I’ve been around football long enough to know that he went down awkwardly. It was painful to see. – Gifford Nielsen
When BYU quarterback Taysom Hill suffered his season-ending injury against Utah State, there was one man more than any other who knew how the quarterback felt, and he happened to be on the sideline that night.
Gifford Nielsen, now a general authority for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, attended the game to support former teammate Jim McMahon, who was having his jersey retired at halftime that night. Nielsen made his way down to the sideline in the second quarter for the halftime ceremony and saw Hill being tackled.
“I didn’t get a good view of it, but I saw him running toward the bench and I saw the way the guy grabbed him,” he says. “I’ve been around football long enough to know that he went down awkwardly. It was painful to see.”
As the seriousness of the injury was confirmed (a broken leg), Nielsen couldn’t help but note the similarities with his own story. In 1977, Nielsen was BYU’s starting quarterback. Like Hill, he got off to a sensational start, passing for nearly 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns in the first three games, with no interceptions. Like Hill, he had guided the Cougars to wins in every game and to a national ranking (12th in UPI). Like Hill, he was a Heisman Trophy candidate whose stock was rising every week.
As recounted by author Lee Benson in "And They Came to Pass," when Nielsen and the Cougars traveled to Oregon State for Game 4, Sports Illustrated sent a writer and photographer to the game with plans to put him on its cover. Nielsen threw three more touchdown passes against OSU, giving him 16 in just 3 ½ games. Things couldn’t have been better for the converted basketball player from Provo.
Then things couldn’t have been worse. Nielsen was hit in the legs as he threw a pass in the fourth quarter. He didn’t know it at the time, but the medial collateral ligament had been torn off the bone. The knee felt rubbery, but he played 11 more plays before telling the coaches he could no longer walk, and Marc Wilson replaced him.
Like Hill, Nielsen was injured in a losing cause — the fateful game marked the Cougars’ first loss of the season.
Like Hill, Nielsen was sidelined by a season-ending injury.
Unlike Hill, it marked the end of his collegiate career. Hill is a junior, Nielsen was a senior.
“The circumstances are remarkably similar,” says Gifford. “We were both playing for undefeated teams and gaining national recognition and a lot of people were talking about what could happen with the team and (for Hill and Nielsen) individually. The parallels are very interesting.”
Nielsen was selected by the Houston Oilers in the third round of the NFL draft, starting a six-year professional career. Hill, whose broken leg required a plate and eight screws to repair, is scheduled to return for his senior season next year. Hill also suffered a season-ending knee injury six games into his freshman season in 2012.
Nielsen called Hill on the phone to console the young quarterback and to share his own experiences with a devastating injury.
“It’s difficult to have to learn these kinds of lessons when you’re at the top of your game and everything is going well and then you get knocked down,” says Nielsen. “But when you have a solid foundation like Taysom and (his wife) Emily have, they will overcome this. Taysom's priorities are in place. He has deep religious convictions and a powerful relationship with Emily. You can see that football is very important to him, but not the most important thing.”
Doug Robinson's columns run on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Email: drob@deseretnews.com