Ben Olson
refer to caption
Olson in August 2008
Personal information
Born: (1983-02-28) February 28, 1983 (age 40)
Missoula, Montana, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school:Thousand Oaks (CA)
College:UCLA
Position:Quarterback
Undrafted:2009

Benjamin James Olson (born February 28, 1983) is a former American football college quarterback. He played four injury-plagued seasons of college football at UCLA, starting 10 games (and appearing in four others) with the club.

High school career

Born in Missoula, Montana,[1] Olson grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, where he played quarterback for Thousand Oaks High School in California for four years. For three of those years, he played on the varsity team, alongside David Anderson.

Olson was considered the top quarterback prospect[2][3] – and even top high school football recruit in the country[4] – following a highly productive senior year in which he threw for 2,989 yards and 32 touchdowns, earning high school All-American honors in 2001.[5]

College career

Upon graduation in 2002, Olson signed with Brigham Young University and redshirted his freshman season. He then went on a two-year mission to Canada with the LDS Church.[3][6]

In 2005 Olson transferred to UCLA,[3][5] where he spent the year behind senior Drew Olson (no relation) on the depth chart after missing the opener with a fractured hand.[1]

Olson played in five games in 2006, completing 63.7% of his passes for 822 yards, 6.63 yards per attempt, 5 TDs and 5 INTs. His season came to an end in the opening moments of his fifth start, when he tore a ligament. He did not regain the starting position that season.[1]

Olson was named starting quarterback for the 2007 season following the spring training.[7] However, he was again plagued by injuries and only played in 6 games, completing only 48.3% of his passes for 1040 yards, 7.08 yards per attempt, 7 TDs and 6 INTs.[1]

Entering the 2008 season, Olson was the presumptive starting quarterback after a career-ending knee injury to Patrick Cowan, the named starter during spring practice. However, on Saturday, August 9, Olson broke his right foot and was sidelined. X-rays taken the following day revealed the fracture, a repeat of an injury he had suffered during spring practice. The foot took longer than expected to heal and he finished his college football career without playing a game that year.[8]

Post-collegiate career

After graduating from UCLA in 2008, Olson was invited to try out by the Philadelphia Eagles, but again broke his foot.[9] He went un-drafted in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Personal

Ben is the son of Rick and Annie Olson[10] and has one brother and three sisters.[1] He married Andrea Anderson in May 2007.[7][9][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Player Bio: Ben Olson", UCLA Bruins, retrieved September 13, 2022.
  2. ^ "UCLA's Ben Olson making the grade", The Orange County Register, August 30, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c Jeff Call, "Why former top recruit quarterback Ben Olson came to BYU but never played a down", Deseret News, June 14, 2018.
  4. ^ Tom Lemming, "Prospect profile: Ben Olson", Recruiting, ESPN, retrieved September 13, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Ex-next-great-BYU QB loving life at UCLA", The Press-Enterprise, via Deseret News, August 13, 2005, archived from the original on December 10, 2005.
  6. ^ Kevin Pearson, "UCLA's other Olson on a mission to make difference", The Press-Enterprise, August 13, 2005.
  7. ^ a b Chris Foster, "No Free Passes", Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2007.
  8. ^ "Olson's career at UCLA likely over", Los Angeles Daily News, November 18, 2008, archived from the original on October 13, 2009.
  9. ^ a b Logan Cooley, "Former ESPN No. 1 recruit Ben Olson gives his perspective",The Daily Universe (Brigham Young University), October 10, 2014, retrieved September 13, 2022.
  10. ^ "Ben Olson", BYU Cougars, retrieved on September 13, 2022.
  11. ^ Brian Dohn and Scott Wolf, "Olson a new man since his marriage", Press-Telegram, September 4, 2007, updated September 1, 2017.
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