Myron L. Rolle is going to Oxford. The star free safety at Florida State University has decided not to enter this year’s National Football League draft, but to pursue a master’s degree in medical anthropology as a Rhodes scholar.

Mr. Rolle confirmed his plans in a text message to The New York Times. “I’m very excited to go,” he wrote.

In November a private jet — and police escorts to and from the airports — whisked Mr. Rolle from his final Rhodes interview, in Birmingham, Ala., to the Seminoles’ game against the University of Maryland, in College Park. The Chronicle traveled with Mr. Rolle and produced an audio slide show about the trip.

Rhodes scholarships provide up to three years of study at the University of Oxford. But the degree Mr. Rolle, an aspiring neurosurgeon, has chosen will take only one year. He plans to enter the NFL draft in 2010. —Sara Lipka