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 played the most games in his last two seasons, 1982–1983, when he shared quarterbacking duties with Archie Manning and Oliver Luck.

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.

In August 2019, Nielsen was called as the president of the church's North America Central Area.

[3] Nielsen was the master of ceremonies at the "100 Years of Scouting" celebration at Minute Maid Park in Texas.