History of the Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the then-Houston, Texas, team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. The Oilers won two AFL championships before joining the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.

The team relocated to the state of Tennessee in 1997, first playing in Memphis for one season before moving to Nashville. For two seasons, they were known as the "Tennessee Oilers" before changing their name to Titans in 1999.

Franchise history

Houston Oilers Era (1960-96)

The Tennessee Titans began in 1960 as the Houston Oilers, a charter member of the American Football League. They are owned by Bud Adams, a Houston oilman who had made several unsuccessful bids for an NFL expansion team in Houston. Adams is considered the second-most influential of the eight original AFL owners, since he and Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt were more financially stable than the others.

The Oilers appeared in the first three AFL championships. They scored an important victory over the NFL when they signed LSU's Heisman Trophy winner, All-America running back Billy Cannon. Cannon joined other Oiler offensive stars such as quarterback George Blanda, flanker Charlie Hennigan, running back Charlie Tolar, and guard Bob Talamini. After winning the first-ever AFL championship over the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960, they repeated over the same team (then in San Diego) in 1961. They lost to the Dallas Texans in the classic 1962 double-overtime AFL championship game, at the time the longest professional football championship game ever played. In 1962, the Oilers were the first AFL team to sign an active NFL player away from the other league, when wide receiver Willard Dewveall left the Bears to join the champion Oilers. Dewveall that year caught the longest pass reception for a touchdown in professional football history, 99 yards, from Jacky Lee, against the San Diego Chargers. The Oilers won the AFL Eastern Division title again in 1967, then became the first professional football team to play in a domed stadium, when they moved into Houston's Astrodome for the 1968 season.

The years immediately after the AFL-NFL merger were not as kind to the Oilers, who sank to the bottom of the AFC Central. But by 1974, the Oilers led by hall of fame coach Sid Gilman brought the team back to respectability by reaching 0.500 at season's end. The next year, Bum Phillips arrived and with talented stars like Elvin Bethea and Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, the Oilers had their first winning season of the 1970's. In 1978, the Oilers' fortunes improved when they drafted University of Texas football star Earl Campbell, who was both Rookie of the Year and MVP that year and led the Oilers to their first NFL playoff appearance. The Oilers made three straight playoff appearances, but three postseason exits that included two back-to-back AFC Championship Game losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers prompted Adams to fire Phillips. Many football historians believe that had the Oilers not been in the same division as the dominant Steelers, they probably would have made it to at least one Super Bowl during the late 1970s.

The team suffered through more lean years in the early 1980s (the 1981 Oilers won their first two games, both on the road - but then the team lost 23 consecutive away games, an all-time NFL record which remained intact until the Detroit Lions lost their 24th straight road game on December 21, 2003). In 1984, the Oilers won a bidding war for CFL legend Warren Moon but didn't return to the playoffs until 1987. From 1987 through 1993, the Oilers were one of the most successful teams in the AFC, making the playoffs each year but failing to reach the Super Bowl. In 1991, they won their first division title of any kind since 1967.

The Oilers' resurgence came in the midst of a battle for the franchise's survival. In 1987, Adams threatened to move the team to Jacksonville, Florida unless the Astrodome was brought up to date. At the time, it only seated about 50,000 fans for football--the smallest capacity in the NFL at the time. Not willing to lose the Oilers, the city responded with $67 million in improvements to the Astrodome that included new Astroturf, 10,000 additional seats and 65 luxury boxes. These improvements were funded by increases in property taxes and the doubling of the hotel tax, as well as bonds to be paid over 30 years.

Adams was frustrated that the Oilers, despite their gaudy regular season performances, could not make it to the AFC championship game, let alone the Super Bowl. In 1992, for example, the Oilers compiled a 10-6 regular season record, but made history against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card playoffs by blowing an NFL record 35-3 lead to eventually lose 41-38 in overtime. Adams had been blamed for the team's previous spells of mediocrity, largely because he had a tendency to micromanage the Oilers. He showed this again before the 1993 season. After three losses in the wild card game and three losses in the divisional playoffs, he gave the Oilers an ultimatum--make the Super Bowl in 1993 or he was breaking up the team. While the Oilers responded with a 12-4 record--their best record ever in Texas--and another AFC Central title, they lost in the second round to the Chiefs. Adams made good on his threat--most significantly, trading Moon to the Minnesota Vikings. Without Moon, the Oilers appeared to be a rudderless team. They finished the next season 2-14, which is still the worst record for a full season in franchise history. The Oilers managed to get back to respectability over the next two years, but would never make the playoffs again in Texas. However, they did manage to establish the future cornerstone of the offense by drafting Steve McNair in 1995.

At the same time, Adams lobbied the city for a new stadium--one with club seats and other revenue generators present in recently-built NFL stadiums. However, Mayor Bob Lanier turned him down almost out of hand. Houston residents were wary of investing more money on a stadium so soon after the Astrodome improvements and that the city was still struggling to recover from the oil collapse of the 1980s. Adams, sensing that he was not going to get the stadium he wanted, began shopping the Oilers to other cities. He was particularly intrigued by Nashville, and opened secret talks with then-mayor Phil Bredesen. At the end of the 1995 season, Adams announced that the Oilers would be moving to Nashville for the 1998 season. City officials there promised to contribute $144 million toward a new stadium, as well as $70 million in ticket sales. At that point, support for the Oilers all but disappeared. Houstonians wanted to keep the team, but did not want to give Bud Adams any more money for what he did. The 1996 season was a disaster for the Oilers. They played before crowds of less than 20,000, and it was possible to hear all of the action on the field. After the season, the city agreed to let Adams out of his lease a year early, allowing Adams to move the Oilers to Tennessee.

Tennessee Oilers Era (1997-98)

The Oilers' new stadium would not be ready until 1999, however, and the largest stadium in Nashville at the time, Vanderbilt Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University, seated only 41,000. At first, Adams rejected Vanderbilt Stadium even as a temporary facility and announced that the renamed Tennessee Oilers would play the next two seasons at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis. The team would be based in Nashville, commuting to Memphis only for games--in effect, consigning the Oilers to 32 road games for the next two years. Even though this arrangement was acceptable to the NFL and the Oilers at the time, few people in either Memphis or Nashville were pleased by it. Memphis had made numerous attempts to get an NFL team, and many people in the area wanted nothing to do with a team that would be lost in only two years--especially to longtime rival Nashville. Conversely, Nashvillians showed little inclination to drive over 200 miles to see "their" team.

The result was, in many ways, almost as much of an embarrassment as the lame-duck season in Houston. The Oilers played before some of the smallest NFL crowds since the 1950s. The few fans there were usually indifferent. Not coincidentally, the Oilers went 2-6 in Memphis while going 6-2 on the road. Despite this, Adams had every intention of playing in Memphis the next season. That changed after the final game of the 1997 season. The Oilers faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of 50,677 fans--the only crowd that could not be reasonably accommodated at Vanderbilt. However, nearly all neutral observers estimated that the crowd was made up of least half Steeler fans. Adams abandoned plans to play the 1998 season in Memphis and ended up moving to Vanderbilt after all. The team rebounded that season, and was in playoff contention until losing their last two games for another 8-8 record.

Tennessee Titans Era (1999-Present)

During the 1998 season, Adams announced that in response to fan requests, he was changing the Oilers' name to coincide with the opening of their new stadium and to better connect with Nashville. He also declared that the renamed team would retain the Oilers' heritage (including team records) and that there would be a Hall of Fame honoring the greatest players from both eras. Unlike four years earlier, when Art Modell was forced to leave the Cleveland Browns' name and heritage behind when he moved his organization to Baltimore, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue raised no objection when Adams declared that he would retain the rights to the Oilers name--effectively foreclosing Houston from reclaiming it for an expansion team.

Adams appointed an advisory committee to decide on a new name. He let it be known that the new name should reflect power, strength, leadership and other heroic qualities. On December 22, Adams announced that the Oilers would be known as the Tennessee Titans starting in 1999. The new name met all of Adams' requirements, and also served as a nod to Nashville's nickname of "The Athens of the South" (for its large number of higher-learning institutions). The nickname of the city and the team also match the imagery of Nashville's full-scale replica of the Parthenon.

In 1999, Adelphia Coliseum, now known as LP Field, was completed and the newly christened Titans had a grand season, finishing with a 13-3 record--the best season in franchise history. They finished one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC Central title. Tennessee then won their first round playoff game over the Buffalo Bills on a controversial play that became to be known as the "Music City Miracle": Tight end Frank Wycheck made a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson on a kickoff return with 16 seconds left in the game and the Titans trailing by 1 point; Dyson returned the pass 75 yards for a touchdown to win the game. Although Wycheck's pass was close to being illegally forward, replays were found to be inconclusive and the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown. [http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6908433] The Titans' Cinderella season led to a trip to Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost a heartbreaker to the St. Louis Rams when Kevin Dyson was tackled one yard short of the endzone by linebacker Mike Jones as regulation time expired in a play known as "The Tackle".

In 2000, the Titans finished with an NFL-best 13-3 record and won their second AFC Central title.

In 2002, the Titans made an AFC Championship Game appearance but lost to Oakland who went on to lose Super Bowl XXXVII to Tampa Bay.

In 2003, quarterback Steve McNair won the MVP award, sharing it with Peyton Manning. The Titans made the 2003 playoffs, winning their first-round game over the Baltimore Ravens and losing in the AFC semifinals to the New England Patriots.

The 2004 season was disappointing for the Titans, who suffered an unusual number of injuries to key players. Their 5-11 record turned out to be their second-worst record ever since the Houston/Tennessee Oilers became the Tennessee Titans. Numerous key players were cut or traded by the Titans front office during the off season, including Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle, Kevin Carter, and others. This was done most likely to "clean house", or free up money to put the team farther under the salary cap to make further player acquisitions.

In 2005, the Titans took the field with the youngest team in the NFL. Several rookies made the 2005 team including 1st round pick Adam "Pacman" Jones, RT Michael Roos, and a trio of talented receivers in the likes of Brandon Jones, Courtney Roby, and Roydell Williams. After losing their first game of the season on the road to the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-7 and then winning their Week 2 home-opener against the Baltimore Ravens 25-10, the Titans began the season 1-1, but quickly fell out of contention. They lost on the road to the St. Louis Rams 31-27 and lost to their division rival, the Indianapolis Colts 31-10. After getting some redemption on the road against their new division rival, the Houston Texans 34-20, they lost five-straight games to the Cincinnati Bengals (31-23), the Arizona Cardinals (20-10), the Oakland Raiders (34-25), the Cleveland Browns (20-14), and then (coming off of their Week 10 Bye), their division rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-28. The Titans would win at home against the San Francisco 49ers 33-22, but then, they went on the road and got swept by the Colts 35-3. The Titans would sweep the luckless Texans 13-10 at home, but that would be their last win of the year, as they lost their remaining three games to the Seattle Seahawks (28-24), the Miami Dolphins (24-10), and the Jacksonville Jaguars (40-13).

RB Travis Henry, whom many thought would help greatly improve the Titans running game, failed to make a significant impact in the 2005 season. He was also suspended four games for failing a drug test. Team leaders in 2005 included the aging QB Steve McNair, RB Chris Brown, TE Erron Kinney, and DE Kyle Vanden Bosch. Pacman Jones, despite his defensive struggles and issues with his contract before the season, made an impact on the special teams unit in 2005, including a notable 85-yd kickoff return against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Also, the team's final 4-12 record turned out to be the franchise's worst record since becoming the Tennessee Titans.

2006

The team finished at 8-8, a definite improvement over the previous year's mark of 4-12. The year saw Vince Young start at quarterback, who led the team to a 8-5 record as a starter. That span also included 6 straight victories. The teams chances of making the postseason at 9-7 were ended with defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots.

Floyd Reese resigned as the franchise's Executive Vice President/General Manager on January 5, 2007 after thirteen seasons at the helm.