Dr. Myron Rolle was a standout football player at Florida State University and had a stint in the NFL. He eventually gave up on football to pursue a goal as a neurosurgeon. JOHNS HOPKINS ALL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
By Stephanie Claytor/Florida Courier
(Source: Florida Courier)
Remember the star Florida State football player Myron Rolle, who decided to postpone entering the NFL Draft to pursue a Rhodes Scholarship?
Well, his pursuit of academic excellence has led Dr. Rolle to the completion of a neurosurgery residency program at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital in June, and now, a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, there are only about 300 pediatric neurosurgeons practicing in the United States. Influenced after reading the autobiography of Ben Carson, at 11 years old, Rolle knew he wanted to become a neurosurgeon.
The pursuit of two dreams But Rolle also desired to be a star football player in the NFL. Upon graduating from high school, and rated by ESPN as the number one football recruit in the United States in 2006, Rolle ciphered through 83 football scholarship offers, according to a news release, to select Florida State University.
A star defensive back for the Seminoles, he was projected to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, the release stated.
Rolle decided to accept the prestigious postgraduate Rhodes scholarship in 2009, where students from around the world are chosen to study for a year at the University of Oxford in England.
According to the Rhodes Trust, fewer than 2 percent of American applicants are chosen; some famous recipients include former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and NBA star and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley.
Upon heading to England, Rolle worked out and hoped that he’d still be selected high up in the draft when he returned. But that’s not what happened.
The Tennessee Titans drafted Rolle in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
“It was definitely a blow to my athletic career by spending that time in Oxford,” Rolle told the hospital’s communication staff in the news release.
Rolle played the position of safety and was assigned to the practice squad, while playing for the Titans for a season; the Titans released him from the roster in September 2011. Then he was cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2012.
Rolle recalled being asked by coaches about meeting Clinton or traveling with celebrities on a humanitarian trip to Africa, instead of defensive schemes or re-covering from injuries like they asked other players.
Rolle believes the NFL treated him differently because it was afraid of him getting hurt and what that would do to the league’s image, according to the release. His stint in the NFL came simultaneously with the rise in awareness of the dangers of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a neurodegenerative disease believed to be caused by repeated injuries to the head.
“If something had happened to me where I was no longer able to fulfill that dream, then it would be a terrible media hit for the NFL,” Rolle stated. “It’s a league that wants to protect its image at all costs.”
‘The 2% Way’
After being cut by the Steelers, Rolle decided to no longer pursue the NFL.
But the lessons he learned from play- ing football would stick with him for life.
He credits the Florida State defensive coordinator, Mickey Andrews, with providing the ethos that he lives by, that is to strive to get 2 percent better at something each day.
“Taking small steps every day toward getting better and being a better version of yourself… Small, incremental gains — once you add them all up — you realize how much progress you’ve made. It also feels like you won the day, if you’re just able to get a little bit better,” Rolle said.
The philosophy is reflected in his auto-biography, “The 2% Way,” which was published in 2022. His book discusses how he has applied the philosophy to everything from improving his technique on the football field, to mastering surgeries in the operating room, to adjusting to his role as a father of two sets of twins.
“Football has not only taught me to frame life that way, but it also taught me some of the fundamental pillars of being successful as a physician, as a father, as a husband, as a community leader,” Rolle said in the release. “Those are discipline, focus, hard work, communication, overcoming adversity, mitigating pressure, being adaptable and adjustable.
His ‘greatest champions’
Rolle also credits his Bahamian immigrant parents for pushing him to succeed on and off the field. It was his mother, Beverly, who encouraged him to move on from the NFL and return to his dream of becoming a neurosurgeon.
“Women, especially women of color, have been my greatest champions my entire life,” Rolle said, citing friends from high school, college, Oxford and medical training. “These women have protected me. They have shielded me.
They have seen my blind spots and have looked out for me.”
He revealed that his wife, Latoya, a pediatric dentist whom he met through a Black medical professional networking site, inspired him to write his auto-biography, the release stated. He hopes it will positively impact others, just as reading “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story’’ influenced his journey. So much so, Rolle followed Carson’s footsteps to work for the same medical group, Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Rolle is now focused on using medicine to change the world. He works with international organizations to seek more resources, training, and support for brain health around the globe, particularly the Caribbean.
“Coming from the Bahamas, I understand when people have a brain injury — stroke, trauma, hydrocephalus, any sort of brain central nervous system disease — it’s often seen as a death sentence,” Rolle explained.
Dedicated to giving back, Rolle also hosted the first “Honour Rolle” retreat in 2024 with his wife, where they brought together in Orlando 10 Black male mentees who are in medical school, medical residency programs or who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in pre-med, who they’ve mentored over the years.
