FSU's Myron Rolle Will Build Clinic in Exuma

Who is Myron Rolle, and why is he building a clinic?

The first part of that question is answered in a New York Times story on the sports page that chronicles the Florida State University safety's decision to put off the NFL for a year. Rolle is attending Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar, following in the footsteps of other famous Americans like Bill Bradley and Bill Clinton.

“I feel a little disappointed when I see guys playing on Sundays, especially guys I’m friends with,” Rolle told the Times' Pete Thamel. “But when I walk out of my accommodations in Norham Gardens and spend time with my friends and go to class, I realize that I did make a good choice. It’s been worth it.”

The story briefly mentions Rolle's effort to open a health clinic on Exuma, an isolated Bahamian island, where Rolle's parents were raised.

Not many 22-year-olds who could be playing professional football take a year off to study at Oxford. Fewer still are using their fame to start charitable foundations and build health clinics. But Rolle is not your average safety. After he does his time in the NFL, he told Thamel, he plans to attend medical school and become a neurosurgeon.

Let's hope he doesn't take too many dementia-inducing concussions on the field, like those written about in The New Yorker by Malcom Gladwell, who makes a compelling case comparing the NFL with dog fighting.

Heather Dinich of ESPN.com writes in more detail about Rolle's clinic plans.

Rolle told her he's "already been guaranteed five acres of land, and has a lot of support from the island administrator. The project will be executed in conjunction with the Bahamas Ministry of Health and the Florida State University College of Medicine, based in the United States. During the program, FSU medical students and doctors will travel to the Bahamas and provide free medical care and supplies to Exumians."

Asked by Dinich how he could be doing all this, going to Oxford, starting a nonprofit, graduating from FSU in under three years.

"I operate on my timeline," he told her. "I didn't feel I needed a lot of capital as far as money is concerned to get any of this started.