Merlin Olsen has passed.

[TONKA56]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-obit-olsen&prov=ap&type=lgns


I remember him from Little House. The Fearsome Foursome were before my time.

[Zombo]

well not before mine....

that was a hell of a defense...as a young kid I loved those uni's so watched any Ram game I could get....

RIP Merlin....

[vstaj(grizz)]

  Merlin was a contemporary of Bob Lilly, the best DT I ever saw.   After Lily,  Merlin was right there, up with the Big Daddy Lipscombs, Mean Joe Green and Warren Sapp.

   I always believed that Deacon Jones would not have been the impact player he was without Merlin, who mopped up all the leftovers and let Jones operate with a wide and very quick move to the QB.   I think Lamar Lundy was the RE and Roger Brown and then our own Roosey Grier was the other tackle. 

[GiantFD]

  Merlin was a contemporary of Bob Lilly, the best DT I ever saw.   After Lily,  Merlin was right there, up with the Big Daddy Lipscombs, Mean Joe Green and Warren Sapp.

   I always believed that Deacon Jones would not have been the impact player he was without Merlin, who mopped up all the leftovers and let Jones operate with a wide and very quick move to the QB.   I think Lamar Lundy was the RE and Roger Brown and then our own Roosey Grier was the other tackle. 

Right on the money grizz, Lilly and Olsen were the standard for DT's.
I always enjoyed Merlins color commentary too....RIP

[TuckerF]

that defense was one of my favorites to watch in the old NFL blackout rule.  George Allen was the DC for Olsen and Jones.  Loved him too until he went to the Redskins.  RIP Merlin

[Sam56]

A truly unbelievable football player and person.  Truly deserving of all the praise coming his way.

Rest In Peace, Merlin.

[Eli10]

14 Pro Bowls - are you kidding me...Loved him as an announcer...Rest in Peace - Go with God...

[LennG]

 I also want to echo my condolences to his family.
 I can still see Merlin in his Rams helmet, which always looked four sizes too small for his head.
 And then, when he went into TV stuff, remember his knitting commercials, and then the flowers ads.
 On the field and in the booth and later on, on TV, he brought me many hours of sine football and entertainment.

RIP Merlin

[CAGiantFan]

  Merlin was a contemporary of Bob Lilly, the best DT I ever saw.   After Lily,  Merlin was right there, up with the Big Daddy Lipscombs, Mean Joe Green and Warren Sapp.

   I always believed that Deacon Jones would not have been the impact player he was without Merlin, who mopped up all the leftovers and let Jones operate with a wide and very quick move to the QB.   I think Lamar Lundy was the RE and Roger Brown and then our own Roosey Grier was the other tackle. 

Right on the money grizz, Lilly and Olsen were the standard for DT's.
I always enjoyed Merlins color commentary too....RIP

Everything the guy did he did well.  Great player, great analyst, good actor.

[Webster29]

Very sorry to hear this.   When you listened to this soft spoken gentleman you would probably never guess he was a professional football player.

My condolences to his friends and family.

RIP Merlin

[NYSPORTS]

Very sorry to hear this.   When you listened to this soft spoken gentleman you would probably never guess he was a professional football player.

My condolences to his friends and family.

RIP Merlin

So true.  Listening to him speak and watching him in both the booth and on Little House, you would never know this guy was a beast with the uniform on.

R.I.P.

[Slick]

He had law suits going against universal studios,NBC studios,and 20th century fox studios for exposing him to asbestos. He died of mesothelioma.He certainly was a consistently quality performer to say the least,deserving of his accolades and hall of fame enshrinement.

I enjoyed his TV work also, teaming with Dick Enberg they proved you can just concentrate on football without the need for nonsense. However they broke that fine team up,and sort of phased Merlin out.I guess he didn't give them enough "boom,boom,booms" to keep them happy.

He also was a very decent actor,and as someone said,he did everything well. He had a great life, but it's too bad he still had to lose it at a relatively young age by todays standards. Rest in peace Merlin.

[Painter]

He was a great college player, All-American, Outland Trophy, First Round pick, and was even better as a pro. He was an All Star, All Pro, Pro Bowler about 14 times all in all.

But what is most gratifying is to hear those who were his former teammates and his friends so anxious to tell us how great a human being he was.

Well done, Merlin.