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Is McClain messing up again?
Rolando McClain is one of the most gifted linebackers in the NFL, yet he can’t seem to stay out of trouble or show for work up on time. McClain has spent the last two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and the team has relied heavily on his abilities to replace the injured Sean Lee. The 26-year-old McClain has been MIA at the Cowboys scheduled off-season training activities at Valley Ranch, due to what coach Jason Garrett described as a family situation.
Special Treatment
McClain is receiving special treatment by “America’s Team”. Owner Jerry Jones told the media McClain has earned the “slack” because of his on-field performance. Throughout his career McClain has escaped hard work because of his raw physical abilities. In college McClain played in the SEC where he won the 2009 Butkus Award, at the University of Alabama. One can’t help but think that Rolando has gotten too much “slack” for being a gifted athlete, and it has adversely affected his work ethic. The older McClain gets the more difficult it will become for him to just show up and play.
Riding on accolades
The 6-4, 259lb Rolando McClain was selected with the 8th pick overall in 2010 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. After a career high 99 tackles and 5 sacks in 2011 McClain’s career stalled. Rolando showed flashes of greatness in Oakland, but never lived up to expectations and was released by the Raiders in April of 2013.
His middle name is…
McClain is no stranger to trouble. The middle linebacker was arrested three times between Dec. 2011 and April 2013. (Al.com March 2016) Since then McClains behavior has been a mixture of poor decisions and erratic behavior. When Ray Lewis retired after Super Bowl 47, the Baltimore Ravens were in search of inside linebacker and fellow University of Alabama Alumni, Ozzie Newsome reached out to McClain with the opportunity of a lifetime. If the former Raider would sign a one-year deal and live up to his potential, McClain could make Baltimore a long-term home and enjoy the security of a multi year deal worth millions.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda…
Instead, Rolando showed up in Owings Mills late and promptly failed his physical. McClain retired twice while under contract with the Ravens, and after multiple chances, Newsome traded the troubled McClain to the Cowboys for a seventh-round pick. During his first year with the Dallas, he told the media:
“I was on a bad path. I didn’t deserve to play football so they say. I wasn’t all the way there in the game. I aint going to be the best if I aint focused on the game. I needed to take time to do what was important and get myself right.” (Al.com)
Even though McClain missed four games last season for violating the NFL substance-abuse policy, he finished third on the team with 80-tackles, two-sacks and a pick-six. Dallas signed Rolando to a one-year five-million-dollar contract in March. They need McClain to bolster the middle of a banged up defense. Rolando will show up if, and when he wants to. That has been the case his entire pro career.
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Christopher DuVall is a writer for the Couch Rider Report. Follow him on Facebook.
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