Dallas Cowboys Need To Stand By Rolando McClain

In the wake of news surrounding a four-game suspension for Dallas Cowboys middle linebacker Rolando McClain, it’s going to be all too easy to write off the sixth-year veteran as a problem child that just doesn’t get it.

The manly thing to do is stick with this player, regardless of what others in the media wrap this story up with.

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No, McClain hasn’t been proven to be a guy that the Cowboys can truly count on.

On the contrary, McClain is such a talented player that one can’t blame any team for taking a shot on him.

In this case, Dallas happens to be the franchise that took that chance last year – and once again this year.

In fact, the franchise already knew that McClain was skating on thin ice as the former University of Alabama star was slapped with a four-game fine for what we can assume was the same offense back in February.

Personally, I’d like to know exactly what the substance was, because definitions of what is and isn’t legal are changing a whole lot these days . If it’s something that enhances personal performance from a physical standpoint, then we have an issue.

Anything else just doesn’t matter to me because it’s not the NFL’s job to be the “Body Police” where recreational substances are concerned.

Nonetheless, I still get that McClain isn’t doing the best he can to make sure he’s available to play football, something he claims to have enjoyed once again while playing for the Cowboys last year. I mean, how much fun could playing for the Oakland Raiders, the team that drafted McClain back in 2010, have really been, right?

Given the contract that Dallas gave McClain, there really isn’t too much invested in this player. His history, at least to this point, gives a clear indication as to what is likely concerning this “loose cannon” of a personality – the NFL is littered with these types by nature.

According to Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News, shame should befall fans of the Cowboys who trusted McClain.

Huh?

Are the fans actually paying McClain that simple, one-year deal?

No.

Did the fans gather up and hold owner and general manager Jerry Jones hostage at gunpoint until he agreed to sign McClain to a virtually harmless one-year pact?

No.

Perhaps this pompous headline should have read, “Shame On Dallas Cowboys For Believing Rolando McClain.”

Frankly, I don’t think the fans give a snot what McClain does to himself. Their only real question is what will he accomplish on the football field. Supporters of NFL teams don’t look to players as role models, at least not by and large. Football players are nothing more than entertainers, and their absence from the game on TV is exactly the same as a given episode of “Two and a Half Men” that’s missing Charlie Sheen.

In this case, McClain is only going to miss four games as opposed to disappearing forever.

What’s also important here is McClain the person.

Yes, there’s a reason why some people have difficulties that others don’t understand or share. Casting these people off to the side, as Babe Laufenberg of DMN suggests, isn’t really the way to go.

In some cases, a complete disconnect might be appropriate – like when lives or public safety are a question.

Obviously, this is not the case where McClain is concerned.

Here’s a player that has tremendous talent that can make a huge difference on the Dallas defense in 2015. An area of weakness last year, the Cowboys defense was actually respectable. Many expect McClain to be a big part of it’s potential improvement into possibly a top-10 unit next season.

For now, the Cowboys don’t really have to do anything because of McClain. The linebacker position is a mile deep (you wonder why?) and after September, McClain should be ready to join the rest of his teammates.

Besides, releasing McClain right now just means that he marches right over to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly’s office, right?

No need for that to happen either.

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