Which fanbase has the rightful claim to the Tennessee/Houston Oilers throwbacks uniforms?
In a video posted to the team’s Twitter account this week, the Tennessee Titans teased the release date for the Houston Oilers throwback uniforms that will be worn for one home game during the 2023 season. Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com wrote on the team's site back in early March that "the plan is to wear […]
In a video posted to the team’s Twitter account this week, the Tennessee Titans teased the release date for the Houston Oilers throwback uniforms that will be worn for one home game during the 2023 season.
Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com wrote on the team's site back in early March that "the plan is to wear them for a home game in 2023” and that he expects it to be for the game against the Houston Texans.
As if seeing their division rival wearing a Houston throwback jersey wasn't bad enough, the Titans sporting the vintage threads against the Texans would just rub salt in the wound for Houston football fans.
Despite former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue agreeing to retire the Oilers nickname for any future franchise in Houston and giving Bud Adams the IP, there is a contingent of NFL fans, mainly in the greater Houston area, that believe the history and legacy of the Oilers franchise does not belong in Tennessee.
It is a constant discussion that has recently been rehashed online after the Titans' uniform announcement. For example:
So let’s get one thing straight.
The Houston Oilers franchise is the Tennessee Titans, and nobody has a more rightful claim to the history and tradition of that organization than the Titans. It doesn’t matter that they played in Houston. Nobody cares, and frankly, nobody cared back in 1996 either, hence why they lost the team in the first place.
Warren Moon, Kevin Mawae, Eddie George, Robert Brazile, Elvin Bethea and various other Oilers legends reconvene in Nashville for the Titans alumni weekend for a reason. Their legacy is in the franchise that Bud Adams founded back in 1960, not the least winning franchise in the NFL with the most unremarkable branding in professional sports.
Let's also not forget that many Oilers legends, including Eddie George, Steve McNair, Blaine Bishop, Frank Wychek, and Bruce Matthews had award winning seasons with a Titans uniform on after their Oilers days. These are different eras, but not two separate entities.
Is the city of Houston still holding onto the days of the early 90’s Oilers? Of course they are. Their new franchise chased away the man responsible for their only period of sustained relevancy and has since been in a downward spiral.
But if they really want a throwback, they need to stop clinging to big brother in Tennessee and…I don't know, call Matt Schaub or something?
