Former Rams superstar, Merlin Olsen died on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, after a year long battle with mesothelioma. He was undergoing chemotherapy and treatment, but passed away Wednesday morning.

Olsen enjoyed a fifteen-year football career, and for fourteen of those years he was in the Pro Bowl. He was a part of the legendary “Fearsome Four” along with Roosevelt Grier, Deacon Jones and Lamar Lundy. Along with his football career, he also worked as a sports analyst and broadcaster for NBC for numerous football games, including a number of Super Bowl games. In 1982 he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

After retiring from his football career, Olsen took on numerous television series during the 1980s, including Petticoat Junction, Little House on the Prairie, Fathers and Sons, and the leading role in the show Father Murphy.

His last television appearance was as a guest on The Tim McCarver Show in 2002.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer, often associated with asbestos exposure, that infects the lungs, stomach and heart. There was some accusation on Olsen’s part, after his diagnosis, that NBC and other networks he worked for may have negligently exposed him to asbestos.

Olsen is survived by his wife of forty-eight years and their three children.