The deposed Illini symbol speaks about his ban, lawsuit

For three years, Dan Maloney has been the nameless face behind the University of Illinois' controversial Chief Illiniwek symbol. Maloney, like all Chiefs before him, avoided the limelight and was barred from granting interviews. He went about the normal college student life, taking classes, playing guitar, painting his face, donning buckskins and dancing in front of sell-out basketball crowds.

	Dan Maloney (aka Chief Illiniwek) entertains the crowd during the Fighting Illini's victory over Northwestern on Sunday. Warren Wimmer/WireImage
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But when Illinois Board of Trustees Chairman Larry Eppley announced Friday that Chief Illiniwek was done, Maloney's shroud of secrecy was lifted and the graduate student got a chance to speak his mind to SIOC's Courtney Linehan about the tradition, it's end and how portraying the Chief helped make college cool.

SIOC: A lot of times after a tough game, a coach will sit in a press conference and fume about what's on his minds before answering questions. Do you want to do that?

DM: No, not really. I was fuming all day yesterday and most of the day today. The more I fume the worse I feel. I don't think fuming would be beneficial to me right now.

SIOC: Well then how do you feel about the Chief's retirement?

DM: It's just sad. Growing up with Illinois, coming to games since I was little, going to the marching band competition here when I was in high school then being in the band here, it's like I'm losing a piece of my past, of who I am. It's really disheartening. That's the thing that keeps going through my mind. It's like a part of me is disappearing. And it's gone forever.

SIOC: You and Logan Ponce, the sophomore who is the assistant Chief, filed a lawsuit against the University of Illinois and the NCAA on Thursday. Was that a last-ditch effort to keep this from happening?

DM: No, I was actually first approached about it in late October. It was one of those things like, "Oh, we haven't explored this area, I didn't think about this."

When we were first approached it was really an off-the-cuff conversation. It was something a former band director had talked to me about during football season; one of those things I had thought about. Then the opportunity presented itself.

We did it for a plethora of reasons, but most importantly I didn't want to look back at this time now and ask, "Why I didn't do something?" I knew that by doing this, win or lose, I could look back and say, "Yeah, I did everything I could."

SIOC: Let's talk about being one of the students who portrays Chief Illiniwek. You're a third-generation Illini, right?

DM: Yeah, technically I'm third generation University of Illinois alum now, and I've got the diploma over there to prove it.

SIOC: For people who might be Badger fans or Jayhawk fans or, you know, insert-school-here fans, why is the Chief so different?

DM: Well, it's not a mascot, that's the big thing. You have a sporting event that's two, three hours, and out of that whole time you see the Chief three minutes. It's a performance. When you do see him, it's such a focused event; I think that's why people latch onto it so much. It's so much bigger, it's so much more important than a mascot is. It's such a part of the experience of going not only to a University of Illinois sporting event, but of going to the University of Illinois.

SIOC: What are the most common misconceptions about you, about your role?

DM: Some people don't get that I'm not Chief Illiniwek. I'm just a student who's been given the honor to portray Chief Illiniwek.

I don't paint my face and go to pep rallies, I'm just a normal student outside of performances. That's why most people don't realize that I could be sitting next to them in a restaurant or a lecture hall, and they don't realize that its me.

SIOC: For the three years you've been in this role, you haven't been able to talk to the media; you've been forced to keep that low profile. How have the last few days changed that?

DM: I still almost feel like I'm going against the grain. My whole experience is that I don't talk to the media, I don't give statements, I don't give quotes. It's different. I guess I'm still trying to feel it out.

SIOC: You've said before that there are always ridiculous rumors flying about you. What are some of them?

DM: Oh, it's some of the wackiest stuff, everything from I'm a business major to you'll see me in the middle of the quad in the regalia.

SIOC: Well I know last week it snowed, so you had to cancel.

DM: Yeah, but it's usually Tuesdays at 6. I do a one-man show. Afterward I take the headdress off and walk around asking for change.

SIOC: What's the coolest part of being the Chief?

DM: Seeing people's reactions in nanosecond bursts when you're performing. Looking up for a split second and seeing someone smiling and clapping, that look of excitement that Chief Illiniwek performance brings about in people. There's nothing like that. It's seeing the little snippets of the college student on the sideline, the alumni who's come back, the five year old who's seeing the Chief for the first time. That, to me, is the biggest thrill. That's my favorite aspect of performing as Chief Illiniwek.

SIOC: Do you get to know the guys on the basketball and football teams?

DM: Yeah, some of them. Dee Brown I got to know pretty well. Dee and Deron Williams, that first year, they would kind of watch Kyle and I when we'd work out at Ubben. You know, they wanted to see how we stretch and things.

SIOC: Now the Utah Jazz are doing the Chief Illiniwek stretch routine.

DM: They are? Probably.

Those guys would recognize us when we'd be walking down the street. Some players will come talk to us when we're working out. Dee did that. Calvin did that, Chester did it. Jamar's come a couple times. I think it's cool that they'd stick their head in and say hello once is cool with me.

SIOC: What's it like to be you during a performance, to stand at center court and see all those fans?

DM: I don't know if there's a way to describe it. In terms of a physical being, you pray you're not going to fall on your face or do anything stupid. But the emotion that's in your heart, you can't describe it. You get this deep feeling of pride in your heart, you get this overwhelming sense of, I don't know, just well-being and warmth. Looking out into the crowd and seeing people sway back and forth with this big smiles and this look in their eyes, it doesn't matter if your on the volleyball court or your in the middle of the football field or standing center court at Assembly Hall, you can see it. It's the same look in everyone's eyes. You just can't describe it.