[Resurrect the Football Team Post] The Texans' brand equity is at an all-time low. Oilers nostalgia remains high, as evidenced by the piece below. Can you imagine the boost that it would give the team and the city if we re-adopted the Oilers name? The NFL would benefit as well. The Texans should work in conjunction with the NFL to re-acquire the rights to the Oilers name from the Titans. A deal can be struck, particularly if the NFL puts pressure on the Titans. This should happen. I will personally raise my hand to negotiate the deal [huge value], if that is what it takes. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31003656/luv-ya-blue-houston-oilers-bum-phillips-earl-campbell In the late 1970s, Houston was booming, being country was cool and nobody was as country as the Oilers. Coached by a man named Bum and powered by a running back named Earl, both every bit a one-name Texas icon like Willie or Waylon, the NFL team and the city were simpatico. Bum Phillips grew up working cattle in Orange, Texas, about 120 miles from Houston, before he became a successful high school and college coach, while wearing cowboy boots and a Stetson hat on the sideline (just not in the Astrodome, because his mama taught him never to wear a hat indoors). Earl Campbell grew up in the rose fields of East Texas and had already become a legend as a high school senior in Tyler before winning a Heisman Trophy at the University of Texas. The two had an instant connection. They already had a mutual friend: Willie Nelson. Together, Bum and Earl became the faces of a franchise that finally allowed Houston to escape the enormous shadow of the Dallas Cowboys, coinciding with Houston's rise as the country's fastest-growing city and a depiction in "Urban Cowboy" as the center of the country-western universe. With stars such as Campbell, Elvin Bethea, Robert Brazile, Dan Pastorini and later Kenny Stabler, the Oilers were a tight-knit brotherhood who wore big belt buckles and bigger cowboy hats, hung with the locals at the honky-tonk Gilley's -- just like John Travolta -- and rode horses at their coach's ranch. "The football players that we had on our football team kind of meshed with the town," Phillips told NFL Films a few years before his death in 2013. "That situation hit just right at the right time." For Houstonians, that era still lingers as the standard by which all teams are measured. "There was a very big sense of pride that the Oilers were just so Texas," said Houston rapper Bun B, who grew up idolizing Campbell. "Like from player to coach, it's all Texas. I mean, we loved the Oilers. There wasn't any other option, because the only other option is the Cowboys, and that's not even an option. That's just like Blue Bell ice cream, you know? There's Blue Bell ice cream or we're not eating ice cream." Such adulation is a far cry from Houston's current relationship with its NFL team, which has deteriorated with the departures of Jadeveon Clowney, DeAndre Hopkins and the greatest player in Texans franchise history, J.J. Watt, while a divorce with Deshaun Watson appears imminent. The ongoing drama is just the latest painful chapter in the story of Houston and pro football, including the Oilers' relocation after the 1996 season before the Texans made it an NFL town again in 2002. "I'm sorry for those fans," said Brazile, the Hall of Fame linebacker who played in Houston from 1975 to 1984. "What more can they take? They had the Oilers leave, they had a hurricane that destroyed their city, they had the snowstorm this year. The breaking up of that team, I feel bad for the Texans' fans, because I know exactly what they're feeling." It wasn't always like this. Four decades ago, the Oilers owned Houston lock, stock and oil barrel. [story continues at the link above]
The NFL is not going to put pressure on the Titans' ownership to give up the Oilers' name and history. Bud Adams put it in his will that the Oilers brand would stay Retired. The Texans' ownership wants nothing to do with the Oilers' brand. Many of younger Texans' fans have no connection to the Oilers.
Ownership of the Oilers naming rights passed down when Bud Adams died. The Oilers name is not permanently retired just because something was in Bud Adams' will - that's just simply not how the law works. MANY younger fans identify with the Oilers name and especially the colors. Respectfully, you are way off base with your comment.
Of course that's what any businessperson would say in order to maximize their hand. Now it's time to negotiate. Again, I will raise my hand to negotiate this deal - and will do whatever it takes to ensure success.
Bud’s daughter commented on the matter somewhat not that long ago. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree apparently.
Don't get me wrong I would love to have it happen. But Adams Strunk is not going to give up the name that her Dad wanted to keep, And Cal isn't going to change the name that his Dad wanted.
I don’t understand carryover titan fans from Houston. Absolute trash org and they bounced and kept the name?? F them for that
Doesn't matter if it's the Oilers or the Texans or the Apollos. As long as the front office stays the same the brand is toilet bowl status.
It’s a no brainer to rebrand. It’s like the Charlotte Bobcats changing back to the Hornets. While I don’t believe the Adams’ would give the Texans the Oilers history, perhaps the Oilers brand would be ok. No matter what the Texans are an incompetent franchise so call them whatever they’re still trash.
Forget the name. I just want the colors, any variation. Who made the Adams' owners of the color wheel? So much Htown drip.
What don't you understand? Texans are not rebranding. The Oilers' history is TOXIC outside of LuvYaBlue. Texans are worth more money and have a better brand recognition than the Oilers ever had. Plus, the McNairs want nothing to do with the Oilers....lol. The reason the Hornets were able to get the name back was no one wanted that name or history. LOL. Move on, never going to happen. It wasn't the Oilers name people loved, it was the players and Bum.
We need a Oilers sub-forum. The Texans are a joke so I am wearing nothing but Oilers gear and only going to the one game a year: Titans-Texans. Go Oilers! Go Derrick Henry. Cal McNair and Easterby are clowns. GTFO
“Very interesting, except the Oilers don’t have anything to do with the Texans,” Adams Strunk said. “So that’s a hard no. Very interesting, except Warren Moon, Earl Campbell, Jim Norton, Mike Munchak, Elvin Bethea don’t have anything to do with the Tennessee Titans.
WOW, I'm not even a fan of Deandre Hopkins, but that uniform is SWEET. Regaining the Oilers name and colors is EXACTLY what we need to bring unity to the Texans (Oilers) fanbase and provide some desperately needed healing!
It would probably only work with new owners. I thought the "Texans" was a meh team name. It was already used before too. I wanted it to be something similar to the Astros and Rockets. Something space related.
Charlotte only changed with new ownership. The previous owner's first name was "Bob", hence why they went with Bobcats. The Astros rebrand back to the older H/star uniforms is one of the more successful rebrands in all of sports, let alone Houston. They were already quite popular around 2014/2015 even before the team started to actually win a lot of games and eventually take over the entire city. Still don't know why the Rockets don't just commit to the full retro rebrand. A lot of half-measures here/there with alternates, along with taking some of the Oilers nostalgia with this year's city jerseys... but that's also a franchise that has a huge opening to rebrand.
