updated 9:31 p.m. ET Nov. 22, 2008

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Florida State safety Myron Rolle earned a Rhodes Scholarship on Saturday, then boarded a plane and joined his team for its game against Maryland.

A spokesman for Florida State said Rolle, 22, is the school’s second athlete in three years to earn a Rhodes Scholarship. NCAA shot put champion Garrett Johnson of Tampa, Fla., was one of 32 Americans to earn the scholarship three years ago.

Rolle, an aspiring neurosurgeon, will be entitled to study for two years at the University of Oxford in England. He is the third Florida State student in three years to be awarded the honor.

“It was a very exciting day, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to study at Oxford,” Rolle said at halftime of the game the Seminoles went on to win 37-3. “This was a great experience. I will remember today for a lifetime.”

He finished the interview in Birmingham, Ala., around 6 p.m. EST. After learning of the honor, he boarded a private plane to catch up with his teammates for the game that started around 7:45.

Rolle had started 32 consecutive games before Saturday. He arrived at the stadium at 8:34, dressed and emerged from the locker room with 6 minutes left in the first half. He waved at the fans in the Florida State section of the crowd, then warmed up on the sideline before entering the game with 1:30 left in the second quarter.

The names of the Rhodes winners were expected to be released late Saturday or early Sunday.

Rolle certainly fulfills the criteria set by diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes when he created the scholarship a century ago.

Rhodes’ will ordered that recipients “shall not be merely bookworms” and shall be chosen for their scholastic achievements, character and “fondness of and success in manly outdoor sports such as cricket, football and the like.”

Over the years, selectees have included Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins and runner-up Byron White, along with eventual NBA players — and members of Congress — Tom McMillen and Bill Bradley.

Florida State entered with an outside chance of playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game next month. The Seminoles (7-3, 4-3) needed to beat Maryland and have the Terrapins defeat Boston College next week.

Rolle is one of Florida State’s best defensive players, but coach Bobby Bowden was quick to allow the student-athlete to miss the start of the game.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Bowden said earlier in the week. “I know academics comes first.”

The 79-year-old Bowden had never coached a Rhodes Scholar during a career spanning six decades.

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