Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Mar 10 - 01:39 PM

Enjoyed his commentation on the NFL games. He came across as a forthright, happy guy.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 12 Mar 10 - 01:17 PM

Hey... Merlin wouldn't mind and The Secretary ain't taking notes.

As far as "tougher", I doubt it.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Mar 10 - 01:04 PM

Wait.....

I'm sorry here..........Merlin was the direct antithesis of Simpson and I want to say that. Here was a guy who did good things all along the way of his career and also before and after. He proves that violent sports do not always produce violent people and tough as he was on the field, he was equally kind and gentle away from the game.

Merlin Olsen did the game proud and watching the Rams in those days was a treat. Perhaps players are bigger, stronger, tougher, and even meaner today, but it hasn't helped the game.

Sorry Merlin.....You deserved better from me than that joke. Thanks for a lot of great memories when you and The Deacon took care of business.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Mar 10 - 12:55 PM

OJ had some roles that fit him like a glove............others, not so much.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 12 Mar 10 - 12:39 PM

OJ was an actor. He really plunged.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: ranger1
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 09:58 PM

Maggie - That was Marlin Perkins.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 07:23 PM

Several of those names are familiar to those of us who aren't football fans (though even non-fans could hardly escape hearing those names!). I think Alex Karras probably was the most successful as an actor, though many of them took the plunge, didn't they? Joe Namath, was he an actor, or an anomaly?

Wasn't Merlin Olsen the second host for a while on that old Mutual of Omaha animal program? Or am I confusing him with someone else?

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: 3refs
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 07:23 PM

And Rosey was one of the guys that tackled Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador Hotel the night he assassinated R.F.K.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 06:08 PM

Rosey was always a fav of mine. Getting up under and throwing them off and sticking the back... man, that was cool ball.

Not that they ain't good today. Hell, they are better... just that you remember those days... those players... those times.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: Bobert
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 05:20 PM

Yeah, with free agancy we'll probably never again see lines becoming these teams within a team... The Fearsome Foursome were something else and Merlin was probably the most gentlemanly of the four, tho Rosey Grier comes in a close second...

R.I.P., Big Guy...

B~

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: pdq
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 05:20 PM

Is this the Fearsome Foursome or the...

                                                             Brothers Four?

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 05:16 PM

Yeah.....Alex is one of the most naturally funny guys in the world with a great self-deprecating sense of humor. The book is still one of my favorite reads.........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 05:00 PM

BTW, I highly recommend Alex's book, Even Big Guys Cry. It's a hell of a read.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 04:58 PM

Then, for the Rams, Rosey Grier, Lamar Lundy, Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 04:56 PM

Roger Brown, Alex Karras, Darris McCord, and Sam Williams.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 04:47 PM

Merlin was probbably even more sucecssful as a likeable public personality than he was as a ballplayer, which is saying something. Rest in Peace.

3refs mentions three of the "Fearsome Foursome" (of the LA Rams defense). I'm old enough to have been aware of them, watched 'em on TV, even rooted against them, but I CAN'T remember the fourth guy's name.

Anyone? Anyone?

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: gnu
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 03:53 PM

SOB! Merlin was a cool guy. I will always think of him as an Ironman and a gentleman.

Yeah, he was a "feared one", but, I remember those years in Pitt so clearly and fondly. He was awesome.

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 03:45 PM

An often kind and gentle bear of a man.....The "Fearsome Foursome" of the Rams as well as the "Iron Curtain" of the Steelers will never be forgotten.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit:US football star Merlin Olsen (11 March 2010)
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 03:44 PM

Little House On The Prairie. Didn't know he was a football player.

Subject: Obit: Merlin Olsen
From: 3refs
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 02:50 PM

Passed away this afternoon.
Rosey Greer, Deacon Jones and Merlin may go down as one of the best front lines in the history of football(American). No Academy Awards, but he had that "make you feel better" thing about him, when he was acting or just on TV!

R.I.P.