Props to Myron Rolle: for sacrificing football for studies.

It's tough to hate on Exercise Science major Myron Rolle, the FSU student-athlete who made news for intelligence. I think every person nominated for Rhodes Scholarship should be feted. By all accounts, he appears to be a well adjusted young man who prioritizes scholarship over athletics despite having the ability to compete at the highest levels of both. My problem is not with him, but with the hype machine.

Several articles have been published recently about how difficult his decision will be between a life in the NFL and a life in academia, and I can easily make this decision for him. Sports Illustrated thinks the safety at one point had a chance to be a FIRST ROUND PICK*. Rolle is second on the team in tackles, which simply means he's the starting strong safety. He also has one more interception over his entire career then Mark Texiera has extra base in the play-offs.**

For those of you counting at home, this projected first round pick has all of ONE CAREER PICK at safety. Two less than Brian Urlacher, who amassed eleven times more forced fumbles*** caught six more touchdowns, and had over twice as many tackles*** also playing safety at a D1 school.

I understand it's strange to think of an FSU football player is smart, but that's what Myron has going for him. If the Seminoles were a boy band, Myron would be the brainy one, but otherwise unremarkable, like Jordan of NKOYB fame. Rolle is an excellent scholar, but despite the fact that ESPN ranked him as the number recruit coming out of high school, his college career has been that of a decent starter rather than a difference maker on the field. In short, the NFL GM who picks this guy in the first round will be out of a job.

It's tough to say his football career to this point has been a disappointment, but he has put the"student" back in student-athlete, and sacrificed a bit from the "athlete" part of the equation. Congrats to Myron for treating his college experience in a way that few of us have: using it as an opportunity to better himself through education. Now, if we can dial back the hype machine on the football aspect, we can appreciate him for who he truly is, a gifted athlete who makes a much better student than he does an NFL safety.

*http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/the_bonus/07/17/rolle/index.html
**http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=183731
***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Urlacher#College_career