Clothes, it appears, do not make the man.
On Sunday, December 17, the Tennessee Titans elected to wear decades-old, defunct Houston Oilers outfits against the actual living, breathing Houston Texans in a screw-you move that would shame elementary school yard bullies. The Titans even went the extra mile by putting “Oilers” in each endzone.
Nostalgia suffered a setback.
The Texans won 19-16 in overtime on a 54-yard walk-off field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn, effectively killing the Titans’ playoff aspirations (and karmic karma). Texans, nice touch.
Since the Titans began recognizing their heritage as Oilers several years ago, Tennessee hoarding the Oilers’ legacy has been an unpleasant and vexing matter for Houston football fans (and legends).
The Oilers were founded in 1960 as an American Football League franchise and relocated to Tennessee in 1997. The relocated franchise actually played two seasons as the Tennessee Oilers, donning the Oilers’ commemorative Columbia blue uniforms. In 1999, the franchise changed its name to Titans and received new team colors.
The Titans began “honoring,” as they termed it, their heritage as Oilers a few years ago. This whole Tennessee Oilers revival has never sat well with Houston supporters, who have kept their latent love for the original Oilers despite the Houston Texans’ entry into the NFL in 2002.
In Houston, fans see the Titans wearing retro Oilers uniforms on Sunday as a slap in the face and a declaration of war by the AFC South.
It would be one thing if Nashville had any ties to the oil business, derricks, gushers, black gold, Texas tea, big money, America’s best BBQ — or anything else related to Houston or the Lone Star State.
You want to talk about oil? Texas produces 1.8 billion barrels of crude oil per year, by and away the most in the United States. Tennessee ranks 46th, producing 165,000 barrels, a decrease in the gas tank.
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