Rolando McClain can’t go home again. His $1.5 million Alabama mansion on Lake Tuscaloosa was destroyed in a fire Dec. 22.
“I can’t go back yet. It’s too much,” McClain said Friday, speaking about the incident for the first time.
McClain missed a day of practice last week to deal with the aftermath of the fire, though he stayed in Texas. The six-bedroom, five-bath brick Alabama house was up for sale.
“It’s a tough situation,” McClain said. “This is your home. I don’t know if anybody here has ever lost a home, but it’s just a tough situation. It is what it is. You get your emotions together, get everything back together and put it towards football. Just go out and try to play good ball.”
McClain missed last week’s regular-season finale with an illness. He did not make the trip to Washington.
“I felt like the best thing for the team was for me to not be on the plane with a 102-plus-degree fever,” McClain said. “I didn’t want to get anybody else sick and coach didn’t either. From what I saw, guys went out there and took care of business.”
He is battling a knee injury, which limited him in practice Wednesday, but the Cowboys list him as probable.
“I feel about as good as anybody else at this point in the season,” McClain said.
McClain, who becomes a free agent in the off-season, feels like he has found a home in Dallas. After retiring last season, he has returned to make 108 tackles with two interceptions.
“It’s a good season,” McClain said. “It’s been all right. Obviously, there have been downs, but take the good and build on it and take the bad and learn from it and get better. I think the best thing is just being on a team that cares for you as much as you care for them. It’s not hard to go out and play for guys that you know care for you the same as you care for them. It’s been a good season I guess so to say, but it’s not over obviously still. We can play four more games, so we’ll see.”
McClain insists he is not thinking about the future. He signed a one-year, $700,000 contract after the Cowboys acquired his rights from the Ravens during the off-season.
“I love Dallas,” he said. “I love this team. I don’t know. It’s been fun. It’s been fun.
“…Whatever happens after happens. So….”
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