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 ...
“Granted....But I don’t tell to many people their momma wears army boots.....”
Heh heh...good point...
That was on my mind, too.
Do you remember the spin off of Little House? IIRC it was Olsen, and a bunch of kids and a schoolteacher. What the heck was the name of that show?
Asbestos was in just about everything back in the day. Vehicle brake lining, ceiling material, flooring, etc. Tuesday, during reflooring at our American Legion post, asbestos was purportedly found. Boy is that going to cost us.
RIP Merlin. Thanks for all the good memories.
A good guy from the last generation! Bye Merlin! RIP!
I didn’t say you get your moral lessons from tv. I merely meant the program was high in moral content. The show took place in Minnesota.
“I don’t think back at the time he was exposed to asbestos anyone was aware of the dangers.”
People were aware of the danger at least by the early 80’s. He was working on NBC sets at that time.
I was wondering the same thing; when he was exposed to asbestos. My brother actually died from this disease but he was very much exposed to it the 1950s so that was not surprising. I would think just a casual exposure would be unlikely to cause this disease. Sad news.
RIP Merlin Olsen....One of the truly good guys!!!
Great player on the field.
Smooth and informative in front of a mic and a camera.
Probably the most liked person on any set or commercial shoot!!!
His longtime partner on NBC, Dick Enberg must be devestated by the news. He is supposed to call the Pac-10 Championship game for CBS on Saturday night. If he does, I hope CBS gives him the opportunity to remember his friend even if means showing pics of them in NBC stuff.....
Wow. Sad.
RIP, Mr. Olsen
I attended USU ‘63-’64, a few years after Merlin graduated. One Saturday a few of my friends and I went to a Church gym on campus to shoot a few hoops. Merlin was already there by himself doing the same and invited us to join him. I was dazzled, as this was when he was at his peak of fame with the Ram’s Fearsome Foursome. He was really a nice guy and unpretentious. You’d never have known he was a famous NFL star.
I'm not in any way an expert, but I want the truth to be told. On one side, you have folks claiming asbestos is horrible and causes cancer, on the other side, millions of folks who were exposed to asbestos in myriad forms did not develop cancer.
I've also heard there are a few different forms of asbestos, and that only one variant has the little hook-like fiber that your lungs have a hard time clearing.
It's to the point where I don't trust either side - especially their lawyers.
I agree.
“Father Murphy”, which ran from 1981-83. He didn’t play the same character in the show, however, as he did on “Little House.”
Did anyone else on the set get diagnosed with mesothelioma?
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