Rolle tries to earn spot on Titans
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Myron Rolle was hailed as a future NFL player when he came to The Hun School for his final two seasons of high school football.
Rolle, ESPN’s nationally top-ranked college recruit when he came out of Hun, is in the midst of his first chance to show that he belongs in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans.
”It’s tremendous,” Rolle said. “It’s an awesome opportunity I have here. I thank the Lord every day. It’s something that was a fantasy when I was 6 years old growing up in Galloway (Township, N.J.). I’ve done the hard work and meticulous preparation to be successful, and I’m still trying to work and do the best I can.”
The Titans’ sixth-round pick out of Florida State — by way of Oxford University where he earned a masters in medical anthropology on a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship after earning his undergraduate degree from FSU in two and a half years — is trying to make it as a strong safety and special teams wiz.
”I can’t make any predictions,” Rolle said. “I feel I’ve been having a really good camp. What they want me to do is make an impact on special teams. I’ve been focusing on that. I want to be one of those core players on the special teams side. When I’m called to play in the secondary, I’ll do that.”
Rolle is listed as the third strong safety on the Titans’ unofficial depth chart online. His first NFL action came in the Titans’ 20-18 loss to Seattle in their pre-season opener Aug. 14.
”I thought it went well,” Rolle said. “I had the opportunity to see NFL game action. I was out there on kickoff return, which was the first play of the game. I was the only rookie out there. I made a good play. It went well.”
Rolle was solid again in Tennessee’s 24-10 win over Arizona. Going into their third preseason game, at Carolina on Saturday night, Rolle sits tied for fourth on the team with six tackles. He is bidding to follow Jordan Younger, a 2000 selection by the Arizona Cardinals as the only Hun products to reach the NFL. Younger now plays for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
”It would mean a lot,” Rolle said. “It’s a great academic school and has a great athletic reputation. For me to be the second, it was be a tremendous achievement not only for myself and family, but also for the school and (Hun athletic director) Bill Quirk and the athletic department. I would also be the third Rhodes Scholar and NFL player.”
The last was Pat Haden, a former Southern California quarterback who is in his first year as USC athletic director.
Rolle is fighting off the rust. He hadn’t played a football game since Dec. 27, 2008 when he had the chance to return from his studies at Oxford in England for last January’s Senior Bowl.
”That was great,” Rolle said. “I had the opportunity to perform in front of several NFL scouts. That put me back on the map as far as draft performance. It elevated me to a second or third round pick.
”I didn’t run well at the combine. That dropped me down, and some people questioned my commitment. I’m blessed the Titans saw something in the ability of my game. I’m happy here.”
Trying to make an NFL team is different from anything else that Rolle has done. He has worked to make it that way, but football and school have come relatively easily for Rolle, who aspires to be a neurosurgeon following an NFL career that he hopes spans a decade. The competition for a Rhodes Scholarship is incredibly tough. Only 32 are picked from across the U.S. from more than 1,000 applicants, which makes it something like the odds of making the NFL and taking on the responsibilities with it.
”There’s so much that goes into being a player, not only on the field but off,” Rolle said. “I did take a year off, and the transition of getting my timing back, and learning the different routes you have to take as safety has taken some time. Then you have to carry yourself as a role model off the field. You have to make sure you’re a mature, responsible individual.”
Rolle found out how much he loved the game when he spent a year at Oxford. He did not play football, but worked out with the school’s rugby team while also lifting weights and working out on his own.
”It was quite a difference for me to not put pads on in the fall and get in a locker room setting,” said Rolle, who started playing football when he was 6 with the Galloway Mustangs program. “It was a tough decision. I had to make the best one for myself and also for young people who look to me as a role model.”
Rolle’s balance on and off the field has made him a popular role model. National media have picked up his story, yet he hasn’t forgotten where it started. He has returned to Hun to speak to the student body.
”I came back right after I got the Rhodes Scholarship,” he said. “I donated some Xenith helmets to the football team. I wanted to provide some safe equipment. That’s the helmet I wear. I enjoy going back and seeing the teachers and some people that made my high school tenure really enjoyable. Any time you can impact the youth and the generation below you and impact them so they can see their success, that’s incredible.
”I really enjoyed my experiences at the Hun School,” he added. “Bill Quirk and the coaches, like Dave Dudeck, Dan O’Dea, John Law, they really cared for me as a person. At that time, I learned it’s not about being a number or a commodity. You’re a human. That ethical treatment went a long ways to build my character and belief that people are good. Hun prepared me for what I’m experiencing now.”
Hun knew it had something special in Myron Rolle, and he has continued to prove it along each successive step since then. He’s at the toughest step now as he tries to make the NFL and fulfill a lifelong dream.