#29

 

MERLIN OLSEN

To millions of TV viewers, Merlin Olsen was the thoughtful TV analyst who came into your living room every Sunday in order to give fans insight on the game within the game. To millions more, he was one of the leads on Little House on the Prairie or Father Murphy. It’s fair to say that a lot more fans remember Olsen for his work on the small screen than they do for his work on the football field—which is a shame because it was shockingly good.

Olsen was a huge piece of the Los Angeles Rams’ legendary “Fearsome Foursome” defense, with Deacon Jones, Rosey Grier, and Lamar Lundy. Jones, of course, was the lead dog and the monster pass rusher who invented the term “sack” and was a garrulous presence with the media. Jones was one of the game’s all-time greats (see No. 8), but the truth of the matter is that Olsen was nearly as good.

Olsen was one of the most consistent players the game has ever seen. He made the Pro Bowl 14 straight seasons between 1962 and 1975 (a record he shares with offensive lineman Bruce Matthews) and he played the game with a fierceness that belied his onscreen personality. “When the ball was snapped there was nothing gentle about Merlin Olsen,” said Jones, speaking of his linemate’s gentle- giant image. “No, he played hard every snap he was on the field and he was just a great teammate to have. He could rush the passer, stop the run and fill any gap that came along.”

Many of those gaps were filled when Olsen was filling Jones’s space, as Deacon would often loop to the outside so he could rush the quarterback. Olsen would move over from his defensive tackle position, handle his own responsibilities, and handle Jones’s as well. That’s the way Rams coaches George Allen and Chuck Knox wanted Olsen to play and that’s just how he did it.

Olsen had dominant strength and quickness but what allowed him to make the All-NFL team first or second team 10 times was his intelligence. “I wanted to get better each and every year,” Olsen said. “I was very concerned about correcting whatever was done incorrectly and doing it better. I was very concerned about who I was playing and what they were likely to do on the field so I could do my job better.”

That study allowed Olsen to diagnose what was going on in the other huddle as if he had placed a microphone on the quarterback and put a listening device in his own ear. Most teams would use a screen pass or a draw play in order to suck the defensive playmakers out of position. That simply could not be done with Olsen, who knew what was going on almost before it happened and then would flow to the ball carrier so smoothly that the play would be over before it started.

While Olsen played hard every game and every down and had an inner fire that fueled him, he quickly realized that running backs and receivers were usually a lot more emotional in their pursuit of a big play or a touchdown than he was. While some may have viewed that as a flaw, Olsen looked at it as a strength because while they were pumping their fists and slapping high fives, Olsen was getting inside their heads and figuring out what they were doing. “Football linemen are motivated by a more complicated, self-determining series of factors than the simple fear of humiliation in the public gaze, which is the emotion that galvanizes the backs and receivers,” Olsen said. “You could count on seeing your opponents getting themselves psyched up and taking an attitude that they could not be beaten on the field. Well, they could be beaten and it usually had to do with preparation, correct position and using the proper technique. Those things were great equalizers in the battle against emotion.”

The mental game was Olsen’s primary domain, but he could also get after the passer. He played in a time before sacks became an official statistic but he recorded 94 unofficial tallies in his 14-year career. He was happy to get them but only in the context that it helped the Rams defense and it helped the team win. “It was not about the glory that comes your way when you get the quarterback,” Olsen said. “It was only about doing your job and doing what was expected in order to help the team. At the moment you are committed to getting to the passer and you know there’s an opening, you explode into it and make the play happen. It’s really a great feeling. I didn’t get that feeling as often as [Deacon Jones] did, but I got it enough to know that it was a pretty wonderful feeling.”

That cerebral approach also came into play when Olsen would assess his own play and realize he could have done things better. “One of life’s most painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn’t do our homework, that we are not prepared,” Olsen said.

That may have been the ultimate secret to Olsen’s success. While others were quick to recognize him and give him kudos, he was always tough on himself and demanded better. In reality, he was at the top for 14 years and his consistency provided the base of a superbly productive career.