Olsen, Merlin

Merlin Olsen, in full Merlin Jay Olsen, (born Sept. 15, 1940, Logan, Utah—died March 11, 2010, Duarte, Calif.), American gridiron football player, sports announcer, and actor who was one of the most extraordinary defensive linemen in National Football League (NFL) history.

Olsen, a 6-ft 5-inch (1.9 metre) tackle, was a consensus All-American in his senior season at Utah State University, where he helped lead the unheralded program to national prominence as a member of an outstanding defensive unit. He was drafted by the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams in 1962 and was instantly inserted into the team’s starting lineup. Though the Rams won only one game in the 1962 season, Olsen was named the NFL Rookie of the Year. A ferocious run-stuffer, he made up a part of the formidable Rams defensive line that was heralded as the “Fearsome Foursome” and dominated the NFL throughout the remainder of the 1960s. For every year but his final one with the Rams, Olsen was voted to the Pro Bowl. He retired in 1976 as the Rams’ all-time leader in tackles, with a career 915.

Olsen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1994 he was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. Olsen’s brothers Phil and Orrin also played in the NFL; Phil and Merlin played together from 1971 to 1974.

After leaving the Rams, Olsen served as an NFL commentator, television spokesperson, and TV actor, best known for his recurring role as Jonathan Garvey (1977–81) on Little House on the Prairie, as the star of Father Murphy (1981–83), and as Aaron Miller in the short-lived Aaron’s Way (1988).