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Before the Tennessee Titans drafted Adam “Pacman” Jones with the 6th pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, he had already been in trouble with the law. Since that time, Pac Man has been arrested 6 times, which charges ranging from assault to allegations that Jones hired someone to shoot an individual.

He has been present at shootings in strip clubs, started fights with his own bodyguards, and shown no respect or gratitude for his teammates, his job, or anyone/anything other than himself.

No matter what Pacman does, it always makes news. ESPN is always quick to report the mayhem he’s caused himself, his team, or someone else.

However, there is a lesser known story you may not have heard of. It doesn’t involve Pacman; rather it involves someone on the opposite spectrum.

Myron Rolle just finished his senior year at Florida State, where he played Safety on the football team. As a three-year started, Rolle has been regarded as a first or second round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. He could be virtually months away from being a millionaire.

However, Rolle isn’t going to the NFL…at least not yet. Rolle is accepting a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in England. He is by-passing fame and fortune in sports to pursue something he sees as right.

Next year, instead of lining up at Safety for an NFL team, Rolle will be working on a project to bring specialized medicine to undeveloped countries. Rolle does plan on entering the NFL Draft in 2010, but he plans on studying medical anthropology at Oxford first. 

Despite receiving mixed signals from friends and teammates, Rolle remarked that his education was the most important thing to him, next to God and family. His goal is to open a free medical clinic in the Bahamas.

There seem to be 2 kinds of athletes making headlines right now: Guys like Rolle who understand priorities and are trying to make the world a better place; and guys like Pacman Jones who are destroying (or maybe defining) our view of professional athletes.

Let’s hope we invest our time and energy into guys like Myron Rolle rather than the alternative.

Tags: Adam Pacman Jones, Florida State, Myron Rolle, Oxford, Pac Man, Rhodes scholarship, Tennessee Titans