You would think none of my brothers have jobs with how much time they spend on the phone with our mom.
Myron Rolle
I've wanted to do medicine actually before I started playing football.
A lot of the same joy and adrenaline rush that I felt after making a good play or winning in football I feel now after a successful surgery.
I could go to Oxford, I could immerse myself in a new culture, I could develop my intellectual capital, I could expand my network, I can travel from country to country like it's state to state, and being in that fraternity of Rhodes Scholars was just a truly special demarcation.
It affected even our neurosurgical department in a way where our neurosurgical floor has now been transformed into a COVID-19 patient-only floor.
I listen to some rap music. I'm from the Bahamas so I like reggae as well. And then I slow it down with a little Frank Sinatra.
I know that my parents are proud of me.
My teammates, they kid me all the time. My nickname is the doctor or the president in the locker room.
We are trained to be medical doctors first and if you have to put neurosurgery aside to deal with the most vulnerable and susceptible patients, then that's what we'll do.
I went to Florida State for college. Then I went to Oxford in England for a master's degree. I was drafted by the Titans and was with them for two years, and then one year in Pittsburgh with the Steelers.
Here at Mass General, we're one of the largest hospitals in the New England area and perhaps even the country. We're Harvard affiliated, so we have a lot of resources just at baseline.
I think I've worked hard for everything that's happened but I know I've had a lot of support from family, friends, and even at Florida State. My coaches and teammates have supported me in everything I've wanted to accomplish.
Football has never left me. I still wake up in the morning and think of the operating room like a game, like it's showtime, let's perform.
Football has done so much for me, given me friends, family, given me life lessons that now I can use in the operating room or just as a leader.
There'd be a call from Michigan Scout, then Michigan Rivals, then Iowa Scout, then Iowa Rivals. These guys are competing, and I'm just the guy in the middle giving them the story.
You know I went to the Hunt Schools, a boarding school in Princeton, and I've heard so many Rhodes scholars have gone to the Ivys.
I feel that public service is so important and giving back, being a role model and helping people in need is something that I would love to do.
I came from a prep school in New Jersey, so I get that when I got to FSU, some people weren't sure about me - I didn't play in Florida or Texas or at a powerhouse high school.
The hospital has adjusted itself in response to Covid-19, the influx of patients. So walking into the hospital, you immediately realize that you're playing a different ballgame.
It could be seasonal allergies, it could be pneumonia, it could be the common cold, it could be flu. And so it takes tests and lab work and resources and scans to parse out if this is COVID-19 or if this is something else.
I wanted to be completely and totally entrenched, immersed in this football life, this culture all the way, so you don't even have a thought, an inkling, that my mind is somewhere else.
As soon as I learned that I was a finalist, it was no question in my mind that I was going to put myself into the competition for the Rhodes scholarship.
Neurosurgery is a new challenge with each case. The preparation, the discipline, the technical skills and the need to perform at your very best under pressure provide the same adrenaline rush I had in football.
My main mission in life is to help people and use my God-given ability to impact the world. If playing in the NFL gives me a platform to advocate for the issues that are important to me, then let's do it.
When there's something we weren't prepared for on the football field, you have to be able to use your mind, be creative, communicate, get lined up and get ready to do the play, get ready to execute.
The Rhodes scholarship process was very extensive. I had to do several personal statements, rewrite those over and over and over again. I had to get some letters of recommendation.
The fundamentals have to be emphasized: tackling the correct way. Having the right equipment. Making sure that you don't have very violent practices or contact practices.
When I was younger, trying to afford football camps, my parents would sometimes have to miss bills. They sacrificed these things for me because they saw I had a goal.
I'm glad that I walked into my purpose. I'm glad that I walked into something that was a smooth transition from football.
Yes, I understand that football and sports in America have been a way for us to get away from some of our most daunting moments. It's a way for us to bring the country together.
Football helped me tremendously, and that's why I want the sport to stay because it's so valuable. It's helped me be a better physician today, certainly. I've learned discipline. I've learned focus, teamwork, communication.
Whether it's one play in the NFL or 1,000 plays in the NFL, your pads will come off eventually.
I always wanted to play in the NFL. I decided to go to Florida State University as my college to play football because the coach there - Bobby Bowden - had a pedigree and acumen for putting players into the league.
Once my junior year finished at Florida State, I won the Rhodes Scholarship and I was also projected as a second-round draft pick.
Going for the Rhodes, it really put a label on me that was hard to shake, and frankly I don't think that I did shake it.
But in the NFL, you know you're not playing for the 'T' on the side of the helmet. You're not playing for the color of the Steelers. You're playing more because they're paying you to play and you have a family to take care of.
The sports world, the administrators and the leagues, they need to place a high premium on the health of America, the health of the world and certainly this country.
I'd hate to see the game I love go away because it is considered too dangerous and parents are scared to allow their kids to play.
As an NFL rookie, I had to buy meals for older guys. I appreciate hierarchy. I understand teamwork.
I spent three weeks lamenting, ruminating and praying because football had been part of my life since age 6. Then I moved on. I'm glad I always had another clear plan. Several of my FSU teammates did not and do not. It's hard to leave a sport that is embedded in you.
First I was still excited and elated about winning the Rhodes scholarship. That was an amazing feat. But then I put my iPod on and started listening to my pre-game music and started to switch my mind to football and was just hoping that the jet would land as quickly as possible so that I could get on the field and help my teammates win the game.
I'd love to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. I'm a South Jersey kid, and I was very excited when the Phillies won the World Series, and I'd like to stay home.
Seven years of neurosurgery is a big deal, something I wanted for a long time, really excited about it.
The first game I played against the University of Miami, I was very nervous - eyes wide open.
The Rhodes is something I've always really wanted. I would never have applied for it if I didn't really want to go. The opportunity to study at Oxford is amazing.
I have not had tragic incidences in my life that have rocked my personal being. The thing that really has been my biggest enemy in this world has been pressure. And people. People who I love. People who look at me differently. The pressure is tough, man. I'm not gonna lie. It's the hardest part. Easily.
I think people align themselves with my way of thinking when they're talking to me. They try to create new avenues for me to pursue, so if you want to be a doctor and you have interest in human rights and philanthropy and social equality of medicine and disease, why don't you think about being surgeon general?
I don't want to be coddled.
How can you see that the pressure is getting to me? I think you can see me pull back more from the community around me.
