Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome was having a great offseason as far as acquisitions and building the team, but the Ravens are embarrassed by linebacker Rolando McClain's announced retirement.
The old mantra about "In Ozzie We Trust" should be changed to "In Ozzie We Trust, Most Of The Time."
The Ravens blew it on this one. They went out and signed a knucklehead who remained a knucklehead. At this point, we don't know why McClain retired at age 23, and to be honest, I'm afraid to ask. I really don't want to know, and I'm just glad he is out of here.
Bye. See-ya. Adios. Peace.
And from now on, I don't want to hear the Ravens talk anymore about taking high character guys. In the NFL, most of these guys are just characters, period.
The Ravens signed McClain to a one-year contract as a free agent on April 12. Prior to joining Baltimore, he spent his first three NFL seasons (2010-12) with the Oakland Raiders after becoming the eighth overall selection in the 2010 Draft.
Trouble has followed McClain everywhere and shortly after he signed with the Ravens, he was in trouble again. I understand why the Ravens signed McClain. It was out of desperation with Ray Lewis retiring, Jameel McClain recovering from a spinal injury and Dannell Ellerbe signing with the Dolphins. The Ravens had big holes to fill in the middle of the defense.
I believe in giving every player a second chance, and no one was better at forgiving than former Ravens owner, the late Art Modell. I wouldn't have cared if the Ravens had kept McClain until training camp opened as long as he stayed out of trouble. But once the news surfaced that he retired Wednesday, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I believe in second chances, but not five, six or seven.
McClain is no longer Baltimore's problem, but the state of Alabama's. Sometimes, a person has to hit rock bottom before he rebounds. This is just a small blotch on the record of Newsome, but one that won't go away easily. He got sold on some bad advice from his Crimson Tide partners. But it is better to cut the ties with McClain now than to possibly wait for some major disaster.
We were all holding our breath waiting to see what McClain would do next, but we don't have to do that anymore. We're all just glad he is gone.