November 20, 2008. Remember this date in history. It may well be the first and only time the NCAA did something right by a student-athlete. The NCAA approved a waiver for Florida State safety Myron Rolle to take a private jet to the Seminoles’ game at Maryland Saturday night. The reason for the unusual travel: Saturday afternoon Rolle will be interviewing for a Rhodes Scholarship. For those who don’t know, a Rhodes Scholarship is like the Heisman Trophy, an Academy Award and the super-hot girl’s phone number all rolled into one. Except for really, really smart people. Only 32 students from across the country will be chosen for the Scholarship and the opportunity to study at Oxford University.

Albert was a heck of a DB himself.

I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person. (Made all A’s and B’s in college. Graduated summa cum laude. Made Phi Beta Kappa. Now a gainfully employed and productive member of society.) But I can’t hold a candle to this guy.

Rolle graduated from FSU in 2 ½ years with a degree in pre-med and a 3.75 GPA. He is working on his Master’s degree and wants to continue his study in medical anthropology (whatever that is). Last summer, he was given a $4,000 grant for cancer biomedical research. He helps tutor his teammates and has written for the New York Times. And just for kicks, last year he started a program to help educate Seminole Indian children about the importance of health and physical fitness. (So what have you done lately?)

Take a good look: there’s a very good chance that this man will be your boss (or doctor or president) someday.

On behalf of all our HHR staffers (who now feel like complete slackers), we would like to wish Mr. Rolle the best of luck in his interview tomorrow. For all the bad and cynical things we sometimes report from the world of college football, it’s a good reality check to remember that the vast majority of college football players are good guys who are trying to do the right things. Rolle just happens to be at the very top of that list.