The Curious Case of Rolando McClain, part 2.

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In Nick Saban's corner office in the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, the shades usually are drawn, as if to conceal secrets. There are three national championship rings on a coffee table; even in the dim light, they glitter brilliantly. McClain helped win one of those rings, and over the years, he and Saban have had dozens of heart-to-hearts in this office. But the most important talk may have occurred last fall, when McClain was searching his soul for what to do next in his life.

"You have to do what's in your heart," Saban told his former player. "You have to do what you want, not what anyone else wants you to do. You'll only play well when you're ready to play. Figure out what your passion really is, then just go for it. If it's football, great. If it's something else, that's fine too. Just follow your heart."

McClain rarely watched NFL games. At the urging of Saban, he contacted a therapist. But still, there was turmoil in his life. In the span of five months, he was married and divorced to Capri Knox, a former Alabama track and field athlete with whom McClain has two small children. Nothing, according to his friends, brings him more joy than being with his two boys.

And yet McClain's most productive time last autumn may have been those hours on the dock behind his house, alone, casting and reeling, thinking about his past mistakes, trying to understand where his anger came from. Introspective by nature, McClain, in the stillness of those moments, reviewed his entire life, according to friends, examining his broken childhood for insight into his emotional fragility.

"Rolando never had a chance to really get a grip on his life, and that goes all the way back to his high school years," said Adcock. "He was a high school All-American, and people have always wanted something from him. He needed to figure out what he wanted and what was important to him. He needed to get control of his emotions. And he needed to get right spiritually. Tuscaloosa was the perfect place for that, a safe place for that."

Then, last summer, Dallas owner Jerry Jones called McClain's cell phone, asking if he'd give the Cowboys a shot. Dallas' starting middle linebacker, Sean Lee, had torn his left ACL on May 27during the Cowboys' first day of organized team activities, and Jones was determined to win McClain over.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had talked at length with Saban about McClain—Garrett was Saban's quarterback coach at Miami in 2005 and 2006, and the two remain close—and Saban explained how he had helped McClain flourish at Alabama and that, with proper guidance, he could prosper in the NFL.

Dallas is relatively close to home for McClain (it's a two-hour flight from Birmingham), and a distinctive family atmosphere pervades the entire organization—two major selling points to McClain. He eventually said yes to Jones' offer. On July 1, Dallas orchestrated a trade for McClain, acquiring his rights and a seventh-round pick from the Ravens in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft.

"There weren't many teams that I would have left the couch for," McClain told reporters after making seven tackles in Dallas' 26-10 win over Tennessee on Sept. 14. "This is one of them."

He knows I'm here. The Cowboys PR staff informed McClain I was coming to the team headquarters at 1 Cowboys Parkway in Irving, Texas, specifically to speak to him. But once the locker room is opened to the media on a recent fall afternoon, he is nowhere to be found.

McClain's teammates and coaches gush about him. The day before, he had his two boys in the locker room, and players swear he looked like the happiest man alive as he doted on them.

"You should have seen that smile on Rolando's face. It was gigantic, man, GIGANTIC!" said backup running back Ryan Williams, who played at Virginia Tech.

"Rolando is a beast. It took about one day of practice at training camp for Rolando to show that he belonged here. He's an eyesore. By that, I mean he sticks out because he's so darn big," Williams continued. "Linebackers in the NFL aren't supposed to be that big. But he comes in, he's in shape and, man, he just is making plays all over the place. We're like, 'Whoa! Look what we have here.' And man, he studies harder than anyone. He loves the game again.

"I think it was good for him to get away from football. We've known each other since college, and sometimes you just need a break. It's like he needed to fall back in love with the game. And now, man, it's unreal how much he loves it. He'll be sitting at his locker before games just chanting to himself, 'I love this game. I love this game. I love it.' He's got all the passion in the world."

"The time away from football brought Rolando back to football," said backup linebacker Will Smith. "It helped him. It cleared his mind, made him realize what he loved and why he loved it. You just look at him and he's a massive human being with unbelievable athletic ability. He was born to do this, to play football. He's our leader, and I look up to him. I really do."

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli says Rolando McClain is a real student of the game.

"What impresses me most about Rolando is that he's so smart and aware of where everyone on the field needs to be," said Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. "Rolando really likes football. He studies it like the great ones, like [Brian] Urlacher did when I was in Chicago. ... Rolando's body of work this year has been outstanding."

I wander out of the locker room and walk through the football complex, determined to find the Cowboys' starting middle linebacker. I finally spot McClain. He's lounging in the equipment room, relaxing in a chair and watching television. He has zero desire to speak with me.

I approach. I tell Rolando that I've traveled here from Birmingham, that I covered him for Sports Illustrated when he was at Alabama, that I'm just trying to understand him.

"No more stories about me," he says. "I'm just tired. It's not about me. I'm not talking. I'm done talking."

I ask him, through the chain-link wire that separates us, if stepping away from the game ultimately helped him.

"It didn't help me become a better football player," he says. "But emotionally and mentally, it helped me tons. It was something I had to do. I just feel better at where I am in life. "

Suddenly, as he speaks, his demeanor lightens. His face softens. The storm clouds in his eyes disappear. "OK," he says, "you can ask me some questions."

Did you stop loving the game?

"Retiring had nothing to do with love of the game. Nothing," he says. "It had to do with how I felt about myself. I needed the break. Definitely needed it. I was so tired of losing [in Oakland], so tired of everything."

Why did you come back?

"My relationship with God," he says. "That's it. My relationship with God."

I think for a moment back to meeting McClain during Alabama's 2009 championship season. He spoke then about always trying to stay close to his Higher Power, that even in the darkest hours of his childhood, his mother always told him to lean on his faith. Back then, it was his beacon, his lifeline, and it clearly is now.

I ask him: Are you happy? Are you at peace?

"Yes, yes, I am happy. Very happy," he says. "I'm excited to get up every day. I'm excited about football. I'm excited about life. Really, I'm lucky. Just so, so lucky."

McClain rises and walks into another room. I watch him and see his face as he turns a corner some 50 feet away.

He's smiling, big and bright, glowing like someone who's found home.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2291483-the-curious-case-of-rolando-mcclain
 
Very good read. I really cannot see McClain doing all those off-field actions that he did. At 'Bama, he was always a cool quiet guy. I know in 2 games in the '09 year where he truly went off, and that was:

In the open of the Virginia Tech game where he yelled at Marquis Johnson for busting a coverage, and then shoving an official.

And then in the Texas game where he got flagged for unsportsman like conduct.

Other those two, he rarely did anything that showed he was bat shit crazy. Glad he's happier now and making an impact with the Cowboys. Just keep it up, study like you did at 'Bama, make your two little boys happy, and just have fun.
 
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