Black Football Player Myron Rolle earns Rhodes Scholarship
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Myron Rolle, an African American defensive back for the Florida State Seminoles, was awarded a Rhodes scholarship Saturday afternoon. The star safety and projected first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft decided to miss most of the first half of an important game against the Maryland Terrapins to learn of this most coveted entrance into Oxford University in England, universally considered the most prestigious post-graduate academic scholarship in the world.
FSU demolished the Terrapins 37-3, capping a surreal day for Rolle, a pre-med student who will graduate in an astonishing 2 ½ years, all while boating a 3.75 GPA and anchoring the defense of one of the nation’s most recognized programs.
Rolle becomes the first major student athlete to win the award in a generation. Bill Bradley, a Princeton graduate who played for the New York Knicks before becoming a senator and presidential candidate, earned the scholarship in 1965.
Rolle received permission to miss much of the game from legendary FSU coach Bobby Bowden to attend the interview in Birmingham, Ala. Once Rolle received the good news, he received a police escort to the airport, trailed by the national media, then was provided a private-jet flight to College Park, Md., the site of the FSU-Maryland gridiron slugfest. Rolle received a standing ovation from the visiting crowd once he entered the stadium late in the 2nd quarter.
Rolle’s acceptance into one of the leading universities in the world counters Florida State’s long-held reputation of being a football-rich program that treats academics as something optional. One prominent NCAA football coach once derisively denigrated FSU, saying the FSU acronym stands for “Free Shoes University”. But Rolle is the second Seminole athlete in three years to win a Rhodes scholarship. NCAA shot put champ Garrett Johnson beat out 32 applicants in 2005. –terry shropshire.
