Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:06 pm EDT
When President Obama expounded Thursday about personal responsibility, throwing off limitations and fostering "a new mindset," he might as well have unfurled a banner of ex-Florida State star Myron Rolle. Already the model of the young, self-actualized overachiever, Rolle was busy himself adding the biggest line yet to his staggering résumé:
Former FSU safety Myron Rolle and his family today announced plans to build the Myron L. Rolle Medical Clinic and Sports Complex, in Steventon, Exuma in the Bahamas, where his parents are from.
The complex will provide free health services to residents of Exuma, as well as a state-of-the-art wellness and training facilities for athletes and visitors to Exuma, Bahamas. It will be the third clinic on the island, and greatly increase the resources and equipment.
Rolle seems to recognize no limitations whatsoever: Between his Ivy League grades at an elite prep school, his intense recruiting hype, his abbreviated but stellar career at Florida State, his burgeoning NFL prospects, his Rhodes Scholarship to study medicine across the Atlantic, his endless outreach efforts and speaking engagements, his own nonprofit foundation, his underrated acting prowess and his all-around "benevolent brainiac who can throw you through a wall" vibe, Rolle puts you and almost everyone you know -- along with pretty much every 22-year-old ever -- to shame. At well past 22, the greatest sign of my maturity is that I'm finally starting to develop a taste for salads.
So for most people, especially any other recently graduated college football player with a possible pro future, even the notion of opening a free medical clinic on a mostly impoverished island in the Bahamas would be inconceivable, a project of such outlandish scope that it would only cross their mind as a distant hypothetical, something somebody else ought to do, maybe, someday. But when that somebody is Myron Rolle, at this point, it's not that surprising at all -- in fact, only now, with the Exuma clinic, are Rolle's dreams starting to be realized.
For the time being, they're funded through donations to the Rolle Foundation, with strong support from the locals, who have already guaranteed five acres of land and a minimum of red tape, and a commitment from Florida State to operate an exchange program with FSU med students when the clinic opens in two or three years. Presumably, Rolle will add some of his NFL paycheck to the project after he enters the draft next April, just a minor diversion between his year studying medical anthropology in Oxford and his eventual career as a surgeon -- of which there are currently two in Exuma, whose residents have to be airlifted to Nassau for serious cases.
In summary, why aren't you more like Myron Rolle? I'm so humbled by his generosity, drive and grace, I can barely bring myself to daub the powdered sugar off my keyboard.
Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.

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478 Comments
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HOOK'EM HORNS!!!
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Tim Tebow, the kind of guy we all look up too.
A great and refreshing story!!!
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i wish i could be 1/100 the person he is
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I had the privilige of meeting him when he won an award in LA as a high school student athlete - his film clips showed him as a great 2-way player (tailback/d-back). Slow news day or not, I look forward to more articles like this to offset the articles about players arrested on weapons charges, domestic violence, battery, bar fights, illicit affairs and all the rest that we tolerate because they are superstars. Please report on others who are using their sport to do great things beyond the realm of sports!
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Go Noles!!
Posted by Jon R Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:38 pm EDT
"More Rolles and Tebows in this world, please."
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Its not IVY League, UVA or Duke ... but its legit.
You also have to remember that he had dual goals ... NFL is one of them as well as becoming a surgeon ... so he went to a school that gave him a great opportunity to choose both.
Seems like he made a great decision egizio2004.
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Not sure I get what you're trying to say here. He wanted the Rhodes, he went to FSU, and he still got the Rhodes. FSU has had three Rhodes scholars in the past three years... I'm guessing thats better than any other public university minus maybe Cal.
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