Babe: Time To Seriously Consider Cutting McClain

[Stinger_Splash]

He had his chance and he blew it. Time to cut him and move on.

 

[Nation]

Oh- check that- he's miles ahead of Brady James....

Maybe not over the body of James' work he wasn't better than McClain last season, but 2008 Bradie James was better than 2014 Rolondo McClain.

 

[dallasdave]

If he was a 1st or 2nd year scrub, then yeah definitely cut him. But he's not, and the talent lost by cutting him isn't worth the "message" that it would send.

When Jimmy said that you don't treat all players equal, and that some will get special treatment (paraphrasing), Ro is one of those players I think.

Jimmy said that you don't treat all players equal, and that some will get special treatment (paraphrasing), Ro is one of those players I think------Now that is smart football-keep your playmakers on the team, and do what you have to do to keep them on the team.

 

[dallasdave]

I think that his salary to talent ratio makes it worth keeping him on the roster this season. If we get to a point where there are injuries piling up and someone has to go, then I think McClain is someone to consider letting go. But otherwise, I think it would make sense to just keep him.

I mean honestly, do you think that someone like Keith Rivers or Wilbur playing all 16 games is going to contribute more than McClain who might play in only 9-12 games? Obviously there has to be a line drawn somewhere, though. You can't let a player get away with murder without there being consequences. If McClain shows a poor attitude or lack of effort in addition to being out of shape or injured, then I would seriously consider parting ways.

McClain really brings it when he is on the field, so give him the chance to work this out. He is on a one year deal anyway.

 

[dallasdave]

Mcclain will have some say in whether or not he eventually gets cut. He was in Stage Two of the NFL's substance abuse program. This is his second violation in Stage Two. He could have gotten a 6-game suspension without pay instead of only four games. Regardless, he automatically advances to Stage Three of the program after committing the second Stage Two violation.

He's subject to unannounced testing up to ten times per month now. Mcclain's stuck in Stage Three for as long as he plays in the NFL unless he stays clean for a minimum of 24 months and the NFL Medical Advisor discharges him. If he's successful with the latter, his status returns to one like any other player who has never been admitted to the program.

So, the decision to play football is largely up to him. Mcclain will receive an automatic 10-game suspension If he tests positive for marijuana in Stage Three. That's ten games period--regular, postseason and Pro Bowl. Another testing failure after that is an automatic 1-year banishment from the league. Only the league can decide whether to reinstate him after he serves the 1-year banishment and he would remain in Stage Three for the remainder of his career.

Barring injuries, Mcclain will remain on the roster as long as he sticks to his promise that he will not violate the substance abuse policy in the future. IMO, he knows his job security is extremely weak if he crosses the line again. 10-game suspensions and/or banishment are usually the last straw when there is an apparent pattern of behavior.From the team's perspective, I doubt the front office will cut Mcclain while he is in Stage Two unless they are confident another linebacker could step up and provide his productivity without creating more shuffling of the LB starters.

https://nflpaweb.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/PDFs/Active Players/Drug_SOA_Policy_9-29-14.pdf
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...-with-rolando-mcclain-s-4-game-suspension.ece

Very good post. Enjoyed the read.

 

[bayeslife]

I guess we should cut Hardy too.

 

[CF74]

If McClain is getting any kind special treatment we seriously need to evaluate our coaching staff and front office. Total package on the field he is an adequate starter. He is way too hot and cold, way too injury prone and his conditioning is too poor for him to be getting any kind of special treatment. He isnt Ray Lewis. He isnt even Bradie James

He's 10 times better than Bradie James..,

 

[CF74]

He's already had enough BREAKS.....so there's no more need to tap the "BRAKES"

Off with his head!!! He's Jerrys special project now, get him into a counseling program and a baby sitter..

 

[65fastback2plus2]

his house burned down, he got injured and had family issues...so he did a little drugs..woopty doo

 

[Maxmadden]

This is his last chance to play football in the NFL. The Cowboys were more than willing to let him hit the free agent market and there were no takers. The Cowboys signed and brought in a ton of LB's. They resigned him for nearly nothing knowing he can't be counted on. If, and when he gets a 10 game suspension no team will sign him and it will be career over.

 

[EST_1986]

I'd rather give TC snaps to people who will actually be here and help the team, people who can be relied on. Of course McClain is notorious for not wanting to practice, so maybe that's not as much of an issue.

Lee is out there and will be done for the season within a month....

 

[Craig]

No, its not. In the spring its time to consider not re-signing him.

 

[conner01]

If McClain is getting any kind special treatment we seriously need to evaluate our coaching staff and front office. Total package on the field he is an adequate starter. He is way too hot and cold, way too injury prone and his conditioning is too poor for him to be getting any kind of special treatment. He isnt Ray Lewis. He isnt even Bradie James

Good players get special treatment
Just the reality of the game and always has been and is not going to change

 

[jday]

http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***...ider-cutting-cowboys-lb-rolando-mcclain.html/

I'm really torn on this one. I'm leaning towards "no," but with the amount of potential knuckleheads now on the team, it might serve as notice that no one is safe should they keep up their off-the-field antics.

 

[conner01]

Why the rush.

I don't get the rush to cut players
You don't hurt your team by trying to make some point that will have no effect on the decisions of other players
The time to decide what to do with him is after the season when you have the ability to replace him
If he comes back and is a problem you suspend him. You cut him you just let another team have him on the cheap
He either acts right and contributes or you suspend him and he sets at home
You need the depth and you are paying him if he is on the roster game 1 do I rather pay him to set home than face him down the line
Hopefully he can come back and have a productive season then you decide what you want to do
Personally I would move on after the season but I don't hurt my depth at this point when you can't replace him to make a useless point

 

[silver]

To quote the great Jimmy Johnson

"I don't believe in football intelligence and being dumb off the field," he said. "If he's dumb off the field, he's going to make dumb problems off the field and that's going to be just as big a problem as being dumb on the field."

"Hit me in the head with a hammer the next time I want to draft a dumb guy," Johnson said.

 

[robjay04]

To quote the great Jimmy Johnson

Just saying, McClain would of fit right in on the teams that made him famous.

 

[Proximo]

He does the Cowboy games with Brad Sham. He's quite relevant.

LOL

It's 100% a matter of opinion.

What "Babe" thinks about any given topic means absolutely nothing to me, = completely irrelevant.

 

[conner01]

I'm really torn on this one. I'm leaning towards "no," but with the amount of potential knuckleheads now on the team, it might serve as notice that no one is safe should they keep up their off-the-field antics.

Totally get that thinking but I just don't think these young players look at things that way
Every player knows this stuff can cause them to loose huge amounts of money yet some players still screw up
You can't fix stupid
And cutting one player is not going to motivate a knucklehead to not be a knucklehead
Some people only learn when they receive the ramifications of their behavior, some never learn no matter what happens to them
some people are just self destructive be that from some addiction or mental issues
Cutting him is not going to change him. Only he can change him
Cutting him is not going to change another guy who doesn't have the motivation to change himself
They all know the ramifications yet some just keep on destroying their careers

 

[Apollo Creed]

You have to be an IDIOT to fail the NFL drug testing policy.

http://********.com/its-remarkably-easy-to-beat-nfl-drug-testing-1695935246

It's Remarkably Easy To Beat NFL Drug Testing
101,464
11

Barry Petchesky
Filed to: AARON HERNANDEZ 4/06/15 11:35am

If we’ve learned one thing from his trial...it’s that Aaron Hernandez probably killed a dude or three. But if we’ve learned a second thing from the trial, it’s that Aaron Hernandez smoked a lot of weed. Like, a ton of it, and all the time. Enough to keep even the largest fictional giant in a permanent chill state. And yet the NFL never caught on.


Aaron Hernandez Is An Idiot, But He Still Might Get Away With Murder
You can get away with murder, you know. It's just easier for those of us who don't murder …Read more

The question that the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin set out to answer: if every NFL player is regularly tested for marijuana, how was Hernandez able to pass every drug test he took? The probable answer, from talking to agents and former league medical personnel, is mundane: the test is so, so easy to beat, and Hernandez wasn’t a moron about it.

NFL players are tested for recreational drugs once a year, during a window mandated by the collectively bargained substance-abuse policy. That window opens in the spring (this year, coincidentally, it’s on 4/20) and ends early in the preseason. But largely because of the cost of dispatching drug testers, the vast majority of players are tested during training camp, when they’re all in one place. All a player usually needs to do is make sure he pisses clean by the time he reports to camp, and once he’s tested, he can smoke as much as he wants for the next year.

If a player passes his one test, he won’t be tested again until the next April-August. One former medical personnel called it an “intelligence test, because it’s once a year, and you know it’s coming.” One agent quipped that players sometimes will throw “smoking parties” as soon as their testing is complete.

Even if Hernandez had pissed hot in one of his annual training-camp tests, he wouldn’t have been suspended or even outed. He merely would have entered stage 1 of the drug program, which would have led to increased testing—but just for 90 days. If he stayed clean for those 90 days, he would have been back to square one. Not only is the policy easy to beat the first time, but it offers second chances.

Aaron Hernandez would have had to have been pretty ******* dumb to get caught. Volin sums up the three possibilities:

[A]ssuming Bradley’s statements were accurate and Hernandez smoked year-round, there appear to be only three plausible scenarios:

1. Hernandez kept a supply of masking agents near him at all times (many of which can be found at any GNC).
2. Hernandez was in Stage 1 at some point, but passed all of his subsequent drug tests and was released from the drug program.
3. Hernandez stayed clean for long enough each summer to pass his drug test in training camp, then smoked as much as he wanted for the rest of the year.

“There’s no way, in my mind, Aaron Hernandez was in Stage 1, because if he was he would’ve gotten caught,” one of the former medical personnel said. “The most logical conclusion is he stopped smoking in June, passed his test in July, then smoked all he wanted for 11 months of the year.”

That NFL drug testing is so predictable and so easily beatable is something of an open secret, albeit one no one wants to talk about for obvious reasons. (The league would rather not emphasize how toothless it is on recreational drugs; players don’t want to rock the boat on a system they’ve largely figured out.)

Nate Jackson’s Slow Getting Up is one of the rare public discussions of how the system works and how ineffective it is. Which is actually a good thing—the NFL has no business testing for marijuana, which is at worst harmless and at best an effective, non-addictive pain-management tool. If the testing policy exists only for PR, at least it doesn’t strive to be more than that.

How did Aaron Hernandez not fail NFL drug tests? [Boston Globe]
​