‘Putting Education First’ Rhodes Scholar says parents rewarded achievements in the classroom over football field.: "Many boys fantasize about becoming stars on the football field or basketball court when they grow up and earning millions of dollars in endorsement deals.Myron Rolle had a different dream.
“When I was younger, I’d get straight A’s in school and my parents would get me two pizza pies from my favorite Italian restaurant in New Jersey,” says Rolle, junior safety for the Florida State University Seminoles and recently named Rhodes Scholar.
“If I scored a touchdown or scored 20 points in a basketball game, hit two runs in baseball, they’d give me a pat on the back and say, ‘Good job,’” Rolle recalls of his childhood. “The reward was different. At that point, I realized how significant it was for me to do well in school and how much it meant to them.”
It’s bowl season in college football and FSU triumphed over the University of Wisconsin 42-13 in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 27. It was the final college game for Rolle. But he’s not leaving to join the National Football League; Rolle, instead, is headed to Oxford.
