The Houston Oiler uniforms were classic. The helmets with the oil derrick with Earl Campbell running over anybody who dared to get in his way. Billy "White Shoes" Johnson doing his end zone dance. The logo on the Texans helmets looks like a psychadelic Chicago Bulls logo. If the Cleveland Browns could pack up and move and become the Baltimore Ravens and the expansion team in Cleveland could still be the Browns why couldn't the Houston team kept the Oilers name?
The Cleveland situation was unique. There was something in the contracts and such that Modell had with Cleveland that gave the city some leverage. They negotiated a deal where they'd keep the name, colors, and records of the franchise and Modell could move without further penalty. It avoided a long protracted lawsuit of some kind. With the Oilers, there were no such issues. Adams owned the team name, logos, colors, etc and chose to take them with him to Tennessee. I think he even harbored some desire to keep that name and such when he moved, but it became pretty clear in the first year or so that Tennesseans wanted their own name, uniforms, logos, and such. Thus they became the Titans.
The Texans are NOT the team formerly known as the Houston Oilers!!! That team is in Tennessee and can go to HELL as far as this former Houston Oilers fan is concerned! We didn't want the name or those damn powder blue derricks! We loved 'em blue, but when Butt Adams packed up his team and moved to greener pastures, we buried 'em. It was sad, but we moved on. And, now, we've got a class organization owned by a classy man. Butt-hole Adams broke our hearts and robbed our pocketbooks, held us hostage, and, ultimately, left us for big Tennessee money without even giving us a chance to keep the team. Now, we've got one of, if not the best stadia in all of the NFL housing a team going about building a winner the right way. Good riddance, Butt Adams, I wish you nothing but the worst, you a-hole! Oh, and go Double D and :geaux: !!!
I never cared for Bud Adams either but considering that I have been a frequent visitor to Houston for a long time and that the Ain'ts never fail to pull the plug on winning every time I start to get excited about them I have rooted for the Houston Oilers since the Bum Phillips era. The Oilers have a great tradition that still belongs in Houston. Earl Campbell, White Shoes Johnson, Bum Phillips, Kenny Burroughs, Dan Pastorini and even the Raider import of Kenny Stabler. The sound system in the Astrodome playing Luv Ya Blue and the fans singing "We're the Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers" The first couple of years after the team moved to Tennessee they were still called the Oilers and played in Memphis before the stadium in Nashville was finished. Steve McNair started his career as a Houston Oiler. I now hate the Tennessee Titans but I never liked the name Texans or the logo. I am only starting to like the Texans because of the way Dominick Davis has burst on the scene. Anybody from Orange to El Paso to Amarillo can call themselves a Texan but the city of Houston was the King of the Hill and the Top of the Heap as far as the oil business was concerned since forever. I just wish they had kept the Oilers name and uniforms. There are a hell of a lot of Cowboys in Texas too but not too many real Cowboys live in Dallas.
They didn't have a choice in the matter. The Oilers were Adams' team as were their logos, uniforms, stats and history.
