Rolando McClain's return from retirement at age 24 only lasted six days—or, more accurately, he never came out of retirement at all.
The former Alabama linebacker who walked away from the Baltimore Ravens last May sent a text to ESPN.com saying "I'm done," the site reported Monday afternoon.
Filed to http://t.co/Gy6Qtw9cbB: @RMcClain205 is walking away from football, this time for good. "I'm done," he told me in a text.
— Seth Wickersham (@SethWickersham) April 21, 2014
. @RMcClain205 texted me: "If football made me complete I would play.But whenever I think of it my heart pulls me away from whatever reason"
— Seth Wickersham (@SethWickersham) April 21, 2014Shortly after that post, McClain himself tweeted this:
The day 'I' start living for other people will be the day I die. You only get one life, and only God can judge u for what you did with it.
— Rolando McClain (@RMcClain205) April 21, 2014McClain had been reinstated by the Ravens from the reserved/retired list on Thursday, which would have allowed the team to either put him back on the roster and have him join its offseason workouts Monday, or to release him.
His workout last Tuesday at the Ravens' facility went poorly, by all accounts, as he arrived late, was unable to finish conditioning drills, and was described to ESPN.com by head coach John Harbaugh as "disappointing."
The eighth pick in the 2010 draft by the Raiders, McClain was released late in the 2012 season, then was signed by the Ravens last April. After he was arrested soon after his signing, he announced his retirement in May to address his personal issues.