Do you know the first person in the history of the National Football League (NFL) to record 1,000 receiving yards in three consecutive games? His name is Greg Olsen. The tight end who plays for the Carolina Panthers has carved a niche for himself in the world of American football since he joined the league in 2007. He was selected in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and even with the passage of many years, he still remains a very valuable player.
Even though football seems to be the most prominent part of his life, Greg Olsen has been through some very harsh times in his life and family but being a strong man, he has managed to turn the lemons into a lemonade.
Greg Olsen Biography
The former Chicago Bears player was born on March 11, 1985, with the full name Gregory Walter Olsen. He was born in Wayne, New Jersey, where he was raised by his parents, living close to the New Meadowlands Stadium.
Born to a father who served as a coach and with an elder brother who also played football, Greg naturally started playing football from when he was a child.
He attended Wayne Hills High School where he played football, basketball, and also took part in track & field. He played high school football under his father and as a senior, he emerged as one of the three finalists for the Gatorade Player of the Year award and was also a USA Today First-Team All-American. By the time he was done, Greg made 73 receptions for 1,474 yards and a school-record 27 touchdowns. Rivals.com also projected him to be a five-star recruit, listing him as the second tight end in the nation in 2003.
Moving forward, he joined the University of Notre Dame but later transferred to the University of Miami. He made a total of 87 receptions for 1215 yards and six touchdowns during his college career.
Following a successful college career, Greg Olsen decided to declare for the 2007 NFL Draft where he was picked by the Chicago Bears in the first round as the 31st pick overall. He signed a five year deal with the club and made his League debut on 23 September 2007. He played for the Bears until 2011 when he was traded to the Carolina Panthers. His stay with the Panthers has been successful with several contract extensions.
His Net Worth
The Wayne native has an estimated net worth of $10 million. He makes most of his money from playing professional football. Greg has career earnings of $59.97 million from more than twelve seasons which placed him in the 113th position among active NFL players entering 2018.
The tight end joined the Carolina Panthers in July 2011, and in March 2015, he signed a three-year contract extension worth $22.5 million, including a $12 million signing bonus with an average yearly salary of $7.5 million.
Before the expiration of the deal which was supposed to run through the 2018 season, the team made it a priority to keep Greg Olsen in Carolina uniform with a two-year extension worth $17,100,000, including a signing bonus of $11,100,000, $12,115,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $8,550,000.
Greg’s Wife and Family
The former Wayne Hills High school student was born to Susan Olsen (mother) and Chris Olsen Sr. (father). His mother is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in September of 2001 and as a result of the family’s ugly experience with the ailment, Greg decided to establish a foundation (Greg Olsen Foundation) in order to assist cancer sufferers.
Greg Olsen was raised in Wayne, New Jersey, alongside his brothers Kevin Olsen and Chris Olsen Jr. With a father who was a football coach, football became a staple sport in the family.
However, even though Greg’s elder brother, Chris Olsen Jr. started playing the sport since he was a child and also played as a quarterback for the University of Virginia, he was not able to make it into the NFL.
Kevin, the youngest of the three brothers also plays football, hoping to make it into the NFL soon. He currently plays as a quarterback for the Charlotte 49ers of the University of North Carolina. He joined the team after he was dismissed from Miami University and also from its football team. On February 19, 2017, the highly rated player was arrested following a case of rape which would have ended his football career but he was later found not guilty of the charges in October 2018.
Greg Olsen is more than just a successful NFL player. He is also a husband and a father of three beautiful boys. The tight end first met his wife, Kara Dooley while they were both students at the University of Miami. They dated for years before eventually tying the knot in 2009.
After they got married, Kara got a job in a real estate company named Campins Co. Even when Greg was traded to North Carolina, she still kept the job.
Two years after their marriage, the couple became first-time parents with the arrival of their son named Tate Christian Olsen in 2011. A few months after Greg Olsen and his wife welcomed their first child, they found out that they were pregnant again, this time with twins. As the pregnancy progressed, it was clear to the couple that they were going to be in for some difficult times. This was as a result of the discovery that one of the twins would be born with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This meant that the left side of his heart was severely underdeveloped.
The twins arrived on October 9, 2012, and were named Talbot and Trent Jerry. Their birth came with a mixture of sweetness and heartache for the parents and the sick baby. T.J has been through four surgeries – 3 open-heart procedures and another to install a pacemaker.
From the time the twins were born, the Olsens has received help and support from many people especially Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers who is also a heart transplant recipient. He helped the young parents get to and fro Boston regularly after T.J. was born, letting them use his plane and joining them in sessions with doctors.
With their life now strongly set in Carolina where the Panthers star keeps playing football, Kara is focused on charity work, serving as a board chair for the Greg Olsen Foundation.
Height and Weight
As is usual with NFL players, the Panthers’ tight end is tall and has a well-built body. He stands at 6 ft 57⁄8 inches (1.96 m) and has a body weight of 255 lb (116 kg). The player’s hand size is 10.50 inches (0.27 m) while his arm length is 30.15 inches (0.77 m).
