Dewey Loren McClain (born April 25, 1954) is an American former professional football player, labor leader, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, McClain serves in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

, representing the 100th district. McClain played for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

from 1976 through 1980. He returned to football, playing in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

for the Oakland Invaders in 1983 and the Oklahoma Outlaws in 1984. After he retired from football, he became a labor leader, serving in the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor unions in the United States, labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive directo ...

and as president of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council. He was elected to the Georgia House in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

held on November 5, 2013.

American football career

McClain is from Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and attended Okmulgee High School. He then enrolled East Central State University, where he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the East Central Tigers. He graduated in 1976 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in history, with minor concentrations in psychology, sociology, government, and physical education. He signed with the

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

,Herald-Journal – Google News Archive Search
/ref> and played for Atlanta as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

from 1976 through 1980. Before the 1981 season, the Falcons traded McClain to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

with Frank Reed for

Steve Luke Steve Luke (born September 4, 1953) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a safety (American football position), safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State ...

and a draft pick, but he became injured in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

and did not play for the Packers. After sitting out a year, McClain returned to football, playing for the Oakland Invaders of the

in 1983. When he discovered that

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

was receiving a USFL expansion franchise in 1984, the Oklahoma Outlaws, McClain asked to be made available in the expansion draft so that he could play for them, insisting that he would otherwise retire. He exposed in the expansion draft, but selected by the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...

. He held out, refusing to report to Memphis. When

opened and McClain did not report, the Showboats agreed to trade McClain to Oklahoma for the rights to Horace Ivory. He played for the Outlaws in 1984, before retiring. McClain was a founding member and president of the

Metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

chapter of the

(NFLPA). He served as a member of the National Former Players Board of Directors of the NFLPA.

Government career

After he retired from football, McClain went to work for the city of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He worked in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs for 18 years, and for the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency for four years. In 2013, McClain became the president of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council, an affiliate of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. McClain ran in a

for the

, to serve the 100th district, which took place on November 5, 2013. He was the only candidate on the ballot, and won the race uncontested. He was sworn into office on December 5.Your daily jolt: 38 percent of state lawmakers are ALEC members , Political Insider , www.ajc.com
/ref>

Personal life

McClain lives in Lilburn, Georgia. He met his wife, Linda (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Evans), in high school. The couple have two daughters.

References

External links

*
Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McClain, Dewey Living people 1954 births Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Atlanta Falcons players Players of American football from Gwinnett County, Georgia American football linebackers Oakland Invaders players Oklahoma Outlaws players East Central Tigers football players East Central University alumni People from Okmulgee, Oklahoma People from Lilburn, Georgia Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives American trade union leaders American athlete-politicians 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly