It’s been 25 years since Tennessee’s NFL team changed its name to the Titans as the final step of relocation, but for some reason the franchise is still locked in its edgelord teenage phase. This Sunday the Titans will wear one of the best, most-iconic throwback jerseys of all time, which belonged to the Houston Oilers — and they’re intentionally doing it against the Texans once more.
In what’s become a pattern for the organization, the Titans will once again wear the throwbacks against their AFC South division rival. It’s the only time during the 2024 NFL season that Tennessee will wear the jersey, and rather than being some kind of sick burn, it really underscores how little history or anything memorable the franchise has contributed to the league in the last two and a half decades.
The jersey choice is tantamount to the Titans (3-13) mocking the Texans (9-7) for their team relocating. It’s certainly a choice when you’re last place in the AFC South and playing the team about to win the division, but it also proves how the Titans should have relinquished their Houston history to the Texans when Houston returned to the NFL. Just as the New Orleans Pelicans decided to return their team’s history to the Charlotte Hornets upon their rebrand, ensuring the memories of Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues and the beloved teams of the 90s belonged to the city of Charlotte, not a greedy owner who moved the team.
It would be one thing if the Titans simply chose to wear the Oilers throwbacks against literally any other team in the league, but intentionally wearing them against Houston is a sad middle finger for seemingly no reason.
Like most team relocations the reason the Oilers left Houston was greed. Owner Bud Adams wanted 75 percent public funding for a new stadium in the city that would be privately owned by him and shared with the Houston Rockets. The city of Houston, who desperately wanted to keep the Oilers, were wary of a large public investment in a new sporting venue — especially in the wake of the oil collapse of the mid-80s which caused massive economic damage to the city.
Adams shopped the Oilers, rather than trying to work with the city of Houston on incremental improvements to the Astrodome, and eventually Nashville agreed to pony up the money for the stadium Houston wasn’t willing to.
This is the sad reality of sports, and on some level you really can’t blame Adams for moving the team. The Astrodome of the early 90s was in rough shape — but everyone who was a part of that debacle is now retired or dead. The only people who are hurt by repurposing the Oilers identity are the fans who remember the team the fondest and have memories of winning back-to-back AFL Championships with George Blanda, Earl Campbell being one of the NFL’s most dynamic running backs of the late 1970s, and the rise of Warren Moon in the ‘80s.
Those titles, those records, those legends — they were forged in Houston. A team that was created during Houston’s boom that happened because of oil money, and taken away when oil money waned. It’s part of the DNA of the city, not to be thrown in as a joke in Week 18 when you’re the worst team in your division and the Texans are the best.
Trying to claim this old glory in Nashville makes you reflect on how the team hasn’t been much beyond mediocre since entering the league. The Music City Miracle run of 1999 was legendary, but it was also 25 years ago now. Since then the Titans have only made it to the playoffs nine times, and only made it past the Wild Card round on six occasions. Coaches have lasted an average of four years, and outside of Steve McNair the team hasn’t had an exciting quarterback for their entire time in Tennessee.
There are certainly fans in Houston who have turned the page and don’t really desire to see the Oilers’ history return now. Still, wearing them against the Texans is just a sad move by a franchise looking to make waves in an effort to distract people from the myriad football problems the Titans have had over the years. The Adams family have been masterful at making money and getting stadiums built for them — winning? Not so much.
This week the Oilers jerseys will be donned once more like a glove to slap Houston in the face. Really, it’s like an edgy teen wearing an offensive shirt to high school and hoping someone notices.
