The second player we will focus on today will be former Alabama star linebacker Rolando McClain.
Since Nick Saban’s arrival to Tuscaloosa in 2007, Alabama has not only become a team that has created a dynasty winning national championships, but it also has become a program that sends players to the NFL every year.
With the 2020 NFL Draft happening in less than a month, it’s the perfect time to start a new series in which we will go over all of the Tide’s 29 first-round draft picks. The first player we went over was Andre Smith, who finished his career at Alabama with 15 awards and honors and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals as the No. 6 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
The second player we will focus on today will be former Alabama star linebacker Rolando McClain.
In 2008, he would record 95 tackles, 3 sacks, and an interception. He would also go on to earn the Associated Press third-team All-American honor, and was a first-team All-SEC selection as a sophomore.
His junior season in 2009 was one for the books. He finished the season not only as a national champion, but he also recorded 105 tackles (14.5 tackles for loss), 4 sacks, 14 quarterback hurries, 2 interceptions, 3 passes broken up, and 1 forced fumble. Simply put, he was unstoppable. He was also named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the 2009 Lambert Award winner, and was also named the 2009 Dick Butkus Award winner.
McClain would go on to be drafted by the Oakland Raiders as the No. 8 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft where he would play from 2010 to 2012. He was also part of the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 and most recently played for the Dallas Cowboys from 2014-2018.
In his NFL career, he had 412 combined tackles (292 solo), 9.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 INT and 1 TD.
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