Sunday Is SEC Network Takeover For Crimson Tide; Crimson Tide Football 2017 Recruiting Class No. 1; Rolondo McClain Fails To Report To Cowboys Training Camp

Sunday Is SEC Network Takeover For Crimson Tide

Sunday, July 31st is the Alabama Crimson Tide's day for the SEC Network's Takeover. Alabama has 13 great events sure to please the Tide fans beginning tomorrow morning. In addition to numerous games, National Championship contests, and SEC Championships, Bama will also air a one-hour special, "A Season Of Excellence," scheduled to air on the SEC Network at 7:30 a.m. CT and again at 7 p.m. CT.

The Season of Excellence is one hour of original content basically featuring a 2015-16 year-in-review, a look back at Alabama's 16^th national championship in football, a recap of head basketball coach Avery Johnson's first season, interviews with the Tide's individual champions in track and gymnastics and an in-depth interview with Director of Athletics Bill Battle.

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Crimson Tide Football 2017 Recruiting Class No. 1

Once again The University of Alabama Crimson Tide 2017 Recruiting Class is in the No. 1 slot. Alabama was here before, briefly, before Ohio State recaptured the top spot. Shortly after another SEC team, Georgia, took over second place sending the Tide to third. 

Now, Bama is back in its usual slot, according to Rivals.com, at No. 1. Georgia has fallen all the way to No. 6 after their high of second place not long ago.

A total of nine teams from the Southeastern Conference made the top 25. They are Alabama (1), LSU (3), Georgia (6), Texas A&M (8), Tennessee (9), Mississippi State (12), Auburn (15), South Carolina (17), Arkansas (19) and Florida (20). 

Here is a look at the Top 25 Recruiting Classes for 2017 according to Rivals.com:

1		Alabama
2		Ohio State
3		LSU
4		Oklahoma
5		Michigan
6		Georgia
7		Notre Dame
8		Texas A&M
9		Tennessee
10		Miami (FL)
11		Arizona
12		Mississippi State
13		Florida State
14		Clemson
15		Auburn
16		Rutgers
17		South Carolina
18		Iowa
19		Arkansas
20		Florida
21		Northwestern
22		North Carolina
23		Michigan State
24		Houston
25		Colorado

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Rolando McClain Fails To Report To Cowboys Training Camp

Rolando McClain
Dallas Cowboys Photo

The Dallas Cowboys opened training camp today. Former University of Alabama Crimson Tide standout Rolondo McClain wasn't there. In fact, he was the only Cowboy not there that was expected to be there. He was placed on the reserve/did not report list as the team opened training camp yesterday in Oxnard, California. 

The Cowboys departed Texas on Thursday via charter flight, but McClain wasn't on it. Not all the players took the flight, but all reported on Friday with the exception of McClain.

Deadline for reporting for training camp was 4 p.m. CT yesterday. The Cowboys, during a 1 p.m. press conference, said that McClain and defensive end Randy Gregory had been placed on the reserve/did not report list.


This is the second consecutive season McClain starts the NFL season on the suspended list. He missed the first four games of 2015 for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. He is suspended for the first 10 games of this season for the same offense. The 10-game suspension, however, does not prevent McClain from participating in training camp and playing in preseason games.

Cowboys executive vice president, CEO and director of player personnel, Steven Jones, said, "Rolando and Gregory are both on reserve/did not report. Obviously, there are some details that go into their situation that we're not going to discuss."

McClain signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Cowboys back in March of this year. The deal is heavy with playing-time incentives -- $125,000 bonus per game played and a $1 million bonus for playing 75 percent of Dallas' defensive snaps in 2016 – and included a guarantee of $750,000.

McClain was arrested three times between December 1, 2011, and April 21, 2013. All the legal issues associated with McClain's arrests have been resolved, according to reportsd.

McClain had retired, but returned from that one-year retirement to help the Cowboys win the NFC East title in 2014, earning their first playoff victory since 2009.

McClain finished second in the voting in 2014 for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award and was a finalist for the George Halas Award, which is presented annually to the NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed.


Following the 2014 season McClain had to undergo knew surgery.

McClain came back from his  four-game suspension to finish third defensively with 80 tackles, including a pair of sacks, as well as returning an interception for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in 2015.

There was no off-season work for McClain this year, except for the three-day mandatory minicamp in June.