Eric Olsen (born June 16, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

. He was drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played collegiately for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. He has also been a member of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, Pittsburgh Steelers, and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Early years

Olsen attended

Poly Prep Country Day School Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper School (9th to 12th grades) are loc ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, where he was both an offensive tackle as well as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. At offensive tackle, he was never charged with a sack to his

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. As a defensive end, he recorded 53 tackles, 8 sacks and forced 3 fumbles.

College career

Olsen played in 44 games during his four years at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

. He started the last 31 of those games. During his junior and senior years combined he only allowed four quarterbacks sacks. He was also a member of the first Seligman fraternity pledge class at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Olsen continues to be an active brother and attends annual Seligmania events.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Olsen was projected to be drafted in the fifth or sixth round during the 2010 NFL Draft. He was one of the top performers at the bench press,

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

and the

3-cone drill The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by American football players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by scouts. It is most commonly seen at the NFL Combine in ...

. Olsen was drafted by the

in the sixth round (183rd overall). He was expected to compete with

J. D. Walton Justin Daniel Walton (born March 24, 1987) is a former American football center. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft and has also played for the Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, and New York Giants ...

for the starting center job for the Broncos. He was waived by the Broncos September 3, 2011.

Washington Redskins

Olsen spent the 2011 season on Washington's practice squad.

New Orleans Saints

With the

heading into the 2011 playoffs, the team signed Olsen off the Redskins' practice squad on January 2, 2012. He was inactive in both of the Saints' games in the playoffs. He remained with New Orleans for the 2012 season, playing in all 16 games and starting 4 as a blocking tight end. In 2013 was placed on injured reserve during training camp, and later released.

Pittsburgh Steelers

He signed with the Steelers but did not play during the regular season.

Tennessee Titans

On April 3, 2014, Olsen signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

, but he was released at the end of training camp.

Second stint with Saints

The Saints brought Olsen back for a second stint with the team on October 22, 2014. He was expected to provide additional depth on the line after an injury to Jonathan Goodwin meant that backup center Tim Lelito would be starting. He was released on November 12, 2014.

Second stint with Titans

Olsen returned to the Titans after they signed him on November 25, 2014.

Cleveland Browns

The

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

signed Olsen on May 26, 2015. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Browns.

Personal life

Olsen has one brother, Drew, a former

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

. His father, Andy Olsen, was a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

firefighter. Just three days before the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

, his father was promoted to Lieutenant. Therefore, he was in officer training on September 11, and not with Ladder 80, his firehouse at the time. When his father finally arrived at the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

, both towers had already collapsed. A few days later, when he was digging through the rubble, his father found a truck from his firehouse buried and destroyed. None of the firefighters in that particular unit survived .

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bioTennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Eric 1988 births Living people Players of American football from New York (state) American football centers American football offensive guards Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Denver Broncos players Washington Redskins players New Orleans Saints players Pittsburgh Steelers players Tennessee Titans players Cleveland Browns players Poly Prep alumni