Giff Nielsen http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6350515.html Gifford Nielsen says he's leaving KHOU Ex-Oilers QB was at station for 25 years By DAVID BARRON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle March 30, 2009, 6:15PM Brett Coomer Houston Chronicle KHOU (Channel 11) sports director Gifford Nielsen said Monday he is leaving the station after 25 years on the air. Nielsen, 54, a former Oilers quarterback who turned to broadcasting after he retired from the NFL, announced his plans on the station’s 6 p.m. newscast. Nielsen returned to work Monday after a two-week vacation. During his absence, the Belo Corp.-owned station laid off his two sports producers, including longtime Nielsen associate Carleton Cole, as part of its plan to cut 150 jobs at 20 TV stations nationwide. Station officials were not immediately available for comment. Nielsen came to Houston in 1978 as a third-round draft choice by the Oilers after an All-America career at Brigham Young. He was inducted in 1994 into the College Football Hall of Fame. He spent six years with the team, mostly as a backup to quarterbacks Dan Pastorini and Ken Stabler, and led the Oilers to a victory in his only start in the 1979 playoffs. Subbing for the injuried Pastorini, and with running back Earl Campbell also sidelined by injuries, Nielsen led the Oilers to a 17-14 win over the Chargers. After six years in the NFL, Nielsen joined KHOU in 1984 and has anchored the station’s 6 and 10 p.m. sportscasts. He contemplated leaving the station in 1998 for a job in Salt Lake City but remained. He is a member of the area council of the Boy Scouts of America and president of a regional group of congregations in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His annual golf tournament has raised more than $5 million for local youth charities since 1996. Nielsen and his wife, Wendy, have six married children and nine grandchildren.
