Olsen Gets Chance to Shine in Shrine Game : Football: San Marino lineman Nathan Olsen, son of former Ram star Merlin, was first passed over for the game. But his reputation eventually helped him earn a berth on the South team.

When the roster for the South team in the 40th annual California Shrine All-Star Football Game was first determined in February, defensive lineman Nathan Olsen of San Marino High was one of many prep standouts in Southern California who did not make the list.

Only Dick Barrett of Lompoc, co-coach of the South team, had a good reason to believe that Olsen deserved a berth on the squad.

“We faced him in the (CIF Division VII) semifinals last year and he played great against us,” Barrett said. “So when I saw that he wasn’t on the list for the game, I made sure they put him on it.”

While Olsen may have been named to the team as somewhat of an afterthought, there is little doubt that he belongs in the game.

As a senior playing primarily at defensive tackle, Olsen led the Titans to an 11-1 record and was selected first team All-State by Cal-Hi Sports News, All-Southern Section Division VII and All-Times San Gabriel Valley.

He also left a lasting impression on longtime San Marino Coach Bill Maloney.

“He’s aggressive, smart and has great technique,” Maloney said. “(He’s) the best I have ever coached in 30 years.”

But despite his success as a senior, the 18-year-old Olsen was not counting on a berth in the Shrine Game that will be played at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Especially since San Marino only has about 1,000 students and has not had a player selected to the Shrine Game since Mark Andrew in 1982.

“I was pretty sure that I’d be in the East-West (Hall of Fame) game if I wasn’t here but this is the one I really wanted to be in,” Olsen said. “I was kind of lucky that (running back) Napoleon Kaufman (of Lompoc) did so well in Division VII. I think that helped other guys, including myself, to get selected.”

Olsen said the difficult part has been adjusting to the level of players who are competing in the game.

“There’s some really good linemen out here,” he said. “I was going up against some good guys once in a while at San Marino but here everybody is good. There’s guys like (Clay) Hattabaugh of Fontana and (Chris) Finch of Ramona and everyone’s big.”

Fortunately for Olsen, he has made a smooth transition.

“We have a lot of defensive sets that the players have to get used to for this game but he’s really adjusted well,” Barrett said.

Olsen says his appearance in the Shrine Game should also help him prepare to make the quantum leap from high school to major-college football next season.

“It’s a good experience for me,” he said. “It’s nice to get used to playing with guys of that caliber.”

He will have plenty of opportunity in the fall when he attends Stanford.

At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Olsen said he first started receiving letters from college recruiters when he was a sophomore although they didn’t pursue him heavily until after his junior season.

“During the summer I came back and there was a bunch of mail for me and then during the season I was getting stuff every week,” he said.

From a long list of schools, Olsen decided to make his official recruiting visits to Oregon, Arizona, UC Berkeley and Stanford. He narrowed his choices to Berkeley and Stanford before making his decision.

“Stanford was my last trip and I told them that I wasn’t going to make up my mind until the last trip,” he said. “But it was a very hard decision. My dad said it was hard for him, too. He came this close to going to Cal, too, and then decided to go to Utah State.”

His father is Merlin Olsen, who starred as a defensive lineman for the Rams and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But, unlike his father, Nathan was a late bloomer in the sport and says his father never pushed him.

“I didn’t play football until I was a freshman (at San Marino) so he kind of stayed away,” Olsen said.

It wasn’t until he played varsity the past two seasons that his father took a more active interest.

“He wanted me to learn on my own,” Olsen said. “He helped me with the basics and then the last couple of years he decided it was time to teach me some new tricks.

“In my junior and senior years he helped me a lot with my technique. He came out to practice once a week and he helped me and the other guys because he wanted to see us win.”

Olsen said his father has always been there for him despite the fact that he has always been busy with football, acting and broadcasting. He is currently an NFL color commentator for CBS.

“He’s gone a lot but it really wasn’t that bad,” Nathan said. “During the football season he was here from late Sunday night to Thursday.”

He also found the time to watch his son’s games, either in person or on film.

“He only saw about three or four games last season but he saw them all on film, so he had a chance to critique all of them,” he said. “It’s sort of like having an extra coach in the house. When it was bad he’d tell you.”

Like his father, Nathan is a defensive lineman although his future may be as an end instead of a tackle.

“I’d like to play defensive tackle but I’m too small for that,” he said. “Defensive end would be my next choice, anyway. Maybe if I can get up to 270 or 275, I can play defensive tackle again. But right now this is my best position.”

Also like his father, Olsen is hoping that he will have a chance to play pro football although he is not looking too far ahead.

“I want to go as far as I can but I’m not depending on football as a career,” he said. “I’ve been around a lot of pros and I know what it’s like when your career comes to an end. So I just want to be prepared for what happens after football.”

“I just want to take everything one step at a time,” he says. “Right now I’m getting ready to move on to college and after that you really never know how far you can go. You could hurt a knee and it could be all over. So I’m just happy to be in the Shrine Game and I’m just taking everything (else) as I go along.”