Myron Rolle, Ben Roethlisberger, and the Value of Character in the NFL

There is a sobering truth about Myron Rolle’s NFL future, and no one wants to confront it. It’s much easier to blast the NFL for a supposed allergy to “character” than try to explain why the NFL at large didn’t want a Rhodes Scholar who chose a year in Oxford over immediate entry to the NFL Draft.

It’s the things that make Rolle so compelling off the field -- his intellect, independent thinking, and interest in a half-dozen ways of helping the world -- that make him a challenge for coaches. Coaches, especially the NFL’s martinets, like having talented athletes who can follow game plans to the letter, chess pieces that can be relied upon to go where they need to go. Coaches crave players who can be relied upon to devote nearly every waking second to winning football games; this is why Tim Tebow, football junkie, is a coach’s dream, and why Peyton Manning, who could teach graduate courses in game film, is always praised for being well-prepared. And though none would ever say it, I suspect most coaches prefer players who aren’t threats to their own egos and understandings of football.

Does Myron Rolle sound like a workaholic, self-sacrificing football lifer? Not to me, and probably not to NFL decision makers. That’s not an indictment of him as a person, of course, just a judgment about whether Rolle will help a team win football games. He’s a little too smart, too worldly, and too cerebral for an NFL coach or GM to believe he’ll be a standout NFL player for years, and his stated desire to become a doctor after eight to ten years in the league cannot help.

Rolle’s limitations on the field also hurt him. He’s an instinctive safety, but lacks the size and speed of Taylor Mays, and has “stiff hips” that hurt him in coverage. And, despite being ballyhooed for his combination of athletic brilliance and academic excellence at Florida State, he wasn’t a game-changer for the Seminoles, collecting one interception and one sack in his three years in garnet and gold.

Character matters in the NFL, certainly, but it’s a specific kind of driven, football-obsessed character that the league covets, and even that character can’t make a player with meager talents an appealing player to most coaches.

Talent matters the most, and Ben Roethlisberger is living proof.

It seems safe, at this point, to assert that Roethlisberger is a jerk. He’s been a sore spot in the Steelers locker room, tagged with the “last to arrive, first to leave” label. He’s got tons of issues off the field, too, with two separate sexual assault allegations leveled against him and enough difficulty getting along with people to need bodyguards.Roethlisberger is also really good at football. He’s got prototypical size and a potent arm, is willing to sacrifice his body for his team on the field, and has produced at every level. His talents outweigh his issues, and make him a candidate for rehabilitation, not release.

With Roethlisberger, coaches worry that his less than beautiful mind will get him in trouble off the field, and hope they can program him to do the right things with his substantial talent on it.

With Rolle, no amount of compensation by his beautiful mind will make him more talented, coaches must question their ability to program him, and personnel men will wonder whether Rolle will be risking his beautiful mind in a dangerous sport day after day for years.

Myron Rolle didn’t slip to the Tennessee Titans with the last pick of the sixth round in the NFL Draft because he has too much character, or because the NFL doesn’t want character. He slipped because his character comes with interests outside football that made NFL coaches and GMs question his devotion, and because his talent can’t make up for that question mark. I wouldn’t bet against Rolle: He knows what he must do and will work tirelessly to do just that, becoming a stellar NFL player. But I don’t expect every NFL coach to see that my way.

The NFL wants character, but teams need excellent football players. If, like Ben Roethlisberger, an excellent player lacks some character, success and winning will make ignoring the character easy. But no amount of character alone can make limited talent into greatness.

And it takes greatness at the game of football to win Super Bowls. Character is just a bonus.

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