UCLA’s Malone Stops Traffic : College football: He is an inside linebacker, a defensive cop who constantly deals with congestion. He also is the Bruins’ second-leading tackler.

When James Malone graduates from UCLA in December, he will have a bachelor’s degree in economics--and also a considerable degree of pride and satisfaction.

“I’ve heard some people say that they are the first in their family to graduate from college,” said Malone, a UCLA inside linebacker, “and I’m the third.”

Malone follows his grandfather, James, a quarter-miler at Oberlin (Ohio); and his father, Jim, a tennis player and cross-country runner at Western Kentucky. James Malone also is a distant cousin of Harrison Dillard, the former world record-holder in the 110-meter high hurdles and an Olympic gold medalist.

Football is Malone’s forte. Yet, he has been on an uneven path to a starting job in his senior season. He was an outside linebacker as a nonplaying freshman in 1987. He moved to the inside in 1988, back to the outside before the 1989 season, then last year he returned to the inside position where he has remained.

“It was frustrating, switching positions, and I think it slowed me down,” the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Malone said. “I prefer playing on the inside, even though outside is a glamour position, where Lawrence Taylor and Hugh Green have played.”

Malone likens his job on the inside to that of a traffic cop because of the congestion in the middle of the defense. “My first responsibility is run defense in coordination with the defensive line,” he said. “On passing downs, I drop back in a zone and try to wall off the inside routes by the tight ends and split ends.”

He has been effective, becoming the second-leading tackler on the team with 36.

Every linebacker yearns for an interception, but Malone simply shakes his head and laughs, saying: “I’ve never had one, not even in high school.”

Malone was a highly recruited player out of Pearce High in Dallas. He said Notre Dame was his second choice. UCLA had been No. 1 on his list since he visited the campus in 1986 before his senior season in high school.

“My dad was competing in a Corporate Cup track meet on campus, and I just hung out here without any recruiting pressure,” Malone said. “I fell in love with (UCLA). I was able to relax and take a good long look at the school.”

Malone’s athletic career almost came to a violent end in Dallas before the start of the 1990 season when friends became involved in an argument that moved to someone’s house.

“Somebody brought out a baseball bat and hit one of my friends on the side of his face,” Malone said. “I jumped out of my car to take care of him just as a guy came out of the house with a .38 revolver. He opened fire on us.”

Malone showed a scar where he was shot in his upper left arm.

“I was very lucky,” he said. “The bullet went through the arm and didn’t hit a bone. It happened a week before our fall camp at UCLA, but I was OK in a couple of days.”

Malone still shudders when he thinks of the harrowing incident. “I was so close to being killed--if that bullet had been six inches to the right,” he recalled. “Something like that makes me appreciate the things I have.”

Unlike UCLA split end Sean LaChapelle, who accidentally shot himself in the leg last June, Malone’s experience was considerably more life-threatening.

Now, Malone is thinking about a career in pro football and also attending law school.

First things first, though. There is a season to complete and some redemption for a senior who has had to endure consecutive losing seasons.

“We were up and down last year,” Malone said of the Bruins’ 5-6 record. “But last year hardened us, made us tougher. We’d get kicked around and then fight back.

“When we came back this year, the defensive players decided to have a certain attitude and a mind-set for every game.”

Malone said the Bruins were adjusting to a new coaching staff last year, and they started to come together as a team near the end of the season. “The Washington game was a catalyst for us,” he said. “Everybody had written us off as a 21-point underdog.”

UCLA upset Washington, 25-22, in the next-to-last game of the season.

This year, the Bruins are striving for their first winning record since 1988 and a bowl bid.

Malone said that losing to California, 27-24, on Oct. 5 was a downer for the entire team because of the emphasis placed on the game, but added: “By the end of the season, that loss should be diminished in our minds.”