Pro Football Hall Of Famer Merlin Olsen Dies At 69 [View All]

Mar 11, 2010 9:15 am US/Pacific
Pro Football Hall Of Famer Merlin Olsen Dies At 69

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ― Pro Football Hall of Famer and former television actor Merlin Olsen has died. He was 69.

Utah State University assistant athletic media relations director Zach Fisher says Olsen died Wednesday night at a Los Angeles hospital.

He was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year.

Olsen was an All-American at Utah State and a first-round draft pick of the Los Angles Rams in 1962.

The burley giant from northern Utah joined Deacon Jones, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier on the Rams' storied "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line known for either stopping or knocking backward whatever offenses it faced. The Rams set an NFL record for the fewest yards allowed during a 14-game season in 1968.

Olsen was rookie of the year for the Rams in 1962 and is still the Rams' all-time leader in career tackles with 915. He was named to 14 consecutive Pro Bowls, a string that started his rookie year.

Olsen was also an established television actor with a role on "Little House on the Prairie," then starring in his own series, "Father Murphy," from 1981 to 1983 and the short-lived "Aaron's Way" in 1988.

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http://cbs13.com/local/merlin.olsen.dies.2.1553971.html


Torchbearer Merlin Olsen carries the Olympic Flame during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Torch Relay in Kearns, Utah.


FILE - This June 22, 2001, file photo shows Pro Football Hall of Famer and former television actor Merlin Olsen speaking in Urbandale, Iowa. Olsen died Wednesday night, March 10, 2010, at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 69.
(AP Photo/Steve Pope)



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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/03/11/merlin.olsen.dead.ap/index.html?xid=si_nfl