Merlin's Personal Mission Statement
"The focus of my life begins at home with family, loved ones and friends. I want to use my resources to create a secure environment that fosters love, learning, laughter and mutual success. I will protect and value integrity. I will admit and quickly correct my mistakes. I will be a self-starter. I will be a caring person. I will be a good listener with an open mind. I will continue to grow and learn. I will facilitate and celebrate the success of others."
~Merlin J. Olsen
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.
~Merlin Olsen
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Over the years I have lost some of my best friends - usually by illness and eventual death. I think of them often and spend some solitary time on the anniversary of the day they left us remembering all the good times we had. Merlin left us on March 11, 2010 at the young age of 69.
Despite growing up in the same Utah town, and attending the same high school, Merlin and I didn't become best friends until we were in our twenties and living in Southern California. In a wonderful coincidence, in the summer of 1964 Merlin & Susan rented an apartment where Bonnie & I were managers. That was the beginning of a close friendship for us as couples and as families. In the late 1970s, Merlin & Susan and Bonnie & I decided to partner in a mountain cabin in Big Bear. Our families spent many fun times there together. We also had some great times traveling with them over the years and they were very active in our Sigma Zonk Fratority.
Merlin was an exceptional person - bigger than life, but at the same time he was just "one of the boys" when on an adventure with us. Merlin was the first of my buddies willing to go on a motorcycle trip with me, which was the beginning of over twenty years of fun trips riding with a group of friends. Some early golf and tennis activities were in our background, and more activity later in skiing, bicycling and river rafting. I've tried to show some of these fun memories with the photos below. I was honored when Susan asked me to speak at Merlin's Memorial in 2010, and I have included here a few of my comments from that day.
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"As a celebrity, Merlin’s achievements are well-known. We have all seen them recounted in newspapers and on TV over the past few days. He was an outstanding scholar, athlete, broadcaster, actor, motivational speaker, and philanthropist. He is known nationally for all these accomplishments and abilities. Of course I followed his career, and like everyone else, I have known of these achievements.
But I also have had the opportunity to know the non-celebrity Merlin. The personal and softer side. I knew him behind the scenes. I knew him in high school as we grew up in Logan, Utah. I knew him in his capacity as a husband to Susan; and as a father to Kelly and Jill and Nathan; and as a grandfather to Jack and Joe and James and Evelyn. And I knew him as a close personal friend, as we rode dirt bikes on the fire roads in Big Bear, as we went skiing in California and Utah, went rafting on the Colorado River, went on trips with our wives to various places around the country, and went on week-long motorcycle escapades throughout the Mountain West with our old high school buddies. This was a relationship that I treasure, and will never forget. Of course, Merlin had many other close friends.
Merlin was the type of person we would all like to be. Apart from all his accomplishments, was his strong character; he was simply a good man. He showed humility. He once said, "I just wanted to be an athlete." He was honest and loyal. He always did what he said he would do. Jim Murray, the Los Angeles Times sports writer, once called Merlin “as dependable as sunset." He was fair – he played by the rules – not only in football, but in life. He was considerate of others – tolerant of differences. He was caring and compassionate. Although I don’t remember him specifically mentioning the Golden Rule, he always treated others in the way he would like to be treated himself. And maybe what I liked best, Merlin was authentic – he was what he appeared to be."
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Merlin's accomplishments were far greater than what I show in this personal relationship blog. Many of these accomplishments are listed on a plaque in a final section below entitled "Merlin's Statue at USU."
"How sweetly tied together our lives are -
How hard it is when someone slips the bonds we've shared."
The photos below left to right: 1st row-Hadfields & Olsens at the Cabin during 1983 Christmas; Merlin & Tracy on the "sled hill" behind the Cabin; the kids in front of the Cabin by a VW that was snowed in all winter (Nate, Heather, Jenny, Jill, Tracy, and Kelly in front). 2nd row - Art H., Merlin, Ron and Jan making music at a Sigma Zonk Reunion; Merlin giving "The State of the Zonk" at the 2007 Reunion; Zonks who were members of the Logan High Class of '58 at a Sigma Zonk Reunion (Klair, Paul, Bob H, Merlin, Hope, Ron, Warren, and Covert). 3rd row - all on one of the annual scooter rides: Duncan, Covert, Ron & Merlin; Ron & Merlin, with Bob M in background; and Ron, Merlin, Ted, Duncan, Carl, Covert & Bob M at Bryce Canyon. 4th row - Gary D, Merlin & Ron on Desolation Canyon river trip; Merlin on the river; and one of our trips to Mexico - (Dennie & Alison, Ron & Bonnie, Merlin & Susan, and Jarrett & Marj. 5th row - another trip to Mexico - left around the table: Bonnie, Merlin, Susan, Ted, Dixie, Bill and Jo; on the Inland Passage Cruise to Alaska (Marj, Finch, Bonnie, Ron, Susan, Merlin, Jarrett, and Grant; and the Hadfields and Olsens at Mt. Rushmore. 6th row - Hadfields and Olsens at lunch at Olvera Street; Paul, Ron & Mel at Merlin's statue at Merlin Olsen Field at Utah State University; and Merlin as Santa Claus.
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Merlin's Statue at USU: To honor Merlin for all his accomplishments and his importance to Utah State University and to his hometown of Logan, in the fall of 2009 USU planned to name the football field at Romney Stadium the Merlin Olsen Field. We were very excited about that, but then Walt had the idea that in addition to naming the field, a statue of Merlin should be erected at the stadium. He discussed the idea with Mel and I and we thought it was a great idea. We proceeded to select Blair Buswell as the sculptor, obtain approval from USU to undertake the project (specifically from President Stan Albrecht) and began the fund raising activity. The people at USU ran with this project, setting aside the location at the stadium, arranging for the construction and wonderful plaques to be made summarizing Merlin's accomplishments and giving credit to the donors, and included the fund raising for the statue within a larger program for the USU Athletic Program and a special academic scholarship in Merlin and Susan's names. But the statue project would have never happened without the initial effort of our small group of friends, and we will always be proud of our contribution to that effort.
Photos from the left: Plaque of Merlin's accomplishments; Plaque with Merlin's Personal Mission Statement; Bevie & Walt, Ron & Bonnie, and Linda & Mel at the statue; Blair Buswell putting finishing touches on the statue the day of the dedication.
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The first plaque below summarizes the naming of the Merlin Olsen Field and the unveiling of the statue; the next two plaque list the people and organizations that were donors for the statue.
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