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A place to call home: How Rolando McClain is putting troubled past behind him and finding peace with Cowboys
BRANDON GEORGE
Staff Writer
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
Published: 04 October 2014 12:58 PM
Updated: 04 October 2014 04:28 PM
IRVING — Rolando McClain might not have found total peace. But he’s closer today than at any time during his NFL career.
The Cowboys’ linebacker hasn’t been this content since he won a national championship at Alabama in 2009. Those were the days, McClain said, he couldn’t wait to get to practice.
McClain is a survivor in a league that’s littered with cautionary tales. Most who have come close to his turbulent four-year ride never resurrect their career.
Since Oakland drafted the 6-4, 259-pound linebacker eighth overall in 2010, McClain has been arrested three times, retired from the NFL twice, burned through $600,000 in half a year and bottled up so much anger that he said he felt like he could kill somebody.
All before he turned 25 in July.
“I was on a bad path,” McClain said. “I didn’t deserve to play football.”
Even before he became the best linebacker in college football, McClain had to navigate a childhood obstacle course that left him yearning for stability.
His mostly absent father was arrested twice for selling cocaine. His mother, whom he remains close to and credits for helping him find his way back, threatened to kill him and everyone at his high school when he was a stubborn teenager.
Those close to McClain say he was never happy in Oakland, even after he signed a five-year, $40 million contract (with $23 million guaranteed).
McClain’s journey mirrors that of many who grew up in a single-parent home in a neighborhood rife with drugs, violence and crime.
He’s come out the other side as the starting middle linebacker for the Cowboys and pumped life into a defense that finished last in the league a year ago.
Those close to McClain say he’s smiling for the first time in a long time.
But how did he get here?
Tough times
To appreciate how McClain has found joy again, you have to grasp the rocky road he’s traveled from youth.
McClain’s mother, Tonya Malone, was 17 when he was born. He has an older brother, Myke, and a younger sister, Tequila. McClain said his father, Roland Ervin Jr., “wasn’t there for the most part.”
McClain grew up in Decatur, Ala., in what Decatur Youth Services director Bruce Jones described as a low-income “projects area.” Jones, a former NFL player, works with at-risk children and families in Decatur and said he has known McClain and his family since McClain was in the sixth grade.
Jones said McClain grew up around drugs, violence, crime and poverty, though now Decatur “isn’t a violent city.”
When McClain was 11, his father pled guilty to selling cocaine in Huntsville, Ala., according to Madison County court records, and received three years probation. Ervin also was arrested in 1998 for selling cocaine, but that case was not processed, court records show. Ervin also has a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge from 2002.
“When I saw him, I thought the world of my father,” McClain said. “But you get to a point where you’re expecting to see him, and he ain’t showing up. And then it’s like, ‘Whatever,’ that feeling of hurt or letdown. He wasn’t a terrible father.”
Sports became McClain’s passion and a way for him to escape Decatur. On the field, McClain could unleash emotions he often bottled up.
By the time McClain was a teenager, he was bigger and stronger than most of his peers. He said he was also strong-willed off the field.
McClain and his mother are close today, but he said they didn’t always see eye-to-eye.
“We clashed,” McClain said, “and I wanted to be grown.”
Help goes a long way
At 15, McClain moved out and started living with three other Decatur families — Greg and Tammy Hawkins, Mike and Anne Irvin and Tim and Canitha Thomas.
“Looking back on it, it wasn’t that bad,” McClain said. “I had great friends and great people around me helping me.”
Tim Thomas played on the same Mississippi college basketball team as Sean Tuohy, whose Memphis family took in Michael Oher, the subject of the book and movie, The Blind Side.
Canitha said McClain, whom she calls “Boo,” became good friends with her son, Caleb, when they were in the eighth grade. They played football together, and McClain was a groomsman in Caleb’s wedding.
In December 2005 — during McClain’s junior year of high school — he received a court order to keep his mother away from him. According to court records, the two got into an argument, and McClain’s mother “pushed and hit him several times” and “left the room and got a knife. She threatened to kill me.”
McClain’s father was awarded temporary custody for one year, Canitha said. But McClain didn’t spend much time living with his father. During that year, he spent about two months with the Thomases and also lived with other families.
“The first time he lived with us, he called Caleb from a street corner and said, ‘Hey, I need a place to stay,’ ” Canitha recalled. “And all he had with him was the clothes on his back and his scholarship offer from Alabama.”
Canitha said she always urged McClain to go back and live with his mother because she knew they needed each other. McClain’s parents couldn’t be reached for comment for this story.
In October 2006 — McClain’s senior year — his mother was arrested and charged with making a terrorist threat.
Tonya Malone went to Decatur High School, according to Morgan County circuit court records, because “she was unhappy with the treatment of her son, and she threatened to kill everyone at Decatur High School as well as everyone at the Morgan County Courthouse who had anything to do with her son.”
The school was placed on lockdown for 45 minutes until McClain’s mother was located at her home.
In February 2008, Malone pled guilty to obstructing government operations and received two years probation.
“She didn’t want to lose her child,” Bruce Jones said, “and that was what she was fighting for.”
Added McClain: “We’re a lot alike in a lot of ways, so we clash at times. But that’s what makes our relationship stronger. I have a pretty good balance with her.”
Canitha said McClain has always desired stability. She recalled a conversation he had one night with her son.
“He told Caleb, ‘Man, I want what you got,’ ” Canitha said. “And we’re not a wealthy family. Caleb couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.”
Canitha’s voice became shaky as she began to cry over the phone.
“He said, ‘I want a mommy and a daddy, and I want a home life like you have,’ ” Canitha said, pausing to compose herself, “and it still gets me.”
Bittersweet moment
Tuscaloosa, Ala., isn’t far from McClain’s hometown. It’s only about a two-hour drive southwest of Decatur.
McClain left home for college and escaped some of the chaos around him.
McClain excelled under Alabama coach Nick Saban’s tough-love approach. He became the best linebacker in college football and led ’Bama to a BCS title in 2009. Along the way, McClain became a two-time dean’s list student.
“He is a very intelligent kid,” Canitha said. “I’m talking engineer smart.”
After three years under Saban, McClain left for NFL riches.
At his draft party at the Hawkins’ house, McClain’s father showed up. McClain said he hadn’t seen him since just before he started college.
“There came a point in high school when I was doing really well, and he wanted to be a part of my life,” McClain said. “At that time, you say, ‘Hey, Dad, where have you been? I kind of don’t want you to be around now, just to be around to enjoy my success.’ That was me being an angry, stubborn teenager, and I had reasons for it. He tried, man, but sometimes it was too little, too late.”
Canitha said she was able to get McClain’s parents and siblings together for a family photo at his draft party. She said the party was “bittersweet” because she knew McClain didn’t want to go to Oakland.
He can’t say no
McClain became an overnight millionaire when the Raiders signed him to a $40 million contract.
But the big money created other issues.
Those close to McClain say he’s deeply loyal. And when friends and relatives came to him for money, he had a hard time saying no.
Early on, McClain said he burned through $600,000 in a six-month span to satisfy requests, mostly on cars.
“I was young, Superman, and hey, ‘I can help everybody because they helped me,’ ” McClain said. “But then you do it for a year or two and then you come home for an offseason and say, ‘Hey, what did you do with this money I gave you?’ And they don’t have anything to show for it.”
McClain’s generosity came to a halt when he left the Raiders in late November 2011 and flew to Decatur for his grandfather’s funeral.
He said he expected a simple service. But when he arrived, his family had set up an elaborate funeral with multiple limos.
“It was a big difference on what I would consider a good burial and what I would consider an entertainment burial,” McClain said. “Well, you have to put a stop to that. We’ll give him a proper burial, but we ain’t burying Obama or anything.”
Two days before his grandfather’s funeral in Decatur in early December 2011, McClain was arrested for the first time and charged with four misdemeanors: third-degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm within city limits.
An altercation broke out between some of his former high school basketball teammates at a friend’s house. Christian Tapscott said in a deposition to police that McClain “punched him in the face and he had swelling in his face and eye.” Tapscott said, according to court records, McClain then “fired a gun beside my right ear.”
After the arrest, McClain was photographed at the location of the incident. In the now infamous photo that went viral, McClain is shown — with his hands handcuffed behind his back — cocking his head to the side and flashing a big grin.
In November 2012, the prosecutor in the case asked that all charges against McClain, at the request of Tapscott, be dismissed.
Wanting to quit
McClain said he was never happy in Oakland.
The frustration of playing for a losing team — each of his three years for a different head coach — spilled over into his personal life and made him wonder, “Maybe I need to get the hell away from football.”
In his second season, McClain reached out to Raiders safety Michael Huff.
“The start of my second year in Oakland, I was already telling Huff, ‘I’m going to die,’ ” McClain said. “Then he talked me into two more years. But I already knew the end result. At that time, you just try to play because you know it’s your job and you got to do it.”
Huff, the Texas and Irving Nimitz product who is back living in Dallas, said he had dinner with McClain two weeks ago. Huff said he vividly recalls McClain telling him he was ready to quit in his second season.
“It kind of caught me off guard,” Huff said. “Mentally, it just wasn’t there. It took a toll on him. I tried to keep his spirits up and keep him out there. He was fine on game days. But Monday through Saturday was a challenge for him. He came in so young and to be talking about quitting already was definitely tough to hear.”
On Nov. 25, 2012, McClain played his last game with the Raiders. The following week, McClain got into an argument with then-Raiders coach Dennis Allen before being kicked out of practice. The Raiders suspended McClain for two games for conduct detrimental to the team.
Still filled with anger
After the 2012 season, McClain returned to Decatur. His professional and personal life was spinning out of control.
On Jan. 8, 2013, he was pulled over for a window-tint violation. He provided the police with a false name and was arrested.
The Raiders had finally had enough. They released him.
A few months later, McClain began a tumultuous one-year freefall.
From April 2013 to April 2014, McClain signed with Baltimore, retired twice from the NFL, was arrested in Decatur for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, married Capri Knox and filed for divorce five months later and was involved in two custody suits in Alabama courts.
McClain married Knox on the same day in April 2013 that he signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Baltimore Ravens.
McClain was arrested for a third time in April 2013 in Decatur when he was at a crowded park and was accused of yelling an obscenity at the police. He told police it wasn’t him. He was charged with misdemeanors for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
In late July 2014, McClain left Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, Calif., to fly back to Decatur, where a judge convicted him on both counts and imposed an 18-day jail term. McClain immediately filed an appeal, and he won’t have to report for his jail sentence until after the appeal is complete in state court.
Less than a month after the Ravens signed him, McClain called the Ravens and told them he was retiring.
McClain then distanced himself from old friends in Decatur. He did his best to stay away from his hometown, moving to Tuscaloosa to take a step back.
“I had to realize that I wasn’t just getting arrested in Decatur,” McClain said. “I was getting arrested in Decatur around certain people and doing certain things. Well I needed to stop doing that and change who I was hanging around with.”
But when he returned to Tuscaloosa, McClain said he was filled with anger. Saban introduced him to a therapist. McClain said he called him a few times.
“I didn’t go and sit in therapy for an extended period of time,” McClain said. “A lot of your mistakes are your problems, and if you’re man enough to look in the mirror, you can see what’s what and address them and fix them.”
McClain enrolled at Alabama in an effort to finish his bachelor’s degree in family financial planning (he’s still a few hours short).
He said he focused on strengthening his relationship with God and becoming a better father.
But McClain was still filled with fury, he said, and didn’t have football for relief.
“I wasn’t really mad at anything else besides football. I just knew I wanted to excel at my job. I love football but had to figure out why I didn’t like it as much at the time. I hated it.
“I got away from the game, and I felt like I wanted to kill somebody. Not that I was just angry, but since the fifth grade, I’ve played football, and you could hit people and get all your aggression out. Well, now I’m just sitting at the house and not doing anything but lifting [weights] and watching football. And, of course, everything was just building up.
“I didn’t want to play in another situation like in Oakland, so you’re fighting a battle. Do I play and be unhappy or do I not play and try to figure out how to be happy without football in my life? So I just got down on my knees and started praying and that let me figure it out. … That was a big change for me.”
At home in Dallas
In mid-April, the Ravens activated McClain from the reserve-retired list. He reportedly failed at least one conditioning test.
About a week later, on the day he was due to report for the Ravens’ first offseason workout, he told the team he was retiring again.
Over the summer, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett talked on the phone to Saban, his good friend. The Alabama coach told him McClain wants another shot at the NFL.
Garrett said the Cowboys did their “due diligence” in talking with Saban and “other people around” McClain about his mental and physical shape.
“We felt like maybe we can help him through some of these issues he has and get this guy back playing at the level we all thought he was capable of playing,” Garrett said. “Some of the concerns he had in retiring and un-retiring had to do with family situations, so hopefully he has some of those resolved.”
After the Cowboys felt comfortable moving forward with McClain, owner Jerry Jones — while on vacation in Turkey —called the former Alabama star.
On July 2, the Cowboys traded a 2015 sixth-round pick for McClain and Baltimore’s 2015 seventh-round pick. So far, it has paid off handsomely.
McClain has found a home as the Cowboys’ middle linebacker — replacing leader Sean Lee who is out for the season — and is the defense’s best athlete.
More important for McClain, he’s reestablished his life. He credits his mother, two sons and girlfriend — and his ever-growing faith in God — for getting his life back in order.
Huff said that McClain loves it in Dallas.
“In Oakland, he never talked long-term. We were at dinner, and he was talking long-term in Dallas to me,” Huff said. “You can definitely tell he’s happy. He loves football. He just doesn’t want the circus around it like what was in Oakland.”
Bruce Jones, Decatur Youth Services director, talked with McClain just before he left for the Cowboys. He saw a young man ready to turn a corner.
“I’ve told him God doesn’t want the end of his story to be what it was,” Jones said. “He has the opportunity to get his life together and we’re seeing proof of that, and we’re all going to be proud and amazed at the end of this story.”
McClain has a tattoo across his back that says, “Only God Can Judge Me.” He said that’s “all that matters.”
But he also says he wants to be a better role model. A better man. A better father. A better husband.
McClain says he’s confident he’s on the right path for the long haul.
“I have no desire to go back,” McClain said. “I got off track, but it’s never too late.”
BRANDON GEORGE
Staff Writer
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
Published: 04 October 2014 12:58 PM
Updated: 04 October 2014 04:28 PM
IRVING — Rolando McClain might not have found total peace. But he’s closer today than at any time during his NFL career.
The Cowboys’ linebacker hasn’t been this content since he won a national championship at Alabama in 2009. Those were the days, McClain said, he couldn’t wait to get to practice.
McClain is a survivor in a league that’s littered with cautionary tales. Most who have come close to his turbulent four-year ride never resurrect their career.
Since Oakland drafted the 6-4, 259-pound linebacker eighth overall in 2010, McClain has been arrested three times, retired from the NFL twice, burned through $600,000 in half a year and bottled up so much anger that he said he felt like he could kill somebody.
All before he turned 25 in July.
“I was on a bad path,” McClain said. “I didn’t deserve to play football.”
Even before he became the best linebacker in college football, McClain had to navigate a childhood obstacle course that left him yearning for stability.
His mostly absent father was arrested twice for selling cocaine. His mother, whom he remains close to and credits for helping him find his way back, threatened to kill him and everyone at his high school when he was a stubborn teenager.
Those close to McClain say he was never happy in Oakland, even after he signed a five-year, $40 million contract (with $23 million guaranteed).
McClain’s journey mirrors that of many who grew up in a single-parent home in a neighborhood rife with drugs, violence and crime.
He’s come out the other side as the starting middle linebacker for the Cowboys and pumped life into a defense that finished last in the league a year ago.
Those close to McClain say he’s smiling for the first time in a long time.
But how did he get here?
Tough times
To appreciate how McClain has found joy again, you have to grasp the rocky road he’s traveled from youth.
McClain’s mother, Tonya Malone, was 17 when he was born. He has an older brother, Myke, and a younger sister, Tequila. McClain said his father, Roland Ervin Jr., “wasn’t there for the most part.”
McClain grew up in Decatur, Ala., in what Decatur Youth Services director Bruce Jones described as a low-income “projects area.” Jones, a former NFL player, works with at-risk children and families in Decatur and said he has known McClain and his family since McClain was in the sixth grade.
Jones said McClain grew up around drugs, violence, crime and poverty, though now Decatur “isn’t a violent city.”
When McClain was 11, his father pled guilty to selling cocaine in Huntsville, Ala., according to Madison County court records, and received three years probation. Ervin also was arrested in 1998 for selling cocaine, but that case was not processed, court records show. Ervin also has a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge from 2002.
“When I saw him, I thought the world of my father,” McClain said. “But you get to a point where you’re expecting to see him, and he ain’t showing up. And then it’s like, ‘Whatever,’ that feeling of hurt or letdown. He wasn’t a terrible father.”
Sports became McClain’s passion and a way for him to escape Decatur. On the field, McClain could unleash emotions he often bottled up.
By the time McClain was a teenager, he was bigger and stronger than most of his peers. He said he was also strong-willed off the field.
McClain and his mother are close today, but he said they didn’t always see eye-to-eye.
“We clashed,” McClain said, “and I wanted to be grown.”
Help goes a long way
At 15, McClain moved out and started living with three other Decatur families — Greg and Tammy Hawkins, Mike and Anne Irvin and Tim and Canitha Thomas.
“Looking back on it, it wasn’t that bad,” McClain said. “I had great friends and great people around me helping me.”
Tim Thomas played on the same Mississippi college basketball team as Sean Tuohy, whose Memphis family took in Michael Oher, the subject of the book and movie, The Blind Side.
Canitha said McClain, whom she calls “Boo,” became good friends with her son, Caleb, when they were in the eighth grade. They played football together, and McClain was a groomsman in Caleb’s wedding.
In December 2005 — during McClain’s junior year of high school — he received a court order to keep his mother away from him. According to court records, the two got into an argument, and McClain’s mother “pushed and hit him several times” and “left the room and got a knife. She threatened to kill me.”
McClain’s father was awarded temporary custody for one year, Canitha said. But McClain didn’t spend much time living with his father. During that year, he spent about two months with the Thomases and also lived with other families.
“The first time he lived with us, he called Caleb from a street corner and said, ‘Hey, I need a place to stay,’ ” Canitha recalled. “And all he had with him was the clothes on his back and his scholarship offer from Alabama.”
Canitha said she always urged McClain to go back and live with his mother because she knew they needed each other. McClain’s parents couldn’t be reached for comment for this story.
In October 2006 — McClain’s senior year — his mother was arrested and charged with making a terrorist threat.
Tonya Malone went to Decatur High School, according to Morgan County circuit court records, because “she was unhappy with the treatment of her son, and she threatened to kill everyone at Decatur High School as well as everyone at the Morgan County Courthouse who had anything to do with her son.”
The school was placed on lockdown for 45 minutes until McClain’s mother was located at her home.
In February 2008, Malone pled guilty to obstructing government operations and received two years probation.
“She didn’t want to lose her child,” Bruce Jones said, “and that was what she was fighting for.”
Added McClain: “We’re a lot alike in a lot of ways, so we clash at times. But that’s what makes our relationship stronger. I have a pretty good balance with her.”
Canitha said McClain has always desired stability. She recalled a conversation he had one night with her son.
“He told Caleb, ‘Man, I want what you got,’ ” Canitha said. “And we’re not a wealthy family. Caleb couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.”
Canitha’s voice became shaky as she began to cry over the phone.
“He said, ‘I want a mommy and a daddy, and I want a home life like you have,’ ” Canitha said, pausing to compose herself, “and it still gets me.”
Bittersweet moment
Tuscaloosa, Ala., isn’t far from McClain’s hometown. It’s only about a two-hour drive southwest of Decatur.
McClain left home for college and escaped some of the chaos around him.
McClain excelled under Alabama coach Nick Saban’s tough-love approach. He became the best linebacker in college football and led ’Bama to a BCS title in 2009. Along the way, McClain became a two-time dean’s list student.
“He is a very intelligent kid,” Canitha said. “I’m talking engineer smart.”
After three years under Saban, McClain left for NFL riches.
At his draft party at the Hawkins’ house, McClain’s father showed up. McClain said he hadn’t seen him since just before he started college.
“There came a point in high school when I was doing really well, and he wanted to be a part of my life,” McClain said. “At that time, you say, ‘Hey, Dad, where have you been? I kind of don’t want you to be around now, just to be around to enjoy my success.’ That was me being an angry, stubborn teenager, and I had reasons for it. He tried, man, but sometimes it was too little, too late.”
Canitha said she was able to get McClain’s parents and siblings together for a family photo at his draft party. She said the party was “bittersweet” because she knew McClain didn’t want to go to Oakland.
He can’t say no
McClain became an overnight millionaire when the Raiders signed him to a $40 million contract.
But the big money created other issues.
Those close to McClain say he’s deeply loyal. And when friends and relatives came to him for money, he had a hard time saying no.
Early on, McClain said he burned through $600,000 in a six-month span to satisfy requests, mostly on cars.
“I was young, Superman, and hey, ‘I can help everybody because they helped me,’ ” McClain said. “But then you do it for a year or two and then you come home for an offseason and say, ‘Hey, what did you do with this money I gave you?’ And they don’t have anything to show for it.”
McClain’s generosity came to a halt when he left the Raiders in late November 2011 and flew to Decatur for his grandfather’s funeral.
He said he expected a simple service. But when he arrived, his family had set up an elaborate funeral with multiple limos.
“It was a big difference on what I would consider a good burial and what I would consider an entertainment burial,” McClain said. “Well, you have to put a stop to that. We’ll give him a proper burial, but we ain’t burying Obama or anything.”
Two days before his grandfather’s funeral in Decatur in early December 2011, McClain was arrested for the first time and charged with four misdemeanors: third-degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm within city limits.
An altercation broke out between some of his former high school basketball teammates at a friend’s house. Christian Tapscott said in a deposition to police that McClain “punched him in the face and he had swelling in his face and eye.” Tapscott said, according to court records, McClain then “fired a gun beside my right ear.”
After the arrest, McClain was photographed at the location of the incident. In the now infamous photo that went viral, McClain is shown — with his hands handcuffed behind his back — cocking his head to the side and flashing a big grin.
In November 2012, the prosecutor in the case asked that all charges against McClain, at the request of Tapscott, be dismissed.
Wanting to quit
McClain said he was never happy in Oakland.
The frustration of playing for a losing team — each of his three years for a different head coach — spilled over into his personal life and made him wonder, “Maybe I need to get the hell away from football.”
In his second season, McClain reached out to Raiders safety Michael Huff.
“The start of my second year in Oakland, I was already telling Huff, ‘I’m going to die,’ ” McClain said. “Then he talked me into two more years. But I already knew the end result. At that time, you just try to play because you know it’s your job and you got to do it.”
Huff, the Texas and Irving Nimitz product who is back living in Dallas, said he had dinner with McClain two weeks ago. Huff said he vividly recalls McClain telling him he was ready to quit in his second season.
“It kind of caught me off guard,” Huff said. “Mentally, it just wasn’t there. It took a toll on him. I tried to keep his spirits up and keep him out there. He was fine on game days. But Monday through Saturday was a challenge for him. He came in so young and to be talking about quitting already was definitely tough to hear.”
On Nov. 25, 2012, McClain played his last game with the Raiders. The following week, McClain got into an argument with then-Raiders coach Dennis Allen before being kicked out of practice. The Raiders suspended McClain for two games for conduct detrimental to the team.
Still filled with anger
After the 2012 season, McClain returned to Decatur. His professional and personal life was spinning out of control.
On Jan. 8, 2013, he was pulled over for a window-tint violation. He provided the police with a false name and was arrested.
The Raiders had finally had enough. They released him.
A few months later, McClain began a tumultuous one-year freefall.
From April 2013 to April 2014, McClain signed with Baltimore, retired twice from the NFL, was arrested in Decatur for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, married Capri Knox and filed for divorce five months later and was involved in two custody suits in Alabama courts.
McClain married Knox on the same day in April 2013 that he signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Baltimore Ravens.
McClain was arrested for a third time in April 2013 in Decatur when he was at a crowded park and was accused of yelling an obscenity at the police. He told police it wasn’t him. He was charged with misdemeanors for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
In late July 2014, McClain left Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, Calif., to fly back to Decatur, where a judge convicted him on both counts and imposed an 18-day jail term. McClain immediately filed an appeal, and he won’t have to report for his jail sentence until after the appeal is complete in state court.
Less than a month after the Ravens signed him, McClain called the Ravens and told them he was retiring.
McClain then distanced himself from old friends in Decatur. He did his best to stay away from his hometown, moving to Tuscaloosa to take a step back.
“I had to realize that I wasn’t just getting arrested in Decatur,” McClain said. “I was getting arrested in Decatur around certain people and doing certain things. Well I needed to stop doing that and change who I was hanging around with.”
But when he returned to Tuscaloosa, McClain said he was filled with anger. Saban introduced him to a therapist. McClain said he called him a few times.
“I didn’t go and sit in therapy for an extended period of time,” McClain said. “A lot of your mistakes are your problems, and if you’re man enough to look in the mirror, you can see what’s what and address them and fix them.”
McClain enrolled at Alabama in an effort to finish his bachelor’s degree in family financial planning (he’s still a few hours short).
He said he focused on strengthening his relationship with God and becoming a better father.
But McClain was still filled with fury, he said, and didn’t have football for relief.
“I wasn’t really mad at anything else besides football. I just knew I wanted to excel at my job. I love football but had to figure out why I didn’t like it as much at the time. I hated it.
“I got away from the game, and I felt like I wanted to kill somebody. Not that I was just angry, but since the fifth grade, I’ve played football, and you could hit people and get all your aggression out. Well, now I’m just sitting at the house and not doing anything but lifting [weights] and watching football. And, of course, everything was just building up.
“I didn’t want to play in another situation like in Oakland, so you’re fighting a battle. Do I play and be unhappy or do I not play and try to figure out how to be happy without football in my life? So I just got down on my knees and started praying and that let me figure it out. … That was a big change for me.”
At home in Dallas
In mid-April, the Ravens activated McClain from the reserve-retired list. He reportedly failed at least one conditioning test.
About a week later, on the day he was due to report for the Ravens’ first offseason workout, he told the team he was retiring again.
Over the summer, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett talked on the phone to Saban, his good friend. The Alabama coach told him McClain wants another shot at the NFL.
Garrett said the Cowboys did their “due diligence” in talking with Saban and “other people around” McClain about his mental and physical shape.
“We felt like maybe we can help him through some of these issues he has and get this guy back playing at the level we all thought he was capable of playing,” Garrett said. “Some of the concerns he had in retiring and un-retiring had to do with family situations, so hopefully he has some of those resolved.”
After the Cowboys felt comfortable moving forward with McClain, owner Jerry Jones — while on vacation in Turkey —called the former Alabama star.
On July 2, the Cowboys traded a 2015 sixth-round pick for McClain and Baltimore’s 2015 seventh-round pick. So far, it has paid off handsomely.
McClain has found a home as the Cowboys’ middle linebacker — replacing leader Sean Lee who is out for the season — and is the defense’s best athlete.
More important for McClain, he’s reestablished his life. He credits his mother, two sons and girlfriend — and his ever-growing faith in God — for getting his life back in order.
Huff said that McClain loves it in Dallas.
“In Oakland, he never talked long-term. We were at dinner, and he was talking long-term in Dallas to me,” Huff said. “You can definitely tell he’s happy. He loves football. He just doesn’t want the circus around it like what was in Oakland.”
Bruce Jones, Decatur Youth Services director, talked with McClain just before he left for the Cowboys. He saw a young man ready to turn a corner.
“I’ve told him God doesn’t want the end of his story to be what it was,” Jones said. “He has the opportunity to get his life together and we’re seeing proof of that, and we’re all going to be proud and amazed at the end of this story.”
McClain has a tattoo across his back that says, “Only God Can Judge Me.” He said that’s “all that matters.”
But he also says he wants to be a better role model. A better man. A better father. A better husband.
McClain says he’s confident he’s on the right path for the long haul.
“I have no desire to go back,” McClain said. “I got off track, but it’s never too late.”
is what's running through our GM's head right now instead of noticing the guy finds a way to take every other game off or that we've gone 4-1 against a bunch of average to bad teams. 
