Andrew Testa / Redux

Myron Rolle photographed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England on Oct. 20, 2009. A safety from Florida State, Rolle projects as a top-three pick next April. In the meantime, he is studying at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.

Yes, Rolle was lucky enough to have educated parents and to grow up in a stable household where books were prioritized. Those were built-in advantages lacked by others. And yet he’s a perfect example of what every athlete who goes to school should be. Rolle applied himself in the classroom as aggressively as he did for the Seminoles on the field. He didn’t have a plan; he had plans. There’s a difference. Rolle took advantage of a free college education, which is often taken for granted, and parlayed that into a Rhodes, the Heisman Trophy of academics. And now he has career options: Play football as long as his body is young and strong, then use his medical anthropology degree to become a doctor and save lives.

Or perhaps become commissioner of the NFL. You think the league is going to let someone like him slip away easily?

My only wish is for this generation of black athletes to take notice of Rolle and seize opportunities the way he’s doing. Maximize the college experience, but first, prepare for college in order to reap all the benefits. Be more than an athlete, since athletes don’t enjoy long careers anyway. Become respected for intelligence, for making solid choices, for contributing to society and building communities. Be known and admired for doing something without a ball.

In terms of blacks and sports, most of the frontiers have been crossed and conquered, anyway. The color barrier? Broken. Quarterback in the NFL? Done. Coach the winning Super Bowl team? That, too. Own a professional sports franchise? Yep. This isn’t your father’s generation. We’re at the point in sports where a black coach or quarterback or swimmer or hockey player doesn’t draw many, if any, double looks anymore. And thank goodness for that. Actually, thank Jackie, Mr. Rickey, Ali, Ashe, Dungy and a few others for that.

There’s still more precious ground to cover, though, and one area is in education. What black athletes do on the fields and courts, in the big picture, doesn’t mean much. The attitudes they change, the people they touch, the communities they change and the legacies they leave? Means everything.

Myron Rolle can last until the fifth round in the April draft, play six seasons, flame out, never make a Pro Bowl or win the Super Bowl, and yet why do I suspect he’ll turn out like the private school basketball player who replaced Kobe on bedroom walls?

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