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Now, with two children of his own — three-year-old Brayden Lee and nine-month-old Kai Joseph — McClain is doing everything he can to be a good father and a good man.

“I want to show them love as a father, I want to be the best dad I can be,” said McClain. “Football, this is all for them. I want to come out here and handle business for my kids.”

When he’s not on the TD Place field or in meeting rooms with the Redblacks, McClain is FaceTiming his kids.

“I just smile and talk to them,” he said. “I love being a father, I love my kids.”

Losing a father at age seven was tough. He moved in with his grandparents — Ira and Merlene — who lived in the same subdivision as his mother Kenishia.

“That’s my other mom and my other dad — they’ve been a big part of my life,” said McClain. “I still talk to (my grandmother) every day, I have to call her or she’ll call me and be on me about not calling.”

“(When I was around them as a kid) it was strictly business — school and football, don’t get influenced by the wrong things or the wrong crowd. That helped me stay on the straight path and got me a college degree and got me to where I am today. I’m going to treat my kids the same way.”

McClain grew up with a love for football — thanks in large part to the influence of plenty of uncles.

“I had a bunch of uncles so there were a lot of male figures in my life,” he said. “Growing up, it was just what we did — play football. I always embraced the football grind, I wanted to get to the professional level.”