Hall of Famer and Former TV Star Merlin Olsen To Speak at College Football Hall of Fame

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Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen will visit the Hall of Fame as part of the KeyBank Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - April 18, 2007 - The National Football Foundation's (NFF) College Football Hall of Fame 11th Annual KeyBank Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series will continue Wednesday, May 2, when Hall of Famer and former TV Star, Merlin Olsen, visits the Hall in South Bend.

A member of the Pro and College Football Hall of Fame, Merlin Olsen has enjoyed great success on the field, in the press box and on television.

Olsen was born in Logan, Utah and attended Utah State University. While playing for the Aggies, he first gained All-America status as a junior as Utah State won the Skyline Conference championship. In his senior year, he became a consensus All-America, winning the Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior lineman and placing 10th in the Heisman voting. Olsen was also a success in the classroom as he was both an Academic All-America and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete.

Both the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams drafted him but Olsen chose to sign with the Rams and began a 15-season professional career. As a defensive tackle, he was part of the Rams' famed "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line. He played a key role on many of the Rams' playoff teams and appeared in 14 Pro Bowls. In 1968, he was named the Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player.

While with the Rams, he began an acting career, first appearing in The Undefeated 1969). Following his retirement as a player he teamed with Dick Enberg for many seasons on NBC's coverage of NFL football. His acting career continued as a regular on the series Little House on the Prairie and playing the starring role on Father Murphy. Merlin was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Hall two years later.

The entire KeyBank Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series will be announced in full in the coming weeks. Each event consists of a discussion or question and answer session with the featured speaker, a video presentation and lunch at the College Football Hall of Fame. Attendees have the opportunity to win various prizes and will receive a commemorative gift.

All of the luncheons will begin at 11:30 a.m. Tickets for individual luncheons are $35 per person or $270 for a table of eight. Tickets can be purchased by contacting the Hall of Fame at 574-235-5715. Visit the Hall of Fame's Web site at www.collegefootball.org for more details.

One of many programs conducted by the National Football Foundation, the College Football Hall of Fame is among the nation's premier sports shrines, preserving the history and ongoing story of college football while promoting an understanding of the positive values of the sport. For more information, visit www.collegefootball.org.

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.