Former FSU star Myron Rolle is now a doctor fighting on front lines of COVID-19 pandemic
After his junior year with the Florida State Seminoles, Myron Rolle seemed as if he was headed to an early selection in the 2009 NFL Draft. Instead, he decided to spend a year at the University of Oxford in England for one year on a Rhodes Scholarship to earn a Master of Science in medical anthropology.
Rolle fell to the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, perhaps short-circuiting his NFL career before it ever took off. He spent two years in the league, never played in a game and then retired to attend medical school at Florida State. He graduated in 2017 and has had a neurosurgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital since. Now it has him on the front lines fighting in the coronavirus pandemic in Boston.
“The hype is real, and it’s not done for hysteria,” Rolle told the The Tennesseean. “It’s not done to scare or to frighten anyone. It’s really done to make you aware that there are stories and cases here that will change lives, and would shock people, to the point where if this is your loved one, you’d say, Yeah, I want everyone to take this as serious as I’m taking it, because I’m seeing firsthand what’s happening. And the ideology that we have an important role to play. Social distance, physical distance, lifestyle modifications, staying home, doing everything you can to kind of flatten this curve — all of that is crucial.”
About three weeks ago, Mass General canceled all elective surgeries. The neurosurgery floor where Rolle works has converted to a floor strictly for COVID-19 patients. While he’s still helping with the occasional emergency neurosurgery, Rolle has primarily dived headfirst into the fight against the coronavirus, which is overwhelming medical services.
In a few days, Rolle will man the hospital’s surge clinic to triage patients checking in off the street with symptoms of the virus. Rolle, a cousin of former Miami Hurricanes star defensive back Antrel Rolle, volunteered for the job.
“Obviously, neurosurgery is not directly connected to this upper respiratory illness, but just like in football, if you’re called to do something different that you weren’t expecting, you adjust. You adapt,” Rolle said. “They’re showing us a new formation that we didn’t see on tape? You’ve got to hunker down and get the job done. In my opinion, this novel disease is something like that. A formation, a personnel package that we haven’t seen before. We have to meet the challenge, and I’m happy to be able to join the fight.”
Check out the full story on Rolle’s new line of work here.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Former FSU star Myron Rolle is now a doctor fighting on front lines of COVID-19 pandemic."
