Merlin Jay Olsen (; September 15, 1940 – March 11, 2010) was an American football player, announcer, and actor. For his entire 15-year professional football career he was a defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl 14 times — every year but his last. The only other football players to have matched that number are the former offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, the former tight end Tony Gonzalez, and the former quarterback Peyton Manning. (Tom Brady is the only NFL player to have played more times in the Pro Bowl, with 15 selections.) In 1961, Olsen received the Outland Trophy, awarded to as the best lineman of the year in college football. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. As an actor, he portrayed a farmer, Jonathan Garvey, on Little House on the Prairie. After leaving that series, he starred in his own NBC drama, Father Murphy. Early life Merlin Olsen was born in Logan, Utah, where his parents Merle Barrus and Lynn Jay Olsen graduated from Utah State University (USU) and began their careers. His father was a professor at the university while his mother had graduated in elementary education. Merlin was the second of nine siblings and the first-born son. The family opened their home to host, feed, sleep or tutor anyone in the neighborhood; during the winter, Merle would lay wood over the entrance of the house so that ice skaters from the local park could walk in. Merlin pursued athletics in high school but was cut from the basketball team while in grade 9, told by the coach that athletics wasn't for him and that he should take up the arts. Later, Olsen turned down a football scholarship to Stanford University to play for USU. Classmate Ross Peterson described him as a "natural, big, strong leader ... he could have been successful at anything". His brothers Phil and Orrin also played football. Education Olsen attended Utah State University where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and was a three-year letterman in football as a defensive tackle. He graduated from the College of Business and Social Sciences at USU with a bachelor's degree in finance in 1962 and a master's degree in economics in 1971. He later received an