National Football Foundation

The Rote family is proof that the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. As the grandson of College Hall of Famer Kyle Rote (SMU), the son of All-America soccer player Kyle Rote Jr., and brother of Will, who won this award in 1996, John Rote makes the case.

A member of the National Honor Society and Top Twenty Scholar, Rote achieved a 4.3 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, scored 1460 on his Scholastic Aptitude Test, ranked 13th in his Class, and was a national Merit and Wendy's Heisman finalist.

In football, Rote stood out as tight end and defensive end, served as team captain and led his team to three straight state runner-up finishes. An All-Metro and All-Region selection three consecutive years, he was also named the school's special teams MVP after blocking 12 punts.

Rote was president of the Student Body, president of the Physics Club, and a youth group leader in church. His athleticism carried over to other sports as Rote excelled in soccer, swimming, and in track, 'there he won the Tennessee state championship in the decathlon, Scoring a record 6,321 points. Rote received his bachelor's in urban studies and civil engineering from Stanford. He is currently the head of marketing operations for Atlassian, a leading provider of collaboration, development and issue tracking software for teams.