RIP Merlin Olsen

http://universe.byu.edu/node/6805



:~(

What a great emissary for Utah State, and for the state of Utah. My condolences and best wishes to his family , and to all who knew him.

I have no memories of Merlin as a football player. All my memories are of him on Little House on the Prairie.

Here's a no baloney story. After Merlin Olsen had retired from the NFL. He & his younger brother came into a restaurant for lunch that I was working at. I worked the lunch hour after I went to morning classes @ the local Junior College. They were talking business as they ate. They were looking @ opening a weight & racquetball gym - which they did. It was called Arcadia All Pro (in Arcadia, Calif.). Anyway - Merlin was a real solid guy - and a gentleman.

8)

kitic77 wrote:
I have no memories of Merlin as a football player. All my memories are of him on Little House on the Prairie.

I remember him more as a broadcaster and the FTD floral guy. But my parents would always talk about him fondly even though both my parents are BYU grads.

I went to USU 1961-1964 and watched Merlin Play and knew him some. What a stud and what a great person he was. As well he was a academic All American. His last 2 years the team went 18-3-1 and played in 2 bowl games. It was definitely the heyday of USU football. What folks don't know is what a great all around athlete he was. I swam against him in inter-murals and he was a tremendous swimmer and he also played some inter-fraternity basketball.



He will be missed as he was an ambassador to Utah and the Church. I live in Idaho and he also spent some time up here flyfishing. RIP Merlin Olsen.

No kidding - a fly fisherman!! I already really like Merlin O. - but now - he's aces w/ me!!!! LOL!!!!

:D

I watched him as a player. It was said that trying to block him was like trying to block a Coke machine with a head on it.



He was a friend of Deacon Jones, another member of what was called the "fearsome foursome." This was before the change in the LDS Church's policy on blacks and the Priesthood. The media of the day found no fodder for controversy over the issue among his teammates.



The characters he played on TV didn't require a lot of acting. He was a kind, gentle man. Playing the role on the screen was no stretch for him.



I have no doubt that he is resting in peace. I pray those close to him will also find peace.

Here's a nice piece from the SI vault about Olsen's transition from playing to broadcasting/acting.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124138/1/index.htm?eref=sisf



I've always loved "Jonathan Garvy" from the "Little House" series, but it's been nice to discover more about Merlin and the good man that he was.