TUESDAY, 3:52pm: McClain has officially been placed back on the reserve/retired list, confirms Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
MONDAY, 11:43am: Just a few days after having been reinstated by the Ravens, former first-round pick Rolando McClain has decided to give up his comeback attempt and end his NFL playing career for good, according to Seth Wickersham of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
“I’m done,” McClain said in a text message to Wickersham (Twitter link). “If football made me complete I would play. But whenever I think of it my heart pulls me away [for] whatever reason.” McClain has since retweeted Wickersham’s report and changed his own Twitter profile to refer to himself as a “retired NFL vet.”
McClain, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2010 draft, was unable to reach his potential on the field, partly due to poor decision-making and inconsistent effort. Off the field, he has had several run-ins with the law, including a gun charge in late 2011. His best season on the field also came in 2011, when he racked up 100 tackles and five sacks for the Raiders. However, he hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since 2012.
Last week, we heard that McClain had a workout with the Ravens and that it went poorly, to say the least. The 24-year-old was unable to finish his conditioning test and didn’t participate in some of the drills the team put him through. Even if McClain’s heart had been in the comeback attempt, it sounds it would have taken some time to work his body back into NFL shape.
Putting retired nfl vet is a disgrace to all the retired players who worked hard and had good careers.
maybe he’ll be able to put his college education to good use.