Aug. 22, 2003
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -
by Jim Carberry
If you closed your eyes and heard Lann and Andy Olson describe their playing styles, you might suspect that the two Western Washington University football players were brothers.
"We both expect a lot of ourselves, and we don't like to lose," said Andy, the sophomore.
"We share the same kind of competitiveness," said Lann, the senior.
"Yeah, we're competitive," echoed Andy.
Western coach Rob Smith didn't have any trouble finding the right adjective to describe the Olson brothers.
"They are both extremely competitive," said Smith.
Open your eyes, however, and you wonder how two such different people share the same parents.
Lann is the prototypical college linebacker - 6 feet, 215 pounds of menacing muscle, who looks like his temper is shorter than the red stubble that covers his head.
Andy is the latest in the long line of big, athletic Western receivers - 6-foot-1, 195 pounds of speed and toughness with the rugged look of a cowboy and reflexes of a gunslinger.
"When I first came to Western, half the people on the team didn't even know we were brothers," said Andy. 'We don't look alike. Our bodies are completely different. And he's got orange hair."
Hair color and body shape aside, the Olson brothers figure to be key players for the Vikings as they seek to return to the Division II playoffs.
Andy had a breakout season as a redshirt freshman last year. He played in all 10 games, starting five, and averaged a team-high 19.0 yards per catch. He had 18 receptions for 342 yards and three touchdowns, all of which has Smith smiling about the younger Olson's future.
"We've known about Andy for a long time," said Smith. "He had a tremendous high school career. He plays a lot like (former Western All-America wide receivers) Chris Nicholl, Ben Clampitt and Greg Dykstra. But he's still got to get it done."
That Andy even came to Western - big brother's influence notwithstanding - was a big break for the Vikings and, as it turned out, a big tear for Olson. Near the end of an all-state senior season at W.F. West High School in Chehalis, Andy tore his MCL, a ligament in his knee that while not as debilitating as a torn ACL, still made him "damaged goods."
So instead of being wooed by Division I schools after a record-breaking receiving season at Chehalis that included a 330-yard receiving performance, the third best in state history, Andy found himself being recruited by Western - and liking it.
"If I had had a Division I opportunity, I would have gone," he said. "But I wanted to go where I'd have the most fun, and it was easier with Lann up here. I look at it now like it was where I was supposed to come. I love it here."
And having Lann at Western didn't hurt in another way. "Yeah, I didn't get tortured and picked on as much as the other freshmen," said Andy.
Lann's football journey took a different twist. He also was a standout at Chehalis, earning all-league honors at both linebacker and running back, and appeared to have the potential to be a standout at Western.
But after redshirting his first year, he ruptured his spleen while making a tackle in the second game of his second season. It left him hospitalized for three days, and he wasn't sure if football would be in his future. As it turned out, the season-ending injury healed completely and earned him a medical hardship.
Lann came back to start all 10 games of his freshman season, earning honorable mention Columbia Football Association all-star honors. But then he hurt his knee and missed the first two games of his sophomore season.
"I thought I could be out for another season," he remembered.
But it takes more than a knee injury to keep an Olson out. He came back to start the last eight games of his sophomore season.
Then came last season. He was second on the team in tackles with 88, including a team-high 11.5 for losses of minus 24 yards. He also recovered three fumbles and forced three fumbles. For that, Lann was Western's defensive player of the year, a first-team D2football.com West Regional all-star and unanimous first-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-star at inside linebacker.
"Lann's got a nose for the ball," said Smith of Lann, one of this season's team captains. "He can cover the field. And he is a leader by example. He won't say a great deal; he's not a rah, rah type of guy. In fact, he's kind of surly in some ways."
Andy smiles when trying to sum up his brother's football disposition. "Lann is actually a quiet, nice guy," the younger Olson said. "He's scary looking, but not as mean as he looks. But he always goes 100 percent."
Ah, that Olson competitiveness again.
You would think the boys got it from their father, Paul, who wrestled and played football for Chehalis High School. But it wasn't 6-foot-2 dad who was the most competitive in the Olson household. It was 4-foot-8 Dalene, a track athlete and mother to the Olson clan.
"None of us like to lose," said Andy, "but especially not Mom. She's very competitive."
"Mom has some fire," said Lann with a smile. "Mom never likes to lose."
But while Mom and Dad never like to lose, they sure like their children - and their children's team.
When the Vikings made a road trip down south and found themselves going through Chehalis, the Olsons invited the team to their farm complete with lunch for the whole team and a huge banner showing their school spirit.
"They have been great to us," said Smith. "They've been great supporters of our program."
The family ties have always been close, even though the Olson brothers admit they haven't always been the best of friends. Being two years older, Lann did his own thing in high school. "In high school, we didn't hang out," said Andy. "It was probably an annoying thing for him."
Then, of course, there were their different personalities. "In high school, I hung out with more straight shooters and Lann hung out with ...," said Andy, searching for the right word, "... with the rebels." But the younger brother was quick to add, "But he never got in trouble."
Lann, who got his unusual name when his older sister couldn't pronounce the word "land" when Lann was an infant, didn't deny it: "We grew up in different crowds. I hung around a more rowdy crowd."
Still, Andy admitted, he always admired his older brother. "I always looked up to him," said Andy. "Now we're friends, not just brothers."
One of the things that has brought them closer together is a family tragedy. Their oldest brother, Kyle, himself an outstanding prep football player, died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was 19. His death stunned the family, but tightened the bond between the brothers.
"He was always my idol," said Lann, who was a year younger than Kyle. "I learned a lot about how to play football, how to approach the game, from Kyle. The reason I play the way I do is because of him."
Andy admitted that it was very difficult to deal with Kyle's death the first couple of years, but says he now has come to grips with it. "He was one of my inspirations," said Andy. "He makes me work harder."
"It was instant devastation, but after five years, it has helped Lann and I become closer."
Now the Olson brothers are hoping to accomplish something together that they have not been able to do before, either as teammates or individuals: go to the playoffs. Despite their talents, Chehalis never made the high school state playoffs, and the Vikings have not qualified since 1999, Lann's second redshirt season.
"I want to get there because I have never done that before," said Lann. "For us seniors, it's our goal."
For Andy, it all comes down to one thing - the will to win.
"We need to play all four quarters, to not give in, that's what it will take," he said.
And that's something these two competitive brothers are willing to do.
