Rival Report 6/9: Rolando McClain misses 2nd straight year of voluntary OTA's

The Dallas Cowboys are experiencing the oddities of having Rolando McClain on their football team. After McClain burned out in Oakland and walked away from the Baltimore Ravens there were many questions about McClain's interest in football. Those questions are being brought up again now in Dallas after he has not attended a single voluntary OTA in 2 years of playing for the Cowboys.

Jason Garrett is clearly perturbed by the situation considering his "We're going to talk about the people who are here" response to questions about McClain's absence. However, as well all know, Jason Garrett is not the captain of the Cowboys ship in the way that most head coaches are. No, that honor goes to team owner Jerry Jones and "Jerruh" says that some players deserve more slack than others.

"He gets slack," Jerry Jones says. "You have to earn special consideration. You have to look at his impact and what he can do for your team. I'm glad he is a Cowboy. Certainly, there are no surprises with Rolando."

Now, last season McClain missed the voluntary OTA's while rehabbing a knee injury and this year he is in Alabama spending family time with his kids that are normally with their mother. These can be seen as understandable circumstances, but many NFL players rehab injuries while staying around their teams and even more have families they would prefer to spend time with but still show up.

If Rolando McClain never walked away from then Raiders coach Dennis Allen stating he had "$10 million reasons not to care" about being dismissed from the team and if he hadn't temporarily retired from the Baltimore Ravens then maybe it wouldn't be a big deal. However those things happened, and views of Rolando McClain are tainted because of that.

Jerry Jones believes that Rolando McClain deserves slack, but his absences are only being forgiven because of his production on the field. If he doesn't keep playing at a high level, the slack will not keep being given to him. His own coach is obviously unhappy and doesn't even know if McClain will show up when it isn't voluntary anymore, but it's the owner that matters in Dallas.

McClain's production has kept Jerry happy, but the writing on the walls say that won't last forever if Rolando continues to give reasons to doubt his desires to play football. The term "voluntary" is there for these team activities so there are no fines for missing them but players are still expected to attend.

It will be interesting to see if McClain shows up when it starts to affect his pocketbook, but given his history of caring more about money than the team it's probable he will be there when that time comes.

Cowboys missing mercurial McClain for 2nd straight offseason | Pro32: Head to Head
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Rolando McClain has missed every voluntary practice in two offseasons with the Cowboys.

Cowboys unsure when they'll see LB Rolando McClain next
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says McClain has been dealing with "family issue" in Alabama.

Jerry Jones admits Dallas Cowboys have given Rolando McClain slack - Dallas Cowboys Blog- ESPN
The Dallas Cowboys have been fine with Rolando McClain missing voluntary OTAs, as they have given him leeway so he can see his children.

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