OT: Rolando McClain retires at the age of 23
Middle linebacker Rolando McClain is retiring from the NFL at the age of 23, less than a month after signing a one year contract with the Ravens. I hope him and Titus get some help before they hurt themselves or even worse someone else.
Good. Hopefully that opens the door for a non-criminal to make hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
It is a good call to retire from football when your arrest:turnovers forced ratio is greater than 1.
Is it just me, or does Jamison Henley (who wrote the ESPN article) look just like Dave Brandon?
White guys all look alike.
thats racist
He looks like a young Jim Harbaugh.
Two football players that had tons of upside, had tons of potential to better their lives and their family's life, and essentially threw it away.
Rolando was overdrafted because he played at Bama. He shouldn't have been drafted at 1st round, not because of off-field concerns, but he is slow and doesn't diagnose plays quickly. He is surrounded with NFL talent that made him look better than he really is.
Oakland was 4-12 last year. What was the Lions' record???
I'm not going to argue that the Lions are GOOD, but they are certainly talented. The problem with the Lions was poor secondary play, injuries, and a few head cases (Titus Young, Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley). All those guys were talented, plus Stafford, Calvin Johnson, etc. It's not CFL talent. The Raiders, however, are very much lacking in talent.
Good to see Nick Saban keeps turning out stellar contributors to society.
Glass house, yada yada.
I'm pretty comfortable comparing Michigan ethics with that of Nick Saban whenever anyone who down voted my post wants to.
I can only shake my head about this, and wonder why the Raiders always mess up their 1st round draft picks.The only one they got right in the past 15 years is Woodson.
What about Janikowsi. The guys is so dominant. /s
He's a great kicker though.
He was an atypical pick in that he had been a productive college player and apparently a team leader, as opposed to the guys with great measurables but limited college production (e.g. Darrius Heyward-Bey) that Al usually took. At the time, I thought it was a great pick and figured that Al might have finally learned something. Unfortunately, McClain turned out to have his head up his ass. I hope for his sake that he can get his act together.
It's sad to see these stories of players with quite a bit of promise and NFL potential ending up with either extremely short careers, all the while embroiled in problems. He won a few conference and national honors in his time at Alabama - I think he is only one of two Crimson Tide players to win the Butkus Award actually.
I wonder if we'll hear about a comeback attempt somewhere down the line (three credited seasons in the NFL Pension Plan, but I believe he wouldn't be able to collect until 55), but even then, it is unfortunate for McClain that any second shot will be substantially more unlikely than the shot he just gave up.
I am going to agree with the OP and hope that McClain gets some help. I think that all college and NFL players should get yearly SPECT tests, with the results interpreted by a neutral party.
Players can "game" the imPACT test by sandbagging on the baseline measurements. Also, if they are already damaged but don't know it, the baseline measurements will be off. The SPECT test doesn't lie.
OTOH, if McClain is just another entitled athlete whose criminal behavior was enabled by the football machine at Alabama, then I hope the system gives him the "help" he needs for at least 30 days, just as a wake up call.
Stupid Abalama.
Ummm......
they might be the only front office worse than the Lions over the last decade or so.
Dont have the points to start a thread, but apparently our favorite criminal Titus was arrested for a 4th time....
http://elitedaily.com/sports/titus-young-gets-arrested-for-the-fourth-t…
The average onset of schizophrenia in men is 18 and young isn't a great deal older than that. Whether schizophrenia or something else though, it's clear there is something that is troubling this kid and I, for one, hope he gets the help he needs to have some sort of normal life.
This has taken a turn from comedic to sad real fast.
he needs to be checked in somewhere, diagnosed, and helped out...
jdon
Yipikaye, mother fu......oops. Wrong McClain.
Well, until the money runs out. He'll be back as a FA for the Ravens, Packers, Patriots, or some other smart organization in a year.