Myron L. Rolle (born October 30, 1986) is a Bahamian-American

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

and former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

. He played college football at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

, and was drafted by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

in the sixth round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

. He attended the Florida State University College of Medicine and is a

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

resident at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is cons ...

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

. He was awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and studied at St. Edmund Hall,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for the 2009–10 academic year in order to earn an MSc in

Medical Anthropology Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applie ...

. In 2010, he was chosen as the second-smartest athlete in sports by the ''Sporting News'', behind baseball player

Craig Breslow Craig Andrew Breslow (pronounced BREHZ-loh; born August 8, 1980) is an American baseball executive and former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is currently the Assistant General Manager/Vice President, Director of Pit ...

. On February 17, 2021,

Abiomed Abiomed, Inc. is a medical device technology company that operates as a stand-alone business within Johnson & Johnson's MedTech Segment. Abiomed develops and manufactures temporary external and implantable mechanical circulatory support devices. ...

, a member of the S&P 500, announced Dr. Rolle as a member of its Board of Directors.

Early years

Rolle was born in Houston. His family is from

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

; and after returning to

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

for two years after his birth, his family then moved permanently to the United States. He was raised in

Galloway Township, New Jersey Galloway Township is a township in Atlantic County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. At of total area of land and water, Galloway Township is the largest municipality in the state.Peddie School The Peddie School is a college preparatory school in Hightstown, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is a non-denominational, coeducational boarding school located on a campus, and serves students in the ninth through twelfth g ...

Hightstown, New Jersey Hightstown is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,494,Hun School of Princeton The Hun School of Princeton is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding school located in Princeton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students from sixth through twelfth grades. Currently, the head of school ...

and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

and basketball. He maintained a 4.0 GPA in High School. He was an All-American and made 112 tackles including 14 for loss.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's recruiting services ranked Rolle as the number one high school prospect in the country. Rivals.com rated him the 12th-best player and the top athlete overall, as well as the best player from New Jersey in the 2006 recruiting class. In 2006, after a nationwide search Rolle won the prestigious annually awarded Franklin D. Watkins Memorial Trophy, the premier African-American scholar/athlete award in America for high school males. He is an alumnus of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career

Aspiring to both the National Football League and medical school, Rolle played as a safety at FSU, completed all necessary pre-medical requirements, and earned his bachelor's degree in Exercise Science in just 2.5 years with a 3.75 grade point average. Rolle helped the Florida State Seminoles win on the field, and off the field, he won a Rhodes Scholarship. He postponed playing in the NFL for a year in order to study at Oxford University. In 2008, he earned Associated Press 3rd team All-American honors as well as Football Writers Association America 2nd team All-ACC and CoSIDA Academic All-America. In the 2008 season game versus the University of Miami Hurricanes, Seminoles defensive coordinator

Mickey Andrews Mickey Andrews (born May 20, 1942) is a former American football coach. He is most known for his tenure as the defensive coordinator at Florida State for 26 seasons, from 1984 to 2009, under head coach Bobby Bowden. Andrews also served as the h ...

remarked that Rolle played the best and most complete game he has ever seen a safety play at Florida State University in his 25 years of coaching. Rolle had 4 tackles (2 touchdown saving tackles), 1 tackle for loss, 4 pass breakups, 1 sack, 2 quarterback hurries and 3 critical 3rd down stops. Rolle was named a finalist for one of the 32

s awarded to Americans each year. His interview for the scholarship was originally scheduled at the same time as

was to play at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, in which Florida State defeated Maryland 37–3. The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

decided to allow Rolle to take a chartered plane from his interview in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

to College Park. He was awarded the scholarship less than three hours before the Florida State vs. Maryland game. He became the fourth Florida State student and second school athlete to receive the honor, as well as the only FSU football player to do so. Rolle announced on January 12, 2009, that he would first study at Oxford University for the 2009–10 academic year in order to earn an M.Sc. in

medical anthropology Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applie ...

and would then enter the

. He was a member of St Edmund Hall, commonly known as "Teddy Hall," at Oxford, living in college accommodation at Norham Gardens.

Professional career

Rolle was selected by the

in the sixth round (207th overall) of the

. He signed a four-year contract on June 14, 2010. Over two seasons in 2010 and 2011, Rolle never appeared in a regular-season game for the Titans. He then spent a brief time with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

before the team released him in 2012.

Medical career

Rolle announced his intent to leave the NFL to attend medical school in 2013. He enrolled at

Florida State University College of Medicine The Florida State University College of Medicine, located in Tallahassee, Florida, is one of sixteen colleges composing the Florida State University. The college, created in 2000, is an accredited medical school, offering the Doctor of Medicine ...

and graduated in May 2017. Rolle matched to a neurosurgery residency at

and

. Rolle is a Global Neurosurgery Fellow at Harvard Medical School. In July 2020, Rolle stated he felt that due to COVID-19 the NFL should delay or cancel the 2020 season.

Personal life

He is the son of Whitney and Beverly Rolle. Myron is the youngest of five: Marchant, Marvis, Mordecai and McKinley. Rolle is the cousin of former safety

Antrel Rolle Antrel Rocelious Rolle (born December 16, 1982) is a former American football defensive back of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and ...

, linebacker Brian Rolle, and former cornerback

Samari Rolle Samari Toure Rolle (born August 10, 1976) is a retired American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Tennessee Oilers in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State. Rolle has also played for the Bal ...

. In 2017, he married pediatric dentist, Dr. Latoya Legrand-Rolle. The couple have two sets of twins. Rolle is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

. He was honored with membership into

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University i ...

in 2008 at FSU.

Bibliography

*Rolle, Myron L. (2022). ''The 2% Way: How a Philosophy of Small Improvements Took Me to Oxford, the NFL, and Neurosurgery.'' .

References

External links

Official websiteTitans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolle, Myron 1986 births Living people American people of Bahamian descent People from Galloway Township, New Jersey Sportspeople from Atlantic County, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Players of American football from Houston American football safeties St. Augustine Preparatory School alumni Hun School of Princeton alumni Peddie School alumni American Rhodes Scholars Florida State Seminoles football players Tennessee Titans players Pittsburgh Steelers players