Rolando McClain surprised the football world when he announced his retirement at the age of 23. According to an article in ESPN The Magazine, he explains that he retired at an early age because he wanted to control himself, plus return to the place of his glory years.
From ESPN:
What they probably don't know or understand is the remarkable decision that put McClain back here in Tuscaloosa. Just five months earlier, under contract with the Super Bowl champion Ravens; McClain sensed that he was about to self-destruct likeJovan Belcher or Aaron
Hernandez or any of the NFL's many cautionary tales. So he just walked away from football. The sports world is littered with bitter, broke or jailed 35-year-old versions of Rolando McClain. But there are few 24-year-old athletes who would have left the NFL to do what he did: McClain re-enrolled at the University of Alabama and moved back to the town that had once brought out the best in him.
Given the trouble that McClain got into during his career at Alabama and in the NFL, retiring early from football could be the best thing that happened to him. It’s unusual for young players to make a decision like this early in their career. Rolando McClain seen the route that Jovan Belcher and Aaron Hernandez were going and he chose not to follow them that route. Can you blame him for doing that?
