Tennessee Titans

Inaugural season: 1960, as the Houston Oilers

Home field: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

Owner: Amy Adams Strunk

Team colors: Navy blue, light blue, silver, red, and white

Overview

The Tennessee Titans are a National Football League (NFL) franchise that began playing in 1960 as the Houston Oilers. The Oilers were one of the original eight teams in the American Football League (AFL), an upstart league formed as a challenger to the more established NFL. The Oilers had an immediate impact in the new league, signing the best collegiate player away from the NFL and winning the first two AFL Championships. However, while the team would go on to enjoy periods of success, those two titles remained the only championships in the franchise’s history. The Oilers joined the NFL when the leagues merged in 1970; in 1997 they moved to Tennessee and two years later changed the team name. That same season, the Titans made the Super Bowl, only to fall short of a chance at victory by a single yard. The Titans remained competitive over the following years, and the hiring of head coach Mike Vrabel in 2018 led to a period of success where the team made three consecutive playoff appearances between 2019–21.

History

During the 1950s, the NFL was riding in popularity, helped along by the growing medium of television. The 1958 NFL Championship game drew such large national TV ratings that several wealthy businesspeople approached the NFL seeking to start their own franchises. The NFL turned down their requests, so a group of eight decided to start their own league to begin play in 1960. Among them was K. S. “Bud” Adams, a Texas-based oilman originally from Oklahoma. Adams established a team in Houston, Texas, and named it the Oilers because of the region’s oil-producing industry.

Knowing that the AFL needed a good on-the-field product to attract fans, owners tried to make a splash by luring talented college players away from the NFL. Adams was the first to succeed, signing 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Bill Cannon away from the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams. Adams offered Cannon more than $100,000 to play for Houston, an amount considerably more than the Rams offered. Cannon was the first professional football player in history to earn more than $100,000. Cannon’s career never lived up to expectations, but he did help the Oilers win AFL Championships in 1960 and 1961. Houston also made it to the 1962 AFL Championship game where they lost to the Dallas Texans in double overtime, 20–17. The contest was the longest professional football game ever played at the time.

For its first five seasons, Houston played at Jeppesen Stadium, a 33,000-capacity facility also used for high school football. In 1965, the team moved to Rice University’s football stadium. Three years later, the Oilers moved into the Astrodome, the world’s first multi-purpose, indoor domed stadium. The move to the Astrodome made the Oilers the first professional football team to play on an artificial surface.

In 1966, the NFL and AFL agreed to merge with the start of the 1970s season. With the merger, the Oilers were placed in the American Football Conference (AFC) Central division with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Cleveland Browns. The Oilers developed a particularly nasty rivalry with the Steelers, facing them in the AFC Championship game after the 1978 and 1979 seasons, losing both times. In the late-1980s, the Oilers were the first NFL team to adopt the “run and shoot” offense, an improvisational style of play that features multiple wide receivers and a great deal of motion. The Oilers rode that high-powered attack to seven consecutive playoff appearances from 1987–1993. During that stretch, the Oilers’ quick-strike offense was consistently among the league’s best; however, the fast style of play often hurt their defense, which had to spend considerable time on the field. This was evident during a playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in January 1993. Up 35–3 in the third quarter, the Oilers watched as the Bills staged a furious rally, eventually winning in overtime, 41–38. The 32-point comeback remains the largest deficit ever overcome in an NFL game as of 2019.

As the Oilers’ fortunes began to decline in the mid-1990s, owner Bud Adams was involved in a feud with the city of Houston about financing a new stadium. The city had paid for renovations to the aging Astrodome in 1987 and was reluctant to commit any more public funds. In 1995, Adams announced that the team would be leaving for Nashville, Tennessee, for the 1998 season. Knowing their team was on the move, the normally supportive Houston fans stopped going to games, prompting Adams to move the team a year early after the 1996 season. The Oilers played in Memphis in 1997 before moving to Vanderbilt University’s stadium in Nashville in 1998. In 1999, the team moved into its own facility, now called the Nissan Stadium.

For the first two seasons in Tennessee, the team kept the Oilers nickname, but for the 1999 season, the name was changed to the Titans, a reference to the original gods of Greek mythology. Adams said that the name was chosen because it reflected “strength, leadership and other heroic qualities.” The team replaced the oil derrick logo it had used since 1960 with a comet-shaped logo containing a large “T” trailing blue and red flames. Set near the T were three stars representing the Tennessee state flag.

With a new name and home, the Titans went 13–3, the best record in franchise history. In the opening round of the playoffs, Tennessee had just fallen behind Buffalo with 16 seconds left in the final quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Titans’ tight end Frank Wycheck fielded the ball and lateralled it back to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. Dyson took off down the field and scored with three seconds left, giving the Titans a 22–16 victory. The play would become known as the Music City Miracle. Dyson was instrumental in another historic play as the Titans advanced to Super Bowl XXXIV against the favored St. Louis Rams. After the Rams took a 23–16 lead late in the fourth quarter, Tennessee desperately moved downfield and had one more play to score a potential tying touchdown. Dyson caught a pass near the goal line but was stopped a yard short of the end zone as time ran out.

In 2002, the NFL realigned its divisions and the Titans were moved into the AFC South. They were placed with the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans, an expansion team created to fill the void left by the Oilers’ departure. Tennessee matched its franchise-best 13–3 record again in 2000 and 2008 but lost its playoff opener both times. In 2003, the Titans made the AFC Championship but lost to the Oakland Raiders. In 2013, Bud Adams died at age 90. A group of his children and grandchildren took over the team, with his daughter Amy Adams Strunk acting as controlling owner. From 2009–2018, the franchise contended for the playoffs several times, but only made the postseason once. However, the hiring of head coach Mike Vrabel in 2018 seemingly stabilized the franchise, and the team went on to make three consecutive playoff appearances between 2019–21 (with Vrabel winning the NFL's Coach of the Year Award in 2021).

Notable Players

The Oilers’ championship teams from the early AFL days were led by quarterback George Blanda, who won the AFL Player of the Year award in 1961. Blanda played twenty-six seasons in both the AFL and NFL and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981. Running back Earl Campbell powered Houston in the late 1970s, leading the NFL in rushing from 1978–1980. He won the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1979 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. Joining Campbell on those teams were Hall-of-Fame defensive players Elvin Bethea, who played from 1968–1983, and Robert Brazile, who played from 1975–1984.

In 1982, the Oilers drafted guard Mike Munchak who would anchor the team’s offensive line for more than a decade. In 1983, Houston drafted Bruce Matthews, a defensive lineman who made fourteen pro bowls in his nineteen-year career. Both Munchak and Matthews were elected to the Hall of Fame. The run-and-shoot offense of the late 1980s and early 1990s was orchestrated by quarterback Warren Moon. Moon played for the Oilers from 1984–1993 and made six pro bowls with the team. When he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006, Moon became the first African American quarterback to receive the honor. He is also the franchise leader with 33,685 passing yards and 196 passing touchdowns. Moon’s favorite target, wide receiver Ernest Givins, is the franchise leader with 7,935 receiving yards. Bethea, Campbell, Matthews, Moon, and Munchak have had their jersey numbers retired by the franchise. Linebacker and punter Jim Norton, who played from 1960–1968, has also had his number retired.

When the team moved to Tennessee, it was led by quarterback Steve McNair, who won the NFL MVP (most valuable player) award in 2003. McNair was joined in the backfield by running back Eddie George, the Titan’s all-time leader rusher with 10,009 yards. Both McNair and George were part of the 1999 Super Bowl team. That team was coached by Jeff Fisher, who remains the franchise leader in coaching victories with 142 as of 2023. In 2009, running back Chris Johnson rushed for 2,006 yards, making him one of only seven players in NFL history to top the 2,000-yard mark. In 2017, quarterback Marcus Mariota led the Titans to the team’s first playoff appearance since 2008. For his performance in the 2020 season, Tennessee's star running back Derrick Henry won the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year Award after becoming only the eighth player in the history of the league to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

Bibliography

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