Former Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain announced on Twitter he plans to make another attempt at an NFL comeback.
The 2009 Butkus Award winner and first-round draft pick hasn’t played in the league since 2015.
He tweeted, “I applied for reinstatement from the NFL and I’m gonna make this comeback to play the game I love. I’m healthy both mentally and physically, I just need the chance to show what I can do.”
McClain was taken No. 8 overall by the Oakland Raiders in 2010 and played just three years before being waived. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens in the spring of 2013 but announced his retirement.
The next year he opted to return to the NFL and signed with the Dallas Cowboys. In 2016 he was suspended for violating the league’s drug policy. He failed another drug test and was suspended indefinitely.
McClain has had several other off-the-field issues in his short NFL career. In 2014 he was convicted of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in his hometown of Decatur, Alabama. The incident occurred in 2013.
In 2012 as a member of the Raiders, McClain was convicted of third-degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm in the city limits. The incident also was in Decatur.
At Alabama, McClain was part of the 2009 national championship team. He led the defense with 105 tackles and 14.5 tackles for a loss. He also had four sacks.
