Former Alabama LB Rolando McClain Eyeing Return to NFL After Suspension Lifted

According to an interview with Cowboys Country, former Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain plans to return to the professional ranks after being reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday.

“I had no intention of leaving football behind,” McClain said to Cowboys Country.

McClain hasn’t participated in an NFL game in almost a decade. He played for the Dallas Cowboys for the last time in 2015.

At 34 years old, he may now sign with any team as an unrestricted free agency. The Oakland Raiders selected McClain with the eighth overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

.He spent three seasons with the Raiders before being waived for off-field issues.

The linebacker initially announced his retirement in 2013, but signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2014. McClain had a successful stint in Dallas over two seasons before his third year was once again derailed by off-season issues, this time drug-related.

He was suspended indefinitely in December 2016 after failing multiple drug tests with the Cowboys. He was conditionally reinstated by the NFL in August 2019, but immediately released by the Cowboys.

He was then again suspended indefinitely in December 2019. Over his NFL career with the Raiders and Cowboys, McClain had 412 tackles, 9.5 sacks and four interceptions.

McClain spent three seasons at Alabama from 2007-2009, winning a slew of individual awards in his final season with the Crimson Tide.

Along with leading Alabama to a national title, McClain was a unanimous All-American, won the Butkus Award and SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

The story claims that McClain has received assistance from Alabama head coach Nick Saban and chief operations officer Ellis Ponder during the reinstatement process.

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