Myron Rolle has spent a lifetime suiting up.
The only thing that’s changed along the way is the suit.
If you happen to recognize his face, it MIGHT be from the time when his suit looked something like this:
Myron Rolle signed with Florida State University as ESPN’s number one high school prospect in 2006. And his performance there was impressive in ways FSU’s coaches couldn’t have anticipated. In just two and a half years, Myron had earned his bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with a 3.75 GPA, fulfilled all pre-med requirements, AND qualified as a first-round NFL Draft pick as a junior.
Before he could enter the draft, another suit came into play. And this one would demand sacrifice.
Myron also qualified for the Rhodes Scholarship, the oldest and most prestigious international graduate program in the world and his interview was scheduled at the same time as the Florida State vs. Maryland game.
Faced with two paths that most people could only dream of, Myron chose the one that gave him options. Though he arrived from his interview just in time to defeat Maryland, Myron made the fateful decision to sit out of the Draft, pursuing his Masters in Medical Anthropology at Oxford.
A year later, and back at FSU, Myron was drafted after all, going to the Tennessee Titans, then the Pittsburgh Steelers, but never fully realizing his football potential.
Facing a disappointing future on the gridiron, Myron suited up for a whole new team.
Today, DR. Myron Rolle is a neurosurgery resident, specializing in pediatrics.
And his experience as a pro safety, playing defense against anything that comes at him, has proven priceless.
When the Neurosurgery floor at Massachusetts General in Boston shut down, Dr. Myron, like many other medical professionals, was asked to step up in other capacities to manage the pandemic’s load.
His experience has also made him one of the only people in the world qualified to speak on COVID’s impact to and handling by professional sports leagues, so you may also have seen his face on ESPN, NBC, CNN, and other broadcast networks seeking his one-of-a-kind expertise.
But Myron has even bigger dreams than neurosurgery, professional football and broadcast television. He’s putting all of his life’s work to use building better medicine as chairman of the Myron Rolle Foundation. Its initiatives include the Myron Rolle Wellness & Leadership Academy that teaches athletics, health & wellness, teamwork, character building, self-esteem and leadership to Florida foster kids; the Exuma Project, a state-of-the-art medical, wellness and training facility in the Bahamas where his parents are from; and the CARICOM Neurosurgical Initiative, designed to improve neurosurgical care within the Caribbean nations.
All of this in pursuit of Myron’s “passion to deliver good quality health care to underserved people” and a calling that truly suits him.
KEEP GOING BLACK IN HISTORY:
Catch up on all the good work Myron is doing for the underserved in the world at the Myron Rolle Foundation‘s website.
Last Black History Month, Myron spoke with NBC Sports Boston about all the different suits he’s had to wear growing up as a Black man in the States with Bahamian parents.
SBNation thoroughly detailed how Myron’s football career could have gone much differently if his time away from football hadn’t dropped his rank in the NFL Draft.
Keep up with all the ways Dr. Myron’s suiting up these days on Instagram.
THE AMERICAN BLACKSTORY 