Whatever happened to former All-American Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain?

Born in Athens, Ala., and a graduate of Decatur High School, McClain had a legendary career in crimson and white: He finished first-team All-SEC in both 2008 and 2009, and during his junior season, he was named unanimous All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and he won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker (the first Alabama player to do so since Derrick Thomas in 1988), along with the Jack Lambert Trophy.

He recorded 105 total tackles in his final season at Alabama, including four sacks and two interceptions, and was the defensive stalwart on Alabama’s first national championship team in 17 years. McClain was named captain to the 2009 team, along with Javier Arenas and Mike Johnson.

McClain is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of the Nick Saban era or any era in Alabama history. He would make any shortlist for best linebackers or defensive players of all time for the Crimson Tide.

MORE: 8 ‘hateful competitors’ who helped define Alabama football under Nick Saban

He would forgo his senior season at Alabama to enter the NFL Draft where he was selected eighth overall in the first round by the Oakland Raiders. After earning PFWA All-Rookie honors his first season, McClain recorded 99 total tackles and five sacks during his second year in Oakland, solidifying himself as a defensive staple.

A series of off-the-field incidents would impact his football career beginning in December 2011 when he was arrested and charged with assault in the third degree, menacing, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm inside the city limits in an incident that took place in his hometown of Decatur. He would play in Oakland’s game the following Sunday.

After seeing less of the field due to inconsistent play, McClain was waived by the Raiders in 2013. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens later that year, however, he decided to retire from football altogether at the age of 23.

McClain would encounter more brushes with the law including charges of vehicle window tint code, providing false information to police, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

RELATED: Leaving the Alabama bubble for the NFL a challenge for some former Tide players

McClain returned from the one-year retirement to help the Cowboys win the NFC East title in 2014 and earn their first playoff victory since 2009 as Dallas’ middle linebacker. He had 81 total tackles.

But off-the-field incidents would continue to haunt McClain. In the 2015 season, he was suspended for four games for violating the team’s substance abuse policy. In 2016, he would go through a series of suspensions and reinstatements from the league.

In December 2019, Fields Yates reported McClain was conditionally reinstated to the NFL and then released by the Cowboys in early September before he was suspended indefinitely again by the league. In August 2022, McClain was arrested in Moulton, Ala., on drugs and weapons charges.

McClain has maintained contact with his former head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama program since leaving in 2009.

In 2019, Saban revealed the former standout linebacker reached out to help with the team, specifically those playing his position. “I had a sitdown conversation with Rolando McClain the other day, and he was just trying to come up some helpful way to be able to help the young linebackers,” Saban said, according to Bama247. “He was just wanting to be helpful, so I really appreciate the fact that those guys feel like a part of the program, that we’re here for them if they need us and that they’re proud that they’ve been here.”

McClain received his degree from the University of Alabama during winter commencement in 2017.

Clay Yeager contributed to this story.