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The rant binge will be put on hold while we mourn the death of former pro-footballer & hellacious actor (and one of the truly good guys) Merlin Olson, who passed from cancer today at the age of 69.

Known as much for his brain as his brawn, the 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive tackle also graduated summa cum laude and Phi Kappa Phi from Utah State University in 1962 and earned a master’s degree in economics in the off-season during his 15-year professional career.

“Merlin Olsen was a coach’s player. Punctual, steady, gifted, a quiet leader, a player you could always count on,” says his biography on the National Football League Hall of Fame Web site. “He was a standout as a rookie and thereafter stood out in every game he played for the Rams in a 15-year career. Every game. Fifteen years.”

[…]

After his professional playing career ended in 1976, Olsen turned to acting, appearing in movies and more than 100 TV episodes. He also worked as a television sports commentator.

On TV, he may best be remembered for portraying the gentle Jonathan Garvey opposite Michael Landon on “Little House on the Prairie” from 1977 to 1981 and the lead role in “Father Murphy” from 1981 to 1983.

Merlin Olson was always one of my favorites.&#160 He was one of those few actors whom you got the sense wasn’t really acting when he played a role – because there was so much of him&#160 in the role, that that’s what he would really be doing if he’d lived in prairie times, or was a priest or whatever.&#160 (As an aside, it’s a shame he never ran for office, because you got the sense he’d have been good at that, too.)

I will miss Merlin Olson.&#160 This was a helluva man, one after whom one could pattern oneself and not do too shabby.

(Side note:&#160 Yes, I’ve seen the Wiki page where it says he was a Mormon.&#160 That aside, he was still someone I wish I could have known as a friend.&#160 That he did not worship the triune God (and likely died in his sins as a result) will not change my opinion of him one bit.)

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One response to “Merlin Olson:&#160 1940 – 2010”

1. Alan K. Henderson says:

   March 11, 2010 at 11:39 pm

   Regarding the side note…in recent years (neglecting 2009) I started a Father’s Day tradition, likening the relationship between believers, nonbelievers and God to a rough human equivalent: a dad with a bunch of wayward children.

   [O]ne is charged with three tasks: to build and maintain the relationship with Dad, to build and maintain the relationships with the wayward siblings without doing anything that interferes with the paternal relationship, and to act as a bridge between the wayward siblings and Dad. That third task is tricky; there will be occasions to discuss the rift outright, but most of the time it involves nothing more than being a positive influence to that sibling.

   http://alankhenderson.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html#5224440960547295436

   The second task requires us to value nonbelievers and foremost and to able to find the positive side of their accounting ledger. If we can’t do that regarding those we have no personal contact with – which for most of us includes Olson – we’re gonna have even bigger problems with those who are in our lives.

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