BYU To Wear Gifford Nielsen-Era Uniform Combination At Houston

The BYU football program will pay tribute to former quarterback Gifford Nielsen by wearing a special uniform combination during Friday night’s game at Houston.

It’s not a true throwback uniform in the sense that the Cougars wore white helmets with their white jerseys over royal blue pants twice last season. But unlike the loss to San Diego State, when BYU wore a royal blue facemask, or the loss to Washington, when the Cougars wore the Block “Y” on the sides of their helmet, they’ll wear the Oval “Y” logo with a gray facemask –just like they did in the 1970s.

Nielsen, who played at BYU from 1973-77, was an All-American under legendary head coach LaVell Edwards. He was then selected in the third round of the 1978 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers, the team with which he spent his entire professional career.

Serving as the backup to or splitting time with the likes of Dan Pastorini, Ken Stabler, Archie Manning and Oliver Luck, Nielsen threw for 3,255 yards, 20 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in six seasons with Houston. He then served as the color commentator on Oilers radio broadcasts upon his retirement in 1983.