made myself not like football and it was hard for me when I first started playing here,” Malone said. “I just played my sixth game, and now I’m just starting to get my swagger back like I used to have, like I loved to play.”
Malone has put up impressive numbers this year. He’s second in the Lone Star Conference in passing yards and pass efficiency. But he says he’s still improving and getting back to what he feels is his old form.
“I had been out for so long, and I wasn’t as good as I used to be,” Malone said. “I’m getting it back.”
Malone looks back on the last year and thinks about the course that brought him here.
“I was done playing football. I was done,” Malone said with a defiant voice. “God had different plans for me.”
with everything because he didn’t know anything about it. The frustrating part for him was not knowing as much about his condition as he does now.
“It’s not like it could pinch off and my whole side of my heart would just fail, and I would die,” Malone said. “It’s nothing even like that. That’s not ever going to happen.”
Doctors weren’t the only force keeping Malone from playing. Lawyers for Tulane kept Malone from returning to the field because they were afraid of possible legal issues related to his heart condition.
“Even if the doctors said ‘yeah,’ then Tulane … wouldn’t let me play.”
Malone tried to transfer to Tennessee and then Virginia, but failed tests and a lack of enough credits kept him from going elsewhere.
Malone stayed at Tulane for another year-hating football and hanging around with a bad crowd.
“I just didn’t care about school anymore, and I was going out with the wrong crowd,” Malone said. “I just totally went away from everything I believed.”
Coming Home
Malone finally left Tulane and went home to Paris in the fall of 2004. He met up with an old high school girlfriend he hadn’t talked to for two years while he was at Tulane. The girl, Ashley, is now his wife.
Malone hadn’t changed his ways much when he came home, and was sitting in front of the TV watching the History Channel when his life changed forever.
Malone still remembers the day Sept. 19, a Sunday night. He was sitting in his living room when he felt a powerful force.
“I felt like I got struck by lightning,” Malone said. “But I knew what it was, that’s why I was so scared because I know what it was and it scared me.
“He put the fear of God in me, so I could change my life and because I wasn’t scared,” Malone said. “I mean, I didn’t even know anything about being a Christian, really.”
Billy said his brother would try to talk to him about Christianity, but while at Tulane his answer was different than it is now.
“My answer was like, ‘Man, being a Christian is just a word,'” Malone said. “The Devil had a hold of me I guess, but I’ve changed a lot.”
He said he still thinks about it every day.
Billy looked at life differently from that moment on. His friends, especially those from the more rebellious days, could tell a change in him.
“I tried to tell as many people as I could about it because I couldn’t help it,” Malone said. “If I was around someone drinking I’d say, ‘Man, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me,’ and I’d tell them.”
Billy experienced another life changing moment this spring when his daughter, Cydnie, was born.
“It’s good. Being married isn’t always like what everyone says it is,” Malone said referring to his friends who thought starting a family so young would be a burden. “I was kind of all down about it, but it’s nice. It’s really a gift from God, having kids.”
Football at ACU
Malone said he wants to earn a degree. He has seven semesters left, which means he could either play two or three more years for the Wildcats. Before coming to ACU, Malone never would have imagined playing at a Division II school.
“I didn’t want to go to a Division II,” Malone said. “But then I came up here, and I see Danieal Manning, and I thought, ‘Danieal Manning, this dude’s a baller, and he was in Division II. It’s not that bad.'”
Getting back in the rhythm of playing football was a tough transition for Malone, though.
“For two years I had made myself not like football and it was hard for me when I first started playing here,” Malone said. “I just played my sixth game, and now I’m just starting to get my swagger back like I used to have, like I loved to play.”
Malone has put up impressive numbers this year. He’s second in the Lone Star Conference in passing yards and pass efficiency. But he says he’s still improving and getting back to what he feels is his old form.
“I had been out for so long, and I wasn’t as good as I used to be,” Malone said. “I’m getting it back.”
Malone looks back on the last year and thinks about the course that brought him here.
“I was done playing football. I was done,” Malone said with a defiant voice. “God had different plans for me.”
