Quotes from Merlin Olsen

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

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

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

You are the land. The land is you.

The winning team has a dedication. It will have a core of veteran players who set the standards. They will not accept defeat.

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

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

At 285 pounds, I was extremely strong, and it was all usable strength that I could direct against opponents, not like that of a weightlifter, whose feats of power are all restricted.

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

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

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

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

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

I believe in dreams. Being a Merlin, I also believe in magic; the kind of magic that begins when someone who cares reaches out for a child.

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.

Parenting is perhaps the most important job we have in our lives.

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.

Economics comes easily to me, and we all seek out what we do well in life. I had in mind becoming a businessman. And I was good at logic and reasoning; figures were comfortable inside my head.

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.

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

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.

I can ski out of my back door.

Jogging is my idea of nothing to do.

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