Merlin Olsen Quotes

You are the land. The land is you.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

I just wanted to be an athlete.

I can ski out of my back door.

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

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

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

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

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