Merlin Olsen Quotes

#1. 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

#2. You are the land. The land is you.

Merlin Olsen

#3. I was captain and should have set the example. I would lift a minimum of weights. Mine was natural physical strength. I always thought quickness and agility were much more important.

Merlin Olsen

#4. I was always the last one chosen for football games in Central Park.

Merlin Olsen

#5. It took me a while to realize that basketball wasn't football.

Merlin Olsen

#6. I bet I made close to 20 tackles because nobody on either side knew what they were doing.

Merlin Olsen

#7. I can ski out of my back door.

Merlin Olsen

#8. After a few games I knew I was going to be able to compete. The idea of being a star never crossed my mind.

Merlin Olsen

#9. The basketball coach cut me within two days, so I was back in the pool. I was the first one in the wall after the first 25 yards, but the last one out because I didn't have a flip turn.

Merlin Olsen

#10. Most exciting for me was to make the Pro Bowl in 14 of 15 years.

Merlin Olsen

#11. Our whole philosophy was to intimidate the quarterback. We were able to do it. We were pioneers. People still recognize us as, maybe, the best defensive line of all time.

Merlin Olsen

#12. I probably played hurt a lot more times than I should have.

Merlin Olsen

#13. Our coach was absolutely out of his head. He must have read Bear Bryant's book. We had 78 players out. The first day 35 quit. Twenty quit the second day. We ended with 17 players. It was depressing.

Merlin Olsen

#14. When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.

Merlin Olsen

#15. You can take the best team and the worst team and line them up and you would find very little physical difference. You would find an emotional difference. The wining team has a dedication. It will have a core group of veteran players who set the standards. They will not accept defeat.

Merlin Olsen

#16. I've caught fish as big as I am. I've caught marlin close to 300 pounds.

Merlin Olsen

#17. Perseverance isn't just the willingness to work hard. It's that plus the willingness to be stubborn about your own belief in yourself.

Merlin Olsen

#18. Team doctors' jobs those days were to keep you on the field.

Merlin Olsen

#19. We need to know where we are going and how we plan to get there. Our dreams and aspirations must be translated into real and tangible goals with priorities and time frames.

Merlin Olsen

#20. One of life's most painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn't do our homework, that we are not prepared.

Merlin Olsen

#21. I had a hockey puck and stick-the only ones in town. I definitely would have played hockey ahead of football, had it been available.

Merlin Olsen

#22. Nobody cared about swimming. You could draw a crowd for basketball.

Merlin Olsen

#23. I just wanted to be an athlete.

Merlin Olsen