The NFL Pro and College Football Hall of Famer, Merlin Olsen died Thursday morning at the age of 69. The cause of his death is a lung disease called Mesothelioma.

The disease is basically a cancerous tumor that grows in the lungs thus preventing it to absorb fluid in its cavity. Its compression will then cause a build up of fluid in your lungs, which is normally fluid free. Since the main purpose of our lungs is for our breathing, a defect in this area of our body is very fatal. As the tumor grows, it compresses the lungs causing shortness of breath and will prompt the patient for medical consultation. Most of the time, when the doctors discover it’s presence it is already too late and the life span of the patient with this kind of tumor is only 4-18 months. Chemotherapy to get rid of the tumor could be done thus increasing the life span to a maximum if 5 years.

Up to this time, cancer remained to have an unknown cause but doctors are considering asbestos exposure could be one.

In the case of the NFL star, he was diagnosed with it in 2009 and has been undergoing chemotherapy since then. He earned 14 consecutive Pro Bowl honors in his first 14 seasons and was a six-time first-team All-Pro selection. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1982.

I’m sorry to hear this news but the famous NFL football player Merlin Olsen has just been added to the list of stars who passed away because of a rare disease named Mesothelioma.

Merlin Olsen is a former player of the team Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” for 15 years until he turned into acting in the TV show Little House on the Prairie.

So what is this disease named Mesothelioma which took away Merlin Olsen’s life? Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which is the effect of inhaling a chemical named Asbestos. Unfortunately, Merlin Olsen was already diagnosed with Mesothelioma in June of last year and has undergone 3 chemotheraphies since then to combat it.

I really don’t know how Olsen inhaled some of these Asbestos but accordingly, he filed a recent lawsuit against NBC Studios, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox for exposing him to Asbestos in January of this year. I guess this sad news should be a warning sign to these companies to take a closer look on the safety of their studios.

Merlin Olsen will surely be remembered not only as a great football player but also one of the best actors. He will definitely be missed. RIP Merlin Olsen.