A Remarkable Athlete

As my friends and family can attest, I know nothing about sports, and in particular football.

However, I read with great interest a profile that Time Magazine did on Myron Rolle, an imposing 6'2 college football player for Florida State. What make Myron so special is that not only does he have athletic talent, but he's also a gifted student.

On Nov. 22, the Seminoles' safety jetted off to Birmingham, Ala., where he sat for a final interview for the Rhodes Scholarship, generally viewed as the country's most prestigious. After learning he was one of the 32 student-athletes in the country to earn the honor — and with it, two years of study at England's vaunted Oxford University — Rolle flew to College Park, Md., joined his teammates late in the second quarter and helped Florida State to a pivotal win over the Maryland.

The part that caught my attention was his response when asked about breaking the stereotype of an academic athlete.

The focus on academics and athletics started in grade school. My parents always put a high premium on academics, and I was always good at athletics. For high school, I went to the Hun School in Princeton, N.J., which is a very challenging boarding school, where I got more practice at balancing the two.

I found it interesting that while access to good schools was important, it always starts with individual responsibility and support from parents.

He'll have an exciting decision to make whether to take this opportunity to study abroad, or play in the NFL. Fortunately for Myron, he has a role model who he can look to for advice in Bill Bradley, who an addition to being a Rhodes Scholar himself, had a career in the NBA and in politics.