American football player and general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
American football player
Gifford Nielsen
![refer to caption](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/S._Gifford_Nielsen_%2827288211948%29.jpg/220px-S._Gifford_Nielsen_%2827288211948%29.jpg) Nielsen in 2018
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Position:
| Quarterback
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Born:
| (
1954-10-25
)
October 25, 1954
(age 69)
Provo, Utah
, U.S.
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Height:
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
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Weight:
| 205 lb (93 kg)
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High school:
| Provo
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College:
| BYU
(1977?1979)
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NFL draft:
| 1978
/ Round: 3 / Pick: 73
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Passing attempts:
| 498
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Passing completions:
| 273
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Completion percentage:
| 54.8%
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TD
?
INT
:
| 20?22
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Passing yards:
| 3,255
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Passer rating
:
| 70
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Rushing yards:
| 89
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Player stats at
PFR
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S. Gifford Nielsen
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April 6, 2013
(
2013-04-06
)
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Called by
| Thomas S. Monson
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Born
| Stanley Gifford Nielsen
(
1954-10-25
)
October 25, 1954
(age 69)
Provo, Utah
, U.S.
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Spouse(s)
| Wendy Olson (m. 1975)
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Children
| 6
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Stanley Gifford Nielsen
(born October 25, 1954) is an American former
football
quarterback
who played professionally for the
Houston Oilers
of the
National Football League
(NFL). He was the sports director of
KHOU
in
Houston
from 1984 until March 31, 2009.
[1]
He has been a
general authority
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS Church) since April 2013.
High school career
[
edit
]
Nielsen grew up in
Provo, Utah
, and attended
Provo High School
, playing as the school's
quarterback
.
College career
[
edit
]
Nielsen remained in Provo and attended
Brigham Young University
, where he was an
All-American
quarterback for the
Cougars
under head coach
LaVell Edwards
. He was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
in 1994.
NFL career
[
edit
]
Nielsen was selected in the
third round
of the
1978 NFL draft
(73rd overall) by the
Houston Oilers
, the team with which he spent his entire NFL career, six seasons as a part-time quarterback.
Nielsen served as backup to
Dan Pastorini
in
1978
and
1979
and to
Ken Stabler
in
1980
and
1981
. He played the most games in his last two seasons,
1982
?
1983
, when he shared quarterbacking duties with
Archie Manning
and
Oliver Luck
.
From
1984
to
1987
, he served as a
color commentator
on Oilers radio broadcasts.
TV Sports Anchor
[
edit
]
Nielsen was the sports director at
CBS
affiliate
KHOU
in
Houston
from 1984 to 2009. He also made an appearance in
P.D.Q. Bach in Houston: We Have a Problem!
as a color commentator alongside
Peter Schickele
during a sketch of
Beethoven's Fifth
, in which the performance was done as if it were a mock football/hockey game.
LDS Church service
[
edit
]
Nielsen has served in the LDS Church in many capacities, including
elders quorum president
,
bishop
,
president
of the Houston Texas South
Stake
,
mission president's counselor
, and
area seventy
. He was released as an area seventy on April 6, 2013, and
called
as a general authority and member of the
First Quorum of the Seventy
. Among his assignments, Nielsen served for a time in the presidency of the church's Pacific
Area
. In August 2019, Nielsen was called as the president of the church's North America Central Area.
[2]
Since August 2023, he has been serving as the president of the church's Africa West Area.
[3]
Scouting 100 year Anniversary
[
edit
]
Nielsen was the master of ceremonies at the "100 Years of Scouting" celebration at
Minute Maid Park
in Texas.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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The individuals listed below are current General Authority Seventies. Each is a member of either the First or Second Quorums of the Seventy. Those in italics are the current members of the Presidency of the Seventy.
- Aidukaitis
- Alliaud
- Alonso
- Alvarado
- Ardern
- Bangerter
- Bassett
- Baxter
- Becerra
- Bennett
- Boom
- Bowen
- Bragg
- Carpenter
- Choi
- Christensen
- Cook
- Corbitt
- Cordon
- Cornish
- J. Costa
- Daines
- De Feo
- Douglas
- Dube
- Duncan
- Dunn
- Dushku
- Esplin
- Gavarret
- Gerard
- Gilbert
- Gimenez
- Giraud-Carrier
- Giuffra
- C. Godoy
- T. Godoy
- Hales
- Hamilton
- Haynie
- Held
- Holland
- Homer
- Jackson
- Jaggi
- K.R. Johnson
- P.V. Johnson
- P.M. Johnson
- Kearon
- Klebingat
- Koch
- Kopischke
- Kyungu
- Martinez
- Martino
- McCune
- McKay
- Meredith III
- Meurs
- Montoya
- Mutombo
- Nash
- Nattress
- Nielsen
- Nielson
- Ochoa
- Ojediran
- Palmer
- Parrella
- Pearson
- Perkins
- Phillips
- Pieper
- Pingree
- Pino
- Rasband
- Revillo Jr.
- Ringwood
- Sabin
- Schmeil
- Schmutz
- Sikahema
- Stanfill
- Tai
- Taylor
- Teh
- Teixeira
- Valenzuela
- Villanueva
- Villar
- Wada
- Wakolo
- Walker
- Whiting
- Wong
- Zeballos
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