FanHouse Myron Rolle

Myron Rolle wants to help change the world - one decision, one charity, one day at a time.

Rolle, who delayed his NFL career to attend Oxford University this fall as a Rhodes Scholar, has plans to become a neurologist. He also wants to be an All-Pro safety and win a Super Bowl. Rolle is already supporting domestic and global health and education initiatives through his nonprofit foundation he created last spring.

How is he doing all this? On his own timetable and through sparkling brown eyes that see life as a gift and an opportunity to make a difference. Just 22 years old, the former Florida State standout realized early that education, athletics and mentorship can together be used as a platform for a greater purpose.

"I am educated enough, I am knowledgeable enough and I have the intrinsic drive to turn the blessings given to me in my life into positive actions for other people," Rolle told FanHouse.

The 2010 NFL draft is still 51 weeks away, and yes, a whole lot will change during the 2009 college football season. But millions of us are obsessed with the NFL draft, so with the 2009 draft now behind us, let's take a very early look ahead at potential No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, as well as the other top players in the Class of 2010.

I know Tim Tebow is fantastic and everyone loves him, yada yada yada, but it does seem that Captain America has a small problem with sharing the spotlight.

At the football rally after the Gators won the National Championship, Tebow made the hilarious annoucement that he'd come back for one more year, walking off the stage with microphone in hand before zinging the crowd. Gotcha!

Now, at a Gators basketball game on Saturday night, Tebow got everyone again, taking off his sling as he announced his non-throwing arm would be ready for next season. It's January, just in case you forgot.

It was a whirlwind of a Saturday for Myron Rolle. The Seminoles safety earned a Rhodes Scholarship, then got right on a plane to join his team for the 37-3 thumping of the Terrapins in-progress.

Rolle, an aspiring neurosurgeon, becomes Florida State's second athlete in three years to earn the scholarship, which entitles him to study for two years at Oxford.

"It was a very exciting day, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to study at Oxford," Rolle said at halftime with the Seminoles leading 21-0.

"This was a great experience. I will remember today for a lifetime."

Rolle had actually started 32 consecutive games before the tilt with Maryland. Even though Rolle is one of the team's best defensive players and FSU has an outside shot of playing in the ACC title game, coach Bobby Bowden wasn't about to let the game stand in the way of Rolle's interview in Birmingham.

"It's a no-brainer," Bowden said. "I know academics comes first."

Many columnists had stated the case this week for Rolle to get the scholarship, including Michael Wilbon and AOL's own Kevin Blackistone, and rightfully so. It's an uplifting example for all student-athletes, especially for a school that usually gets raked over the coals for suspensions like these.

No FSU football player had ever received the honor ... until now.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden remains mum on exactly when he plans to hang up his whistle and clip board and turn the reigns of the Seminoles' program over to offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher.

While speculation begins that this could be the farewell tour for the coaching legend, who recorded his 378th head coaching victory against N.C. State on Thursday, Florida State's players are left in the dark about Bowden's impending retirement decision.

"I have no idea when he'll step down," sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder said. "I think as long he is healthy and he feels like he can be out here, he'll be out here. I don't know if that will be this year, next year or five years down the road."

The 'Noles' players still see a fire burning inside of Bowden, and as long as he's got that, they believe he'll be patroling the sidelines in Tallahassee.

Well that's good to know.

Florida State rising freshman safety Myron Rolle is spending a semester abroad. He's been writing journal entries accessible at the Florida State athletics website relaying travel highlights.

For example:

On June 1st, my roommate, Demetrius Brown, and I traveled to Marrakech, Morocco. The highlights of the trip were watching belly dancers, riding a camel in the desert and charming a cobra snake. [snip]

In contrast to what you may see in the media, the Muslim people of Morocco are very peaceful, courteous, respectful and actually quite funny. They were calling me Muhammad Ali and my roommate, who has dreadlocks, Bob Marley or "Rasta Man." We had a wonderful time in Africa.

He also spent some time in London, learning about World War II.

On June 8th, my teacher, Dr. Sally Karioth, took me to the Imperial War Museum here in London. If I had gone by myself, I would have just been looking at planes, tanks and mines in amazement. But having Dr. Karioth present at the museum to educate me on the story behind these World War II treasures was priceless. I learned more about D-Day and the strategic planning that went behind the attacks on the beaches of Normandy. There was a Holocaust section as well. I read about the rise of Adolph Hitler. He was a great orator, but, in my opinion, a deranged man.

So there you go. Rolle's a great student and a good face for NCAA football. We can, however, get a good laugh at his stating of the obvious when it comes to genocidal, maniacal dictators.

Florida State's defense finally looked like the dominating crew most thought they would be this year in a 33-0 smackdown of Virginia. Even with all of the injuries to key players, the defense only gave up 190 total yards to the Cavs.

Xavier Lee didn't look quite as good as he did last week against Maryland, but he did enough to get the job done. He had a 37-yard TD toss to Chris Davis in the 3rd quarter and accounted for a team-leading 48 yards on the ground. Drew Weatherford saw a little time at the end of the game as well.

But this game was all about the defense for the Noles. On the first drive of the game, Tony Carter stepped in front of a Jameel Sewell pass and took it 35 yards for a score. Carter was on top of his game all day long. He is really stepping up as one of the elite shutdown corners in the country. LBs Buster Davis and Lawrence Timmons were making their presence felt all afternoon as well. Buster had 9 tackles and a sack for a safety. LT also finished with 9 stops and a sack of his own. Freshmen DE Kevin McNeil and S Myron Rolle had big days. McNeil had his breakout game with 2 sacks. Rolle joined Buster and the Law with 9 tackles, including 2 in the backfield. 2nd year CB Michael Ray Garvin played tough with 9 tackles and a sack.

Walk-on DE Eli Charles was a nice surprise, getting 2 tackles and blocking a punt in the 1st quarter which gave FSU the ball on the 1-yard line. Lorenzo Booker made it a 1-play drive as he jumped over the line for a TD. Antone Smith finished the game's scoring with a 3-yard run in the 4th.

I was very happy to see the cut back on the amount of penalties we commited. Only 4 flags for 35 against us on the day. I almost mistaked us for a disciplined team.

FSU plays a very tough Wake Forest team next week in Tallahassee. If the defense shows up like they did today, there's a good chance we can put a dent in Wake's dream season.

It became official today: FSU freshman LB Marcus Ball will miss the rest of this season after tearing his left ACL against Rice on Saturday. The injury happened in the 3rd quarter while covering a kickoff. The tear was not caused by any contact. His knee simply gave out when attempting to make a cut to make a tackle.

Ball has been nothing short of excellent in his playing time this season. He has been one of the most surprising players on the team as a true freshman. We all thought that #1 recruit Myron Rolle was going to make the biggest impact of the freshmen this year. That still may prove to be true, but Ball was well on track to take that honor until this unfortunate injury. Before getting hurt, Marcus intercepted a Rice pass and returned it 54 yards. Ball was all over the field against Troy, recording a team high 10 tackles and 3 pass break-ups. He combined great speed with an instinct that can't be taught.

Ball almost didn't make it to Florida State. Most schools gave up on him in the recruiting process thinking that he would not qualify. Even when he signed with the Noles, it was still considered a long shot for him to suit up this year. After an incredible effort in his last semester of high school in the classroom and on the standardized tests, Ball was cleared to enroll at the beginning of the summer.

Although we won't have the privilege of watching Marcus shatter ball carriers the rest of this season, his work ethic will have him back and even better in 2007. That is something to really look forward to.

With Anthony Houllis possibly out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, Myron Rolle will make his first start at rover for Florida State this weekend against Rice. In case you are not familiar with Seminole football, Mr. Rolle is the baddest safety recruit to come into the college game in a while. He was rated as ESPN's #1 recruit in the country last year.

Rolle showed this spring that he wasn't all hype. He was making impact plays non-stop in scrimmages. At 6'2" 218 lbs., he looked NFL ready as soon as he stepped foot on campus. He enrolled at FSU in the spring after finishing up his high school credits in December.

Here's going out on a short limb with saying that he never relinquishes the starting job after this weekend before he declares for the draft after his junior season.

Keep an eye on #3 this season. The freshman that covers like a corner but hits like a truck may just be in the end zone as much as the offense this year.