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BYU's Olsen Lives Up His Big Score By Dick Harmon, The Provo Daily Herald
Nov. 9, 1999
PROVO -- When Hans Olsen got up from the dog pile in Qualcomm Stadium Saturday following his first career touchdown, he trotted back to the sideline wearing a smile wider than the Snake River. He'd taken center stage. He'd made an exciting play. People were watching. He was a hog in mud heaven. His face mask was twisted, his chin strap pushed in his mouth and with his helmet a little skewed to the side, he had a chunk of turf on his mask cage. Teammates howled. They celebrated the moment. For everyone likes Hans, a guy who sees every day of his life as his personal picnic, a day at Disneyland. "You have to love it," defensive coordinator Ken Schmidt said. "He's such a fun guy to be around. He's always joking." "Everybody wanted Hans to score because he deserved it," defensive line coach Tom Ramage said.
Olsen is described by his wife Amanda as a natural-born entertainer. Hans told his wife weeks before the San Diego State game, if he'd ever scored a touchdown, he'd play like the ball was a rodeo calf and rope it in the end zone.
"It's so rare for a defensive tackle to score a touchdown, that it is a big deal to him, to us," Ramage said. Olsen told reporters afterwards, he dreamed of doing the "Dirty Bird" made famous by Atlanta's Jamal Anderson. But when he got there, all he could do is throw his arms in the air and then get tackled by teammates. "I didn't think he'd get back to the sidelines in one piece," Ramage said. A comedian without being a clown, Olsen loves making people laugh, Amanda said. When he speaks to elementary schools or youth groups, he loves to entertain and be the center of attention. He can balance a banquet table on his chin. He can take a broom stick and put a picnic table on the end and balance it on his chin. When the Olsen's joined teammate Chris Hoke and his wife Jaimee at a sophisticated spook alley a few weeks ago, Hans and Chris kept pushing their wives in front of them because "big guys can't get scared." But Amanda had another friend go to the end where a final surprise lurked. She told the spook to wait until the women had passed and get the two big guys. As the group shuffled by, a madman jumped out and cranked up a chain saw. Hoke jumped out of his Nikes, grabbed Hans and the pair bowled over Amanda and Jaimee trying to escape. "With him, there's never a boring moment. But he can also be serious," Hoke said. "I think he's more sensitive than I am. He really cares about what people think." That is evidenced by his reaction to a published quote by teammate Rob Morris, who teased Olsen for taking 15 seconds to run 30 yards for the touchdown. Well, Olsen had a comeback quote. "Morris is a guy with three personalities," Olsen said. "He's got the nice guy personality, then the Mean Guy, then the Just Plain Stupid. He's psycho. It would take more than a priest to get rid of the other two." But try as he may to fire a come-backer at Morris, he was sensitive about offending Morris. He wanted his quote on Morris braced with a disclaimer: "Be sure to say I think he's a great guy and great player." Typical Hans. The big lineman from Idaho got two sacks against the Aztecs last week. Morris earned Mountain West Conference defensive player of the week honors. Olsen was happy for his captain. After all, it was Morris' hit that caused the fumble, which brought the big lineman his moment of fame. You see, entertainers have set up acts to key their routines. Olsen knows this. He just played along. |
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