Posted on 03/11/2010 9:28:43 AM PST by rdl6989
SALT LAKE CITY - 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. Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
Olsen was an All-American at Utah State and a first-round draft pick of the Los Angles Rams in 1962.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsports.msnbc.com ...
As Olson was a Mormon, he likely didn’t smoke, but I’m not sure where he would have picked up the asbestos.
On one of his freighting sorties to Sleepy Eye with Charles.
http://www.asbestos.net/news/merlin-olsen-files-mesothelioma-lawsuit-against-nbc-and-others.html
Apparently he did some drywall and manual labor as a child?
“Little House” star my ass...that should be little tiny footnote...he was the heart of the FEARSOME FOURSOME...14 time Pro Bowler and one of the greatest players in the history of football...and one of the finest and kindest gentlemen to play the game. The National Felony League could use a few examples like this man today.
RIP Merlin.
I’m saddened that a great man has chosen to go down the lawsuit road. I don’t think back at the time he was exposed to asbestos anyone was aware of the dangers. It seems a pity that companies are being run into the ground with lawsuits of this sort. I’m having a hard time seeing how NBC could be responsible for his mesothelioma. Although they ARE responsible for a lot of other pestilences on our planet.
ping
sad, thanks!
Eternal rest, Merlin.
I loved him in Little House on the Prairie.
All star on God’s team. Peace.
You were a decent man Merlin Olson. God rest you.
Jerry Kramer, offensive guard for the Green Bay Packers, really thought Olsen was quite a gentleman. He spoke very highly of him in his book, Instant Replay.
Jerry Kramer, offensive guard for the Green Bay Packers, had a very high regard for Merlin. He spoke very well of him in the book, Insant Replay.
No big deal. Just wanted to let everyone have the opportunity of viewing tributes and comments on both threads.
We loved Merlin Olsen at our house.
I’m with you. I’d be kind of like saying that Jim Brown was an actor who played a little football when he was young. Olsen was a great football player. Never saw Little House, and I hope I never do. I will say however, that I didn’t like him as a broadcaster.
Everyone on the planet has had sufficient exposure to asbestos to be a potential victim of mestothelioma. If you are over 50, then the odds are that you were exposed to much larger doses in your youth than people are today. When I was growing up, Asbestos was in everything that was fireproof such as theater curtains, toasters, hair dryers, welding blankets, ceiling tiles, cement, floor tiles, drywall, pipes, pipe fittings, etc.
Merlin was 69 years old. He grew up with a generation of people who had regular exposure to asbestos in their own homes, their schools, their buildings, their work, their kitchens. It only takes a couple of fibers of asbestos in your lungs to trigger the development of mesothelioma. Everyone is a potential victim. Even you.
I just recently saw a number of “Little House” shows and I was surprised at how good they were. Very good family entertainment.
Actually, one of the best shows to show up on the
Boob Tube.
Ah, it’s good to see some pics from the days when the Rams wore blue and white. Loved that look. As a kid I had a Roman Gabriel jersey in blue and white.
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