Titans plan to wear Oilers throwback uniforms for a home game this season

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 6, 2023, 12:14 PM EST
Washington Redskins vs Houston Oilers
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The franchise now known as the Tennessee Titans was known as the Houston Oilers for the first 37 seasons of its existence, and it plans to honor its roots this season.

The Titans plan to wear Oilers throwbacks for a home game this season, according to the team’s website.

The specific game when they’ll wear the uniforms hasn’t been determined, but Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com expects that it will be for the Titans’ home game against the Houston Texans.

The Houston Oilers were one of the original franchises of the American Football League in 1960. They moved and spent two seasons as the Tennessee Oilers in 1997 and 1998, and changed their name to the Titans in 1999. As the Oilers, the team wore blue or white jerseys, red trim, white pants, and a helmet logo of an oil derrick.

Last year the NFL relaxed its helmet rules to make it easier for teams to wear throwback uniforms, and several teams have worn throwbacks featuring their older helmet designs. The Oilers’ classic uniforms were popular among fans, and many football fans in both Houston and Tennessee will welcome seeing them again.

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23 responses to “Titans plan to wear Oilers throwback uniforms for a home game this season”

  1. Will love to see that. The Oilers were a key part of the NFL experience of my youth.

    I still think their rebranding was “meh” at best. Why they moved to an iconic city but chose to name themselves with the state is odd to me, and the bland mascot (probably just a step up from “Commanders”) was a missed opportunity to tie it to something musical.

  2. Love it – and even though I’m a Browns fan, I always liked the Oilers.

    Not sure about wearing that uniform against the Texans though. Seems a bit hurtful.

  3. Sweet! I wish they’d wear them permanently, with the Titan’s helmet logo, obviously, and return their current uniforms to their proper owners, the Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts!

  4. Would have been best had they left the Oilers colors and branding behind in Houston so they could pick it back up, but it is what it is I suppose. It’ll be cool seeing those uniforms again.

  5. They are breaking them out to wear vs the Texans? Sounds like a middle finger, followed with a poke in the eye by said finger, to the city of Houston from the Adams family.

  6. Loved the Oilers until greedy (and cheap) owner Bid Addams up and moved the team for more money,

  7. Seems odd to me given the close tie between the Oilers name and the original franchise’s original city and state. On the other hand, I am sure it will generate some interest and drive up Oilers related concession purchases.

  9. This sounds great. Always liked their uniforms. I hope they use the blue helmets.

  10. Love this from my youth!! Earl Cambell kids look him up he was a beast of a man! His thighs were humungous and boy could he break a tackle. Good Times!

  11. Seeing Derrick Henry in those “Luv Ya” blues will take me back to childhood….now we just need a dome, Jerry Glanville and the run and shoot, and we’ll be cooking!

  12. Oilers fan from time I was kid. Dad had season tickets to Rice Stadium. Saw George Blanda play QB and kick field goals. Years later it was Luv Ya Blue with Earl Campbell and Dan Pastorini and then Warren Moon with the Run and Shoot. Good times!

  13. Now that Brady retired, they won’t have nightmares of that 59-0 spanking they got in those jerseys.

    Love the jerseys though. They’re dope.

  14. Wearing Oilers gear vs the Texans would be like the Indianapolis Colts having Johnny Unitas appreciation night vs the Ravens.

  15. It will be much cooler if they still have Henry and feed him 35x that game.

  16. I know the Adams family still has some vendetta against the city of Houston. They sued the XFL team due to their logo looking too close to the old Oilers logo. Some Texans players were also pushing for them to wear Oilers throwbacks and the Adams family said no way. Sadly, the fans that supported them all those years are the collateral damage. Tennessee fans have no emotional connection to that era and they want to wear that uniform against the fanbase that has that connection. They own the rights to it and can do it, however I think it’s a little bit in bad taste.

  17. The Oilers started with Columbia blue helmets, then silver, then white.
    I’m rooting for the silver helmets; they went 1-13 and an Oiler fan flipped off the nation during MNF while getting blown out by the Raiders in the silvers.

  19. The Oilers were a lot of fun to watch in the late 70s. This will be a cool game to watch this season.

  20. They have every right to wear Oilers gear but I’m reminded of the old Polish proverb that says the definition of a gentleman is one that can play the banjo but chooses not to.

  22. kevpft says:
    March 6, 2023 at 12:21 pm
    Will love to see that. The Oilers were a key part of the NFL experience of my youth.

    I still think their rebranding was “meh” at best. Why they moved to an iconic city but chose to name themselves with the state is odd to me, and the bland mascot (probably just a step up from “Commanders”) was a missed opportunity to tie it to something musical.
    ———————————————————————–
    When they moved from Houston to Nashville, state taxes helped fund the operation, and state lawmakers insisted that the name be “Tennessee” rather than “Nashville”. Plus, Memphis was none too happy about the team moving to Nashville because whenever NFL expansion was mentioned back in the 70’s and 80’s, Memphis was considered a frontrunner, and they didn’t want to see the team named after Nashville, especially since Memphis had been spurned. Personally I thought they should have kept the name Oilers and not changed the logo or colors one bit. But that’s just me.

  23. waitwhat says:
    March 8, 2023 at 12:30 pm
    ———————————————————————–
    When they moved from Houston to Nashville, state taxes helped fund the operation, and state lawmakers insisted that the name be “Tennessee” rather than “Nashville”. Plus, Memphis was none too happy about the team moving to Nashville because whenever NFL expansion was mentioned back in the 70’s and 80’s, Memphis was considered a frontrunner, and they didn’t want to see the team named after Nashville, especially since Memphis had been spurned. Personally I thought they should have kept the name Oilers and not changed the logo or colors one bit. But that’s just me.

    ———————————————————————–

    That’s not exactly how it went down. Bud Adams knew that Nashville wasn’t the most populated city and that they’d be a regional team that would draw from all parts of Tennessee and decided to give the team the name of the state instead of the city.

    Adelphia Coliseum (as it was initially called) was paid for by Nashville taxpayers and PSL funding. The only stipulation to getting tax money was that they were required to allow Tennessee State University to play there as well.

    Memphis made a push to gain expansion from the leagues 1993 expansion but those teams were awarded to Carolina and Jacksonville. Initially, the Oilers chose to play in Memphis as opposed to Nashville because their stadium wasn’t built yet and the Liberty Bowl stadium sold beer while Vanderbilt stadium didn’t.

    It went so poorly in 1997 that they moved into Vanderbilt stadium for the 1998 season.

    Memphis was mad that they had tried to get football and failed while Nashville had no ambition towards gaining an NFL franchise and one literally fell into their laps. As Bud told it, he was descendant from one of the first families of Tennessee and fell in love with the Midstate while doing business there.

    The Tennessee Titans brand is great. The uniforms are kinda crappy and the logo is irritating because it’s not perfectly aligned, but it is what it is.

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