Great Player, Even Better Person--Fearsome Foursome's Olsen Passes On

I was really saddened when I learned of the news of Merlin Olsen’s death on Thursday, March 11th. Olsen died from a cancer of the lung, mesothelioma, which is traced to his exposure to asbestos while he worked as a youth and young adult on construction sites.

Olsen, 69, was one of the players I most enjoyed watching back in the day when there were just two networks televising NFL games. There weren’t many regionally broadcast games, just an Eastern Time zone game and one later for the west coast. So, when the Rams were on it was a treat to watch him and his fellow “Fearsome Foursome” defensive linemen.

My basis for writing this, I really believe if Merlin Olsen played in this era of “24/7 sports” his popularity and legend would be off the charts. Because of the incredibly vast amount of video highlights, analysis, sports talk radio--you name it; today’s NFL players are often over-hyped relative to their actual abilities. After all, we have to have some “wow” factor, even if it is a little inflated in order to help keep highlights reels rolling and people tuning in throughout the day.

Merlin Olsen was as highly a decorated defensive lineman as there was when he played collegiately at Utah State and then in his 15-year NFL career with the Rams. Friends who knew him best often referred to him as being “larger than life” because his personality and character off the field was as admired and respected as his intensity and skill on the field. Olsen was a consensus All-American at Utah State and he won the 1961 Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation's best interior lineman. That’s no small feat coming out of a school like Utah State. The Rams drafted him third overall in 1962 and he spent the next 15 years with the team. He is still the franchise's career leader in tackles with 915. He was selected to an amazing string of 14 straight Pro Bowls, a streak that began with his rookie year.

The storied "Fearsome Foursome" Rams defensive line, Olsen along with Deacon Jones, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier, was known for either stopping or turning back most offenses it faced. The Rams set an NFL record for the fewest yards ever allowed during a 14-game season in 1968.

Olsen’s laundry list of accolades is too long to mention in entirety, but some of the highlights of accomplishments and individual recognition he earned are: being voted NFC defensive lineman of the year in 1973, MVP of the entire league in 1974, and being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982. Another remarkable achievement for a big man who played in the trenches every single snap of the football game, Olsen missed just two, yes two, games in his entire career.

A bright guy who graduated Utah State summa cum laude, Olsen’s post-football career was unlike any other star defensive lineman. He did color commentary for NFL games on NBC and was teamed with their #1 broadcast team. He went into acting and played alongside Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert in “Little House on the Prairie” and then his own show, “Father Murphy.” But, the thing I remember most—and it is a testament to his terrific mass appeal—Olsen was the main pitchman for FTD florists for years. How many defensive linemen today do you see promoting a florist for your Mother’s Day needs? Olsen did because he was a big, believable, sincere man.

Combine Merlin Olsen’s superior ability as a professional football player, his high level of intelligence and the ability to verbalize effectively as a broadcaster and actor, and team that with his gentle giant persona in his personal life—he was one of a kind. I’ll never forget #74 of the Rams.