12/21/24
April 21, 2010
Is Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle Too Smart for Football?: After leaving Florida State to pursue a Rhodes scholarship for one year at Oxford, safety Myron Rolle finds his reputation among NFL scouts has suffered because he's too smart. "You look at the opportunities away from football that Myron Rolle has," said Mel Kiper. "You wonder about the dedication to football. These teams want the guy to be a 24-hour, 365-days-a-year football player."
"You wonder about the dedication to football. These teams want the guy to be a 24-hour, 365-days-a-year football player."
The double-standard implied by this statement is mind-boggling. Taking a year to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity is a sign not only of intelligence, but also perspective, foresight, and the ever-elusive "character." Maybe if Rolle spent more of his free time trolling bars for underage women, and less time reading, NFL teams would be interested.
posted by googly at 10:32 AM on April 21, 2010
This is like the dumb stereotype that smart women have to "dumb down" to attract men. And like the stereotype, this is also just dumb. Oh, and what you said, googly.
posted by yzelda4045 at 11:04 AM on April 21, 2010
Couldn't have said it better myself, bperk.
Hey Mel, maybe Mr.Rolle is thinking past the few years he will get to play in the NFL. Say he blows his ACL on the first play of his first game, where you going to be then, Mel? Huh? What an assclown.
posted by steelergirl at 12:21 PM on April 21, 2010
I can see where NFL teams are coming from. What if Rolle gets a concussion early on in his career and decides that he'd be better off pursuing opportunities elsewhere? I see it as Rolle is too smart to be blinded by the fame and fortune, making it more likely that he might see the risks involved and eventually decided they aren't for him. That alone makes him a risky investment for NFL teams (and the year off can't be that enticing either).
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:48 PM on April 21, 2010
I can see where NFL teams are coming from. What if Rolle gets a concussion early on in his career and decides that he'd be better off pursuing opportunities elsewhere?
And if he's a Rhodes Scholar, this is different...how? I'd sure hope that any player who soaks up a few too many disco biscuits early in his career is going to think real hard about doing anything else where he won't be taking knocks to the noggin on a regular basis. No, I suspect the real subtext is, "Damn, this guy is too smart to buy our bullshit."
posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:15 PM on April 21, 2010
What if Rolle gets a concussion early on in his career and decides that he'd be better off pursuing opportunities elsewhere?
Though Rolle sounds like a tough tackler, it's worth pointing out that a defensive back can spend his entire NFL career without hitting anybody.
posted by rcade at 02:08 PM on April 21, 2010
I didn't even have to look at your link, rcade, to know who you were talking about.
posted by bperk at 02:55 PM on April 21, 2010
No, I suspect the real subtext is, "Damn, this guy is too smart to buy our bullshit."
Exactly.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:30 PM on April 21, 2010
If I'm a NFL player, right now I'm thinking "So what, the NFL thinks I'm stupid?"
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:00 PM on April 21, 2010
lil_brown_bat is on the mark: the scouts' issue isn't that he's "smart" per se, but that he's clearly not beholden to the NFL for his future.
Sure, if he makes millions in a long career, he gets to put them back into his foundation, but he's obviously capable enough to succeed in the other things he's already excelled at. So you get the stupid clichs -- which, frankly, have a hint of the "sports as the way out of the ghetto" mythos underlying them -- about whether he has the desire to succeed. (Did NBA scouts in 1965 ever suggest that Bill Bradley might lack dedication?)
Point is, people who work in big-league sports think that nothing outside it matters, or ought to matter, on a practical day-to-day basis. And that belies -- again! -- the whole "student athlete" thing.
posted by etagloh at 05:54 PM on April 21, 2010
I certainly wonder if Mel Kiper's comment meant to be insightful was also made out of envy.
posted by irunfromclones at 06:37 PM on April 21, 2010
What lbb and etagloh said. They may get paid well, but it's a little uncomfortable that big-time pro sports are now looking explicitly for not-well-rounded individuals. We need people who are comfortable being thrown to lions.
posted by yerfatma at 07:30 PM on April 21, 2010
Though Rolle sounds like a tough tackler, it's worth pointing out that a defensive back can spend his entire NFL career without hitting anybody.
And still become a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest D-Backs to ever play the game.
posted by BornIcon at 11:06 AM on April 22, 2010
To complete the thread: Rolle went to the Titans as the final pick in the sixth round, which means Kiper's assessment of where he'd go in the draft was on the mark. The question of his 'commitment' to the NFL, whatever that really means, gets answered later.
(More reading: ESPN The Mag's piece from February, a bit too "sports magazine" collage-y for my liking, but has some decent stuff.)
posted by etagloh at 12:24 PM on April 25, 2010
Football people are stupid if they believe that being smart and thinking is a bad thing. I understand concerns that he has been away from football, which is almost like coming off an injury. I do not even remotely understand being concerned because he has plans for his life after football.