Subscribe to the NCSA BlogThe Most Outstanding Student Athlete in College Football
November 24th, 2008 - byThe eyes and ears of the majority of the college football world were focused on Norman, Oklahoma for the big showdown between Texas Tech and Oklahoma to see who gains the inside track at playing for the National Championship. My eyes were focused on the less compelling race for the ACC title between Florida State And Maryland. However, it wasn’t the football game that had my interest, it was the compelling story of FSU corner-back Myron Rolle.
On Saturday Myron became the most well-known student athlete since Bill Bradley to win the Rhodes Scholarship. Rolle has made a name for himself the past 3 years at Florida State by starring on the football team while taking an enormous load in the classroom and the Tallahassee community. He graduated pre-med in two and a half years with 3.75 average, was awarded a $4,000 grant to conduct stem cell research and set up a program to educate Seminole Indian children about fitness, obesity, and the importance of fitness. He was so involved in the classroom that he was actually criticized by coaches for spending time studying abroad instead of working out with his teammates.
On Saturday Myron made decision to interview for the Rhodes scholarship and risk missing part or all of his team’s pivotal match up. It turned out he was able to interview in Birmingham, board a jet, fly to Maryland, receive a police escort to the game and join his ectstatic teammates late in second quarter of a huge 37-3 victory. He now faces the agonizing decision of pursuing a NFL career or taking a year off to study at Oxford to study a one year’s master degree in medical anthropology.
The decision will no doubt be difficult, but Rolle went through a similarly difficult decision during the recruiting process. He has known all along that he plans to open a medical clinic in the Bahamas following his playing career, and he placed that goal in mind during recruiting. He chose Florida State in part due to his official visit where he spent the entire first day dedicated entirely to academic activities. The school layed out a plan where he could graduate in three years to enter the NFL draft and then ultimately attend med-school.
Rolle’s amazing accomplishments are a tribute to true student athletes across the country. Here is to hoping he continues to put academics first. I’ll also support this idea floating across the blog-o-sphere (Shanoff); Perhaps the award for the most outstanding player in college football, the Heisman Trophy, should be awarded to the most outstanding student athlete in college football.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Yeah right. Perhaps not.