Rolando McClain Retired at 23 Because, "I was feeling like Aaron Hernandez ... like I just wanted to kill somebody"

Rolando McClain, in a revealing interview with Seth Wickersham of ESPN the Magazine, says one of the reasons he retired from the NFL at the age of 23 was because he was starting to feel like Aaron Hernandez. Yikes. McClain comes off as a self-aware ticking time bomb who “just wanted to fight people.” McClain also couldn’t say no to his boyz back in Decatur, Alabama. Signing a 5-year, $40 million deal with the Raiders ($23 million guaranteed!) ended up being a very bad thing.

"He says he spent almost $600,000 on friends and family in a sixth-month span, mostly on cars. Once word got out that McClain was hooking up his crew, more people called and texted, wanting in. Feeling under siege, he wrote checks so that people would leave him alone. McClain flew to Decatur for his grandfather’s funeral, expecting a simple service. But he says that his family had signed up for a $20,000 funeral package, with five limos — and stuck him with the tab."

Also, how about the time McClain F-bombed Nick Saban at practice during his freshman year?

"McClain — already starting at middle linebacker — got upset that a defensive scheme asked him to cover two gaps. So he changed it, and as he tells it now on the dock, head coach Nick Saban exploded. “What the f—?” Saban screamed, throwing his hat. “Who the f— do you think you are?” “Why don’t you shut the f— up?” McClain fired back. “I fixed the problem.” They shouted back and forth, and Saban benched McClain for five games. At first, McClain pouted. Then he came to appreciate Saban standing up to him"

Something else you probably didn’t know about the former linebacker: Rolando McClain has eaten a turtle. “It’s some good meat.” [via ESPN the Magazine]