Merlin Olsen, who helped form one of the NFL’s greatest defensive lines before embarking on a successful career in television, died Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 69.
When he received word Thursday morning that close friend and former teammate Merlin Olsen had succumbed to cancer, Rosey Grier cried. He had planned to visit Olsen at a Los Angeles area hospital Wednesday but was told by Olsen’s brother, Phil, that it probably would be better if he waited until Friday.
Merlin Olsen, a Hall of Fame pro football defensive lineman with the Los Angeles Rams who was a charter member of the team’s famed Fearsome Foursome, then made a remarkably smooth transition into careers in broadcasting and acting, has died. He was 69.
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Merlin Olsen was a tough, gentle giant
Los Angeles Times The great Merlin Olsen and his flashier and no-less-dominant teammate, Deacon Jones, helped make defense cool…. Olsen, who sat out only two games in 22 … |
SALT LAKE CITY—Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, who helped form one of the NFL’s greatest defensive lines before embarking on a successful career in television, died yesterday after a battle with cancer. He was 69. Mr. Olsen was a member of the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” along with Deacon Jones, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier in the 1960s. He later starred on NFL broadcasts, commercials, and …