If Only He was a Dumb Jock

If only he was a dumb jock his draft stock might be higher. If only he hadn’t left Florida State University to go study at Oxford maybe he’d be better prepared for the NFL Combine. If only he didn’t aspire to be a doctor by the time he’s 40 years old, then the scouts might take his love for football more seriously. If only Myron Rolle wasn’t himself, some say he’d have a better chance of being a professional football player.

At 23 years old, Myron Rolle is the guy you want your daughter to marry whether you like jocks or not. Whether you have hang-ups about her marrying an African-American or not, Myron Rolle is the guy. According to an ESPN special on Rolle, he could have entered the NFL draft in 2009 or come back to Florida State for his senior season but instead left for Oxford to get his Masters degree in medical anthropology as a Rhodes Scholar. He’s not even in the NFL yet but he’s founded the Myron Rolle  Foundation dedicated to “to the support of health, wellness, educational and other charitable initiatives throughout the world that benefit children and families in need.”

I’ve reiterated throughout my short stint as a blogger how I was ashamed of my intelligence growing up because the currency of athleticism spent more readily in my community. But what if more outstanding student athletes of color made themselves a bit more public? Would this affect the fallacious reasoning many impoverished kids have that you can only be either an academic or athlete but not both?

I was inspired that Myron Rolle isn’t afraid of the bearing his academic success could have on his professional football career. He’s committed to virtues and principles that transcend singular thinking and that’s what young people of all colors need. The teen I’ve had the privilege of seeing in the classroom in recent years feels limited and fears failure. They’re petrified of embarrassment and prone to assimilation so as not be exposed. But if these young people knew that you can live right now, start an organization right now, play your sport right now and impact the world, I know they’d do it. Study a Myron Rolle and you’ll see him credit his mentors both deceased and living. He’s made a lifestyle of learning and his desire to serve the less fortunate resonates so strongly that it propels him toward the stuff of dreams. He epitomizes the new jock.