I know, I know – I’ve been slacking big time when it comes to the return of my Tennessee Titans Throwback Thursday column. Usually, it’s the highlight of my summer! Not a whole lot going on football-wise, so I take the opportunity to look back at some of the Titans of yesteryear. This summer just got away from me – but, even though training camp is set to start shortly, I figured there would never be a better summer to talk about former safety Myron Rolle. Men like him just don’t come around too often.
You want to talk about a success story? Myron freakin’ Rolle is the definition of a success story. Born in Texas and raised in New Jersey, Rolle was a standout early on in life. He earned All-American honors, and was ESPN’s number one prospect coming out of high school. Not to mention, he did it all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, playing the sax, starring in his high school’s musicals, and serving as the school’s sports editor for the newspaper. I’m gonna be real with you guys – Rolle probably did more in high school than I ever will in my entire life.
Rolle elected to join the Florida State Seminoles program with his sights set on football -and- medical school. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attend school across the pond at Oxford University. An incredible distinction that only 32 Americans receive every year. He elected to skip out on his senior season in order to attend Oxford, and stated he would enter the NFL Draft in 2010.
As a prospect, Rolle had all the talent in the world to be a first round pick. He played an intelligent game (shocker, I know), and might’ve been the most complete safety in that draft class. However, a lot of scouts questioned his commitment to football with such big plans in his future. Others wondered whether or not a year away from football would impact his ability.
So, he slipped….all the way into the 6th round…of the 2010 NFL Draft. That’s where our beloved Tennessee Titans rolled the dice and selected Rolle. Though he was on the roster for two seasons, he never saw any meaningful football. The potential was obviously there, but he never played in any regular season games. He had a stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2012 before leaving football to enter the medical field.
It’s hard to blame the Titans for taking a chance on the guy. Best case scenario, you have a top end starting safety for a sixth round pick. Worst case scenario, you have a guy with championship character in your locker room. To this day, I wouldn’t take that pick back.
These days, Rolle is a neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. Like all of us, COVID-19 has impacted his day-to-day, but for him, it puts him on the front lines of the pandemic. From Boston.com:
“Obviously, neurosurgery is not directly connected to this upper respiratory illness,” Rolle told Erik Bacharach of The Tennessean. “But just like in football, if you’re called to do something different that you weren’t expecting, you adjust. You adapt. They’re showing us a new formation that we didn’t see on tape? You’ve got to hunker down and get the job done. In my opinion, this novel disease is something like that. A formation, a personnel package that we haven’t seen before. We have to meet the challenge, and I’m happy to be able to join the fight.”
This man is a legend. Taking the lessons he’s learned from the sports world and applying them in the medical field to help take on this outbreak.
Like I said, guys like Myron Rolle….you just simply don’t see ’em too often. Though he might not have played too much in the two-tone blue, Titans fans everywhere should absolutely be proud to consider this guy an alum of the organization.
Career stat line (n/a with the Titans, so let’s look at his stats in three years from Florida State):
- 206 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, one interception, seven passes deflected, one forced fumble
TENNESSEE TITANS THROWBACK THURSDAY ARCHIVES
Drew Bennett
Keith Bulluck
Eddie George
Lavelle Hawkins
Albert Haynesworth
Chris Henry
Chris Hope
Brandon Jones
Derrick Mason
Dexter McCluster
Steve McNair
Samari Rolle
Alterraun Verner
Ken Whisenhunt
LenDale White
Vince Young
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
