Myron Rolle

“I spent three weeks lamenting, ruminating and praying because football had been part of my life since age 6. Then I moved on. I'm glad I always had another clear plan. Several of my FSU teammates did not and do not. It's hard to leave a sport that is embedded in you.”

“The sports world, the administrators and the leagues, they need to place a high premium on the health of America, the health of the world and certainly this country.”

“I listen to some rap music. I'm from the Bahamas so I like reggae as well. And then I slow it down with a little Frank Sinatra.”

“I came from a prep school in New Jersey, so I get that when I got to FSU, some people weren't sure about me - I didn't play in Florida or Texas or at a powerhouse high school.”

“I know that my parents are proud of me.”

“There'd be a call from Michigan Scout, then Michigan Rivals, then Iowa Scout, then Iowa Rivals. These guys are competing, and I'm just the guy in the middle giving them the story.”

“The hospital has adjusted itself in response to Covid-19, the influx of patients. So walking into the hospital, you immediately realize that you're playing a different ballgame.”

“I feel that public service is so important and giving back, being a role model and helping people in need is something that I would love to do.”

“Here at Mass General, we're one of the largest hospitals in the New England area and perhaps even the country. We're Harvard affiliated, so we have a lot of resources just at baseline.”

“Football has done so much for me, given me friends, family, given me life lessons that now I can use in the operating room or just as a leader.”

“I think people align themselves with my way of thinking when they're talking to me. They try to create new avenues for me to pursue, so if you want to be a doctor and you have interest in human rights and philanthropy and social equality of medicine and disease, why don't you think about being surgeon general?”

“I could go to Oxford, I could immerse myself in a new culture, I could develop my intellectual capital, I could expand my network, I can travel from country to country like it's state to state, and being in that fraternity of Rhodes Scholars was just a truly special demarcation.”

“How can you see that the pressure is getting to me? I think you can see me pull back more from the community around me.”

“I don't want to be coddled.”

“Seven years of neurosurgery is a big deal, something I wanted for a long time, really excited about it.”

“I went to Florida State for college. Then I went to Oxford in England for a master's degree. I was drafted by the Titans and was with them for two years, and then one year in Pittsburgh with the Steelers.”

“My teammates, they kid me all the time. My nickname is the doctor or the president in the locker room.”

“Going for the Rhodes, it really put a label on me that was hard to shake, and frankly I don't think that I did shake it.”

“I always wanted to play in the NFL. I decided to go to Florida State University as my college to play football because the coach there - Bobby Bowden - had a pedigree and acumen for putting players into the league.”

“My main mission in life is to help people and use my God-given ability to impact the world. If playing in the NFL gives me a platform to advocate for the issues that are important to me, then let's do it.”