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Author Topic: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69  (Read 3736 times)

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Offline Ralph Wiggum

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Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« on: March 11, 2010, 11:04:27 AM »


Merlin Olsen, a Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman who was part of the Los Angeles Rams' famed "Fearsome Foursome" of the 1960s, has died after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 69.

Olsen, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year and had been undergoing chemotherapy, died Wednesday night, Utah State assistant athletic media relations director Zach Fisher said.

A Utah native, Olsen attended Utah State and, in his senior year with the Aggies, won the Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior defensive lineman.

Olsen was selected to 14 Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982. A first-round draft pick of the Rams in 1962, he remains the franchise's all-time leader in career tackles with 915.

Following his retirement from the game, Olsen flourished as a television actor, appearing regularly on "Little House on the Prairie" in the 1970s before starring in his own series, "Father Murphy," from 1981 to 1983.

Olsen was part of the Rams' defensive line famously known as the "Fearsome Foursome" along with Roosevelt Grier, Deacon Jones and Lamar Lundy. Jones also is a member of the Hall of Fame. The line set an NFL record during a 14-game season in 1968 for the fewest yards allowed.

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Offline NHSparky

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2010, 11:07:27 AM »
Mesothelioma?  When the the hell did he work with asbestos? 

And for those unfamiliar, you do NOT want to be diagnosed with this.  Get that diagnosis from the doc, and you're better off just eating a bullet.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2010, 11:08:26 AM »
Not being a football fan or a viewer of "Little House", I remember him mostly for doing commercials for some florist company.

RIP
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Offline Ralph Wiggum

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2010, 11:09:45 AM »
He was a class act.  His daughter married a friend of mine, so I got to meet him a few times.

My favorite memory was running into him in the stands (not the skyboxes) at a Bears/Rams game sometime in 2003.  It was a drizzly, cold day and he offered me handwarmers.

RIP, Merlin.
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Offline franksolich

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2010, 11:10:44 AM »
Quote from: thundley4 on March 11, 2010, 11:08:26 AM
Not being a football fan or a viewer of "Little House", I remember him mostly for doing commercials for some florist company.

RIP

Every time I see that name, I think of the white-haired guy who used to host Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom some years ago.

Apparently not the same guy, though.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2010, 11:11:14 AM »
Quote from: franksolich on March 11, 2010, 11:10:44 AM
Every time I see that name, I think of the white-haired guy who used to host Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom some years ago.

Apparently not the same guy, though.

That was Marlin Perkins.
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Offline BEG

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2010, 11:14:17 AM »
I liked him on Little House On The Prairie, I didn't even know he was a football player. RIP
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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2010, 11:37:18 AM »
I never knew about the football either.
He was in a lot of stuff, I thought.  I didn't like little house, but I remember seeing him in bits other places.  He always played a big sweetie.
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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2010, 11:44:08 AM »
Aw, that is so sad.  RIP Mr. Garvey. 
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Offline ironhorsedriver

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2010, 11:45:39 AM »
One Helluva Lineman, seemed to be a decent person too. Rest in Peace.
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Offline debk

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2010, 11:46:27 AM »
He was always purported to be such a nice man.

RIP
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Offline Ralph Wiggum

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2010, 11:50:23 AM »
Quote from: debk on March 11, 2010, 11:46:27 AM
He was always purported to be such a nice man.

RIP

See my post above.  You would have never thought he was such a mean force on the football field by his post-football demeanor.
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Offline Ralph Wiggum

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #12 on: March 11, 2010, 01:10:25 PM »
Quote from: NHSparky on March 11, 2010, 11:07:27 AM
Mesothelioma?  When the the hell did he work with asbestos? 

And for those unfamiliar, you do NOT want to be diagnosed with this.  Get that diagnosis from the doc, and you're better off just eating a bullet.

A quick google on the issue:

Merlin Olsen, who was a football player and then went on to become a sportscaster for NBC and an actor on such TV shows as Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy, is suing NBC Studios, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox for exposing him to asbestos. Olsen was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year and is undergoing chemotherapy.

But the lawsuit doesn't stop there. Because he was exposed to asbestos at a job when he was around 11 years old and also exposed when he was an adult while working at a job involving drywall, Olsen is also suing Sherwin-Williams and Lennox Industries.


http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/01/01/merlin-olsen-suing-nbc/
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Offline NHSparky

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2010, 01:32:19 PM »
Quote from: Ralph Wiggum on March 11, 2010, 01:10:25 PM
A quick google on the issue:

Merlin Olsen, who was a football player and then went on to become a sportscaster for NBC and an actor on such TV shows as Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy, is suing NBC Studios, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox for exposing him to asbestos. Olsen was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year and is undergoing chemotherapy.

But the lawsuit doesn't stop there. Because he was exposed to asbestos at a job when he was around 11 years old and also exposed when he was an adult while working at a job involving drywall, Olsen is also suing Sherwin-Williams and Lennox Industries.


http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/01/01/merlin-olsen-suing-nbc/

Given what I know about meso and asbestosis, it's highly unlikely his exposure came during working on Father Murphy.  Mesothelioma manifests itself and doesn't show up until 40 years or more after exposure.

But like I said before, the thought of someone sawing off my ribcage and trying a lung transplant or artificial lung on me just to extend my "life" by a few months isn't my idea of quality of life.
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Offline jinxmchue

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #14 on: March 11, 2010, 01:45:21 PM »
Very sad.  RIP.



(And NO flower jokes, please.)
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Football Hall of Famer & Actor Merlin Olsen Dies at 69
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2010, 02:22:46 PM »
RIP
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