TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — According to numerous reports, a home on Lake Tuscaloosa belonging to former University of Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain burned to the ground Monday evening.
No one was home at the time and no injuries were sustained by anyone fighting the blaze, which was already out of control when firefighters arrived shortly after 6 p.m.
At age 25, McClain began a comeback with the Dallas Cowboys this season and has played in 13 games, with 12 starts. He’s been credited with 81 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
The Cowboys defeated the Indianapolis Colts 42-7 on Sunday, and close the regular season this week against division rival Washington having already clinched the NFC East title.
The 2009 winner of the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in college football, McClain was selected eighth overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2010 NFL Draft. After being cut in 2013 he signed a free-agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens, but ended up retiring from football at the age of 23.
He came back to Tuscaloosa to get his life straightened out, but the house was listed as being for sale with an asking price of $1.5 million.
“Rolando McClain is one of my favorite people in the whole world,” Coach Nick Saban said in September. “He’s one of my favorite players in the whole world. He actually came here the first year we were here and had never one a game and didn’t have a very good team, and he certainly became the alpha dog leader of some really good teams that probably had a lot to do with the whole turning around of the program and getting a lot of the players to buy in and do a lot of the things the way we needed to do them so we could be successful as a team. There are a lot of players who contributed to that, but Rolando McClain was one of the first and did it as well as anybody.
“I’m excited about him having the opportunity to go back to play pro football, if that’s what he wanted to do and that’s what he chooses to do. I wish him the very, very best in his career. Hopefully he’ll do well in Dallas for Jason Garrett and the Cowboys. We’ll be excited to watch him play.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
