By Sue Moore
Drew Mallery’s career as a successful college football player is about to end with his selection to the All-Star game for Division II football in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. As a fifth-year senior at Hillsdale College, he will play in a game sanctioned by the Collegiate Development Football League.
“After that I’ll just become a fan of football, because it’s not who I am anymore,” Mallery said. He has earned plenty of honors as a Charger at Hillsdale, being selected as a captain his last two years of competition, honorable mention in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) as a defensive end, and the Hero of the Week award in his last game as a Charger with a win over Lake Erie College in November.
Mallery was red-shirted his freshman year after graduating from Vicksburg High School in 2012. He was at Hillsdale on a full-ride football scholarship, at 6’ 2” and 255 lbs. He could indulge in a diet of 5,000 calories each day in order to stay at that weight. He had seven sacks in 2016 and for his career at Hillsdale, 110 tackles, 13 sacks, 31 tackles for loss.
“Football teaches a person how to lead,” Mallery said. “More importantly, Hillsdale College’s curriculum teaches you how to think and do problem solving. We learn to process information and come to a decision.” He majored in financial management with a math minor.
Mallery had an internship with Stryker last summer and has accepted a position as marketing associate for Stryker’s Interventional Spine Division. “I’m really excited for the future. I loved playing football and I’m going to keep an interest in the game, but now it’s time as a fifth year senior, graduating in December, to move on to the next challenge,” Mallery said. He is the son of Stephanie and Jim Mallery. A brother, Luke, plays rugby at the University of Michigan and a younger brother, Cole, is a center and linebacker on Vicksburg’s football team.