I remember the Rams win over the Cowboys in 1976. It was a great day. I had been a Ram fan for almost 10 years by then. I became a fan about the same time as Guard. There was very little TV coverage in the early years but as years passed I was able to see more and more games. My favorite p[layers in 1967 where Roman Gabriel, the Fearsome Foursome, Jack Snow and a few years later Lawrence McClutchen. I lived in Idaho and getting any team memorabilia or team apparel was not even a thought. Eight or so years laster a friend told me he could get an autographed photo of Merlin and Phil Olsen. His mother worked with their brother. My buddy lost the photo. In 1985 I met Merlin’s brother Clark. I worked on a fairly regular basis with Clark for almost 17 years. In 2001 I put in for another position. Clark gave me a letter of recommendation. It was such a thoughtful and complimentary recommendation that it brought me to tears. It still does. He was well respected and I feel it made the difference in getting that position. I thanked Clark and during the conversation I told him I was the kid he got the autographed photo for years ago and thanked him for that too. He asked where it was and I told him the story. He said that he’d make sure I got another one! A couple of months later I received a package. It was a program from the the University of Utah which featured Merlin Olsen his senior year. Clark had saved it and took it to a family wedding to be signed. He had each member of his family who had played in the NFL sign it. They each wrote a personal note congratulating me on my position. The autographs included; Merlin Olsen, Phil Olsen who started and played next to Merlin in 1971 and 1972, Orrin Olsen who played for the Chiefs in 76, Clark’s son Hans who played for the Colts and Clark who played in college! That fantastic piece was framed and joined other pieces in my office. The other featured pieces are; an autographed photo from Jim Evert, a photo autographed from Vin Scully wishing my wife and I ”Happy Anniversary” ,a football signed by Kurt Warner in 2000 and autographs from Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt and Marshal Faulk!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2021 06:07PM by hammer.
