Many of you know and root for our professional football team, the Houston Texans, who just had a thriller game on Sunday. Before the Texans became a franchise in 2002, the Houston Oilers were the football team to watch. Even today, the Oilers' old uniforms are still making national headlines after University of Houston's football team donned similar uniforms during their season opener. So, who are the Oilers?
Bud Adams, an oil businessman, formed the Houston Oilers in 1960 as part of the American Football League. In the team’s first two years, they took home back-to-back championships. In 1962, the team lost the championship to the Dallas Texans. The game stretched for six quarters and at the time was the longest professional football game ever played.
As time passed, the Oilers needed more stadium space, first playing in the larger 70,000-seat Rice Stadium and then moving to the Astrodome in 1968. At the Astrodome, they were the first pro football team to play indoors on synthetic turf.
In 1970, the American Football League merged with the National Football League. After this, the Oilers went to the playoffs ten different times. While Bum Phillips was head coach of the team from 1975 to 1980, the team had the most wins in franchise history. Warren Moon, who became the first Black quarterback inducted into the pro football hall of fame, led the team in the 1980s and 1990s.
In the late 1980s, Adams yearned for a bigger stadium for the Oilers. He threatened to move the team to Florida if the Astrodome wasn’t expanded. The county approved a plan to add 7,500 seats. However, in the early 1990s Adams still wanted a better deal at the Astrodome and began searching for other options, landing on Tennessee. To the dismay of many Houston football fans, the team moved to Nashville in 1997.
In 2002, the team we know as the Houston Texans debuted in the NFL under new franchise owner Bob McNair.
Even after the Houston Oilers left, the city has remained a destination for sports. So, how did Houston become a hub for major sporting events?
