According To Kurz...Former FSU Safety, Rolle A Rhodes Scholar

A few months ago Myron Rolle, the former starting safety for the Florida State Seminoles, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, which is essentially known as the world’s most prestigious academic scholarship. He is the first major-college football player of this era to win. The last athlete to accomplish this feat was Bill Bradley, a basketball player for Princeton in 1965. But major accomplishments and fantastic triumphs are nothing new to Rolle.

Before entering college he was the nation’s top recruit at Hun School of Princeton where the All-American made 112 tackles while earning a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. Outside of football he played the saxophone in the school band, sang in school plays and was the sports editor of the school newspaper. While attending FSU, he graduated in two and a half years with a 3.75 GPA in pre-med. On top of these achievements, Myron’s greatest deed may have been the $4,000 grant he was awarded to conduct cancer research and set up a program in Okeechobee, Fla. to teach children about physical fitness and health. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Well it gets even better. This Tuesday, Rolle announced he was skipping the 2009 NFL draft (where he was projected as a sure first round pick) and will be studying at Oxford instead.

“The opportunity to attend Oxford next year as a Rhodes Scholar was one that you couldn’t pass up”, he told ESPN. “I want to be a neurosurgeon and I want to help impoverished nations build up their vaccination programs”.

Being a student athlete myself, I know how hard it can be to manage your time and priorities. To be able to do what Rolle has is very impressive and almost envious. Before focusing on an NFL career Rolle has other more important priorities he feels he needs to put at the center of his attention.

Myron Rolle defines the term Student-Athlete; he is a rare breed who isn’t afraid to put it in that order either. So while you continue to read and hear about athletes wanting more money or deciding to leave school early to “get paid”, I encourage you take the time to look around and appreciate the diamonds in the rough.