NFL Hall of Famer, TV ("Little House On The Prairie") star Merlin Olsen dead at 69.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

NFL, TV star Merlin Olsen dead at 69.

http://nbcsportsmedia4.msnbc.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Jervay,%20John/NFL/Curran%27s%20actors%20and%20NFL/080515_Merlin-Olsen.h2.jpg

Hall of Famer, ‘Little House’ star Olsen dies
69-year-old once was star on L.A. Rams’ ‘Fearsome Foursome’ defense

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35817296/ns/sports-nfl/

SALT LAKE CITY - Merlin Olsen, a Hall of Fame defensive lineman and member of the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” who followed up football with a successful television career in “Little House on the Prairie,” NFL broadcasts and commercials, has died. He was 69.

Utah State, Olsen’s alma mater, said he died outside of Los Angeles early Thursday after battling cancer. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining, last year.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement lauding Olsen as an “extraordinary person, friend and football player.”

“He cared deeply about people, especially those that shared the game of football with him,” Goodell said. “Merlin was a larger-than-life person, literally and figuratively, and leaves an enormously positive legacy.”

Olsen was an All-American at Utah State and a first-round draft pick of the Los Angles Rams in 1962.

[kestrel91316]

1. Very sad. I liked him on Little House.

[soleft]

2. Mesothelioma - isn't that asbestos related?

I wonder if he was exposed at some point.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. It is, and it's what killed Warren Zevon

People wanted to pin his death on cigarette smoking, and while that didn;t help his overall health, he mentioned time he spent hanging out in a relative's carpet factory when he was younger, where it was asbestos 24/7.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Terrible news for Utahns. He's been a fixture out here since he played for USU.

[devilgrrl]

5. RIP Merlin

Thanks for the memories! :patriot:

[HughBeaumont]

6. R.I.P.

Merlin Olsen was a good TV actor.

Wonder who'll be #3?