Yes, Oilers’ legal rights belong to the Titans, but the gracious thing (at the very least) would be to enable the Texans to wear Powder Blue and White for a throwback game.
Bud Adams purchased the Houston Oilers’ football team in 1960 and, over the years, the Oilers experienced highs and lows as any franchise does. But no matter what the scoreboard showed, the Oilers were always a source of civic pride. As a kid growing up in Houston, I remember seeing Houstonians wearing those easily recognizable Powder Blue and White jerseys.
No, the Oilers never made it to the Super Bowl, but the team came close.
Today, the Oilers don’t play in Houston. They’ve been in Nashville since 1997. Houston now has the Texans. But, make no mistake about it: the Oilers are part of Houston’s history, and indelibly so.
Courtesy: Total Pro Sports
A few months ago–when the NFL used social media to wish current star, JJ Watt, a happy birthday, Watt responded this way: “Get the Titans to give us the rights to the Houston Oilers throwback uniforms.”
Soon after that KHOU conducted an online poll, finding that nearly 90% of those responding agreed with Watt. Texans’ receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, went one step further by photoshopping himself in an Oilers uniform, asking fans, “Who would like to see this?”
But there’s a snag. Amy Adams Strunk, the current Titans’ owner and daughter of the late Bud Adams, responded this way: “The Oilers don’t have anything to do with the Texans, so that’s a hard no. You see the problem is that when the Oilers left Houston for Tennessee, the rights for the uniforms, logos, colors, and all the history went to Tennessee.”
Yes, business is business, but I (for one) would love to see the Texans back in the Oilers’ Powder Blue and White jerseys for a throwback game.
Will we ever see it?
