History of the Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are the professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League. Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the then Houston, Texas, team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the AFL American Football League. The Houston Oilers won the first two AFL championships before later joining the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger. In 1999, the Tennessee Titans played their most memorable season since joining the NFL, when they made it all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV, but they fell, at the 1 yard line, to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams.
Franchise history
Houston Oilers (1960–1996)
The Titans were originally formed as the Houston Oilers, one of the eight charter members of the American Football League. They became a part of the National Football League in 1970 as part of the AFL–NFL merger and have remained a member of the NFL ever since. They played in Houston through the end of the 1996 season. They were part of the AFL's Eastern Division for their first ten years and became part of the American Football Conference upon their joining the NFL. They were placed in the AFC's Central Division, which they were part of until 2002.Tennessee Oilers era (1997–1998)
After the 1995 season, Bud Adams announced the move to Tennessee, causing fan support in Houston to collapse for the 1996 season. They intended to play at a new stadium in Nashville, but it would not be ready until 1999. The largest stadium in Nashville at the time, Vanderbilt Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University, seated only 41,000 – a capacity considerably smaller than the NFL minimum of 50,000 seats. Vanderbilt was also unwilling to permit alcohol sales.At the time, the state had two football stadiums that met NFL capacity requirements. The state's largest stadium, the University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, was quickly ruled out. Playing at Neyland would have put a transient NFL team in direct competition with the long-established Tennessee Volunteers for ticket sales, and with 102,000 seats it was widely acknowledged NFL games in Knoxville would have been all but impossible to sell out in time to avoid local blackouts on television. As a result, Adams announced that the renamed Tennessee Oilers would play the next two seasons at the 62,000 seat Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis. The team would be based in Nashville, practicing there and commuting to Memphis only for games. The arrangement thus made the Oilers for all intents and purposes a traveling team that was to play 32 road games over the next two years.
Even though this arrangement was acceptable to the NFL and the Oilers at the time, few people in either Memphis or Nashville were happy about it. After numerous attempts to get an NFL team over the last three decades, Memphians wanted nothing to do with a team that would be lost in only two years—especially to longtime rival Nashville. Conversely, Nashvillians showed little inclination to drive over to see "their" team. At the time, Interstate 40 was in the midst of major reconstruction in the Memphis area, lengthening the normal three-hour drive between Nashville and Memphis to five hours.
In Memphis, attendance was even worse than it had been in the team's final season in Houston. The Oilers played before some of the smallest NFL crowds since the 1950s, with none of the first seven games of the season attracting crowds larger than 27,000, with two crowds of less than 18,000. The few fans there were usually indifferent, and often those that attended were fans of the opposing team. Attendance was smaller than what the USFL's Memphis Showboats had drawn and what the XFL's Memphis Maniax would draw to the same stadium. It appeared that only large contingents of fans supporting the Oilers' opponents kept average attendance from dropping below what it had been for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs.
Despite drawing crowds averaging barely half of Vanderbilt's capacity, Adams had every intention of playing in Memphis the next season. That changed after the final game of the 1997 season. The Oilers faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of 50,677 fans. It was the only crowd that could not have been reasonably accommodated at Vanderbilt, however, Steeler fans made up the great majority of the crowd. Adams was so embarrassed that he abandoned plans to play the 1998 season in Memphis and secured a special exemption from the NFL to play one season at the undersized Vanderbilt. The team rebounded that season, and was in playoff contention until losing their last two games for another 8–8 record. The Oilers had gone 6–2 in Nashville while going 2–6 on the road. The Titans have maintained both radio and preseason television affiliates in the Memphis area.
Tennessee Titans era (1999–present)
Name change
On July 29, 1998, Adams announced that in response to fan requests, he was changing the Oilers' name to coincide with the opening of their new stadium and to better connect with Nashville. In doing so, Adams made clear that the renamed team would retain the Oilers' heritage as had most other relocated teams and that there would be a Hall of Fame honoring the greatest players from both eras. At the time, unlike the case with Cleveland, there was no commitment from the NFL to return to Houston and a widely held expectation that the NFL would add its 32nd team in Los Angeles after the Browns' reactivation. Ultimately, and to the surprise of many, the NFL awarded a team to Houston instead, with that city's new team, the Texans, becoming division rivals of the Titans, the former Houston Oilers.Adams appointed an advisory committee to decide on a new name. He let it be known that the new name should reflect power, strength, leadership and other heroic qualities. A naming contest produced names such as Tornadoes, Copperheads, South Stars, and Wranglers among others. On November 14, 1998, Adams announced that the Oilers would be known as the Tennessee Titans starting in 1999. The new name met all of Adams' requirements, and also served as a nod to Nashville's nickname of "The Athens of the South". The team's new logo and colors were unveiled on December 22, 1998.
1999: Super Bowl run
In 1999, Adelphia Coliseum, now known as Nissan Stadium, was completed and the newly christened Titans had a grand season, finishing with a 13–3 record – the best season in franchise history. They won their first game as the "Titans," defeating the Bengals before a sold out stadium. They did not lose a game at home and finished one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC Central title. Tennessee then won their first round playoff game over the Buffalo Bills on a designed play, known as "Home Run Throwback" in the Titans playbook, that is commonly referred to as the "Music City Miracle": Tight-end Frank Wycheck made a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson on a kickoff return with 16 seconds left in the game and the Titans trailing by one point; Dyson returned the pass 75 yards for a touchdown to win the game. After replay review, the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown. The original play did not call for Dyson to be on the field and he was only involved due to an injury of another player, Derrick Mason. The Titans went on to defeat the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis, and then defeated the Jaguars in Jacksonville in the AFC Championship Game. The Titans' magnificent season led to a trip to Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams when Kevin Dyson was tackled one yard short of the end zone as regulation time expired, in a play known as "The Tackle."2000–2003: Continued success
In 2000, the Titans finished with an NFL-best 13–3 record and won their third AFC Central title—their first division title as the Tennessee Titans. They won Central division titles in 1991 and 1993 while still in Houston as the Oilers. The Titans went on to lose their home Divisional playoff game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.In 2001, the Titans collapsed to a 7–9 record and missed the playoffs.
In 2002, the Titans were moved to the newly created AFC South division, as part of a major divisional realignment caused by the league's return to the Titans' former city. Despite starting the season 1–4 the Titans finished the season 11–5 and made it to the AFC Championship Game but lost to the Oakland Raiders 41–24.
File:Eddie George.jpg|thumb|upright|Eddie George was a hard-nosed runningback whose physical play greatly helped his team. The Titans had to release him after the 2003 season due to salary cap problems.
The Titans went 12–4 and made the 2003 playoffs, winning their wild card game over the Baltimore Ravens and losing in the AFC divisionals to the New England Patriots who went on to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. In 2003, quarterback Steve McNair won the MVP award, sharing it with Peyton Manning.
2004–2010: Decline of Jeff Fisher
The 2004 season created an unusual number of injuries to key players for the Titans. Their 5–11 record turned out to be their third-worst record ever since the Houston/Tennessee Oilers became the Tennessee Titans. Numerous key players were cut or traded by the Titans front office during the off season, including Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle, Kevin Carter and others. This was done due to the Titans being well over the salary cap.In 2005, the Titans took the field with the youngest team in the NFL. Several rookies made the 2005 team, including first round pick, cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, offensive tackle Michael Roos, and three wide receivers, Brandon Jones, Courtney Roby and Roydell Williams. After losing their first game of the season on the road to the Pittsburgh Steelers 34–7 and then winning their Week 2 home-opener against the Baltimore Ravens 25–10, the Titans began the season 1–1, but quickly fell out of contention. They lost on the road to the St. Louis Rams 31–27 and lost to their division rival, the Colts 31–10. After getting some redemption on the road against their new division rival, the Houston Texans 34–20, they lost five-straight games to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Arizona Cardinals, the Oakland Raiders, the Cleveland Browns, and then, their division rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars 31–28. The Titans won at home against the San Francisco 49ers 33–22, but then went on the road and were swept by the Colts 35–3. The Titans defeated the luckless Texans 13–10 at home, but that was their last win of the year, as they lost their remaining three games to the Seattle Seahawks, the Miami Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their record for the season was 4–12.
In 2006, The team finished at 8–8, a definite improvement over the previous year's mark of 4–12. The year saw Vince Young lead the team to an 8–5 record as the starting quarterback. That span also included six straight victories. The team's chances of making the postseason at 9–7 ended at the hands of New England in a 40–23 defeat. Floyd Reese resigned as the franchise's executive vice president/general manager on January 5, 2007, after thirteen seasons at the helm. He was replaced by Mike Reinfeldt on February 12 of the same year.
File:Vince-Young-TitansvsPackers-Nov-2-08.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Quarterback Vince Young started 47 games between 2006 and 2010.
In 2007, after starting a promising 6–2, the Titans lost four of their next five games to fall to 7–6. They then won their next three games, including a must-win game against the Indianapolis Colts. They were tied for the final playoff spot with the Cleveland Browns, but they won the tiebreaker and made the playoffs at 10–6. In the wild card round they lost to the San Diego Chargers, 17–6.
The 2008 season began with the Titans selecting Chris Johnson out of East Carolina University in the first round of the NFL draft, and subsequently acquired former Titan DE Jevon Kearse and former Falcons TE Alge Crumpler. After a Week 1 injury to Vince Young, Kerry Collins took over the starting quarterback position and led the Titans to a 10–0 record before their first defeat at the hands of the New York Jets on November 23.
File:Kerry-Collins-TitansvsPackers-Nov-2-08.jpg|thumb|upright|Veteran quarterback Kerry Collins started 43 games from 2006 to 2010.
The Titans followed up the 34–13 loss by defeating the winless Lions on Thanksgiving, by a score of 47–10. In week 14, Tennessee clinched its second AFC South title with a 28–9 victory over the Cleveland Browns. In the week 14 game against the Browns, rookie Chris Johnson rushed 19 times for 136 yards and one touchdown and LenDale White rushed for 99 yards and one touchdown. They later clinched a first round playoff bye with a loss of the New York Jets. On December 21, 2008, the Titans played the Pittsburgh Steelers in a contest to decide the number one seed in the AFC. The Titans won 31–14 and clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their final record was 13–3, which ties their franchise record for most wins. On Saturday, January 10, they lost their home playoff game 13–10 to the Baltimore Ravens, who had previously won their Wildcard game at Miami on January 4. The playoff game against Baltimore included three red zone turnovers and 12 penalties by the Titans.
After their successful 2008 season, the Titans looked to be very promising in 2009. However, the opening game against Pittsburgh resulted in a 13–10 overtime loss and things disintegrated from there as they dropped the next five matches. This losing streak culminated in a catastrophic 59–0 defeat at the hands of New England. After the bye week, it was decided that Vince Young would succeed Kerry Collins as the starting quarterback. The team began recovering and won five in a row including a game against the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals, on a 99-yard game-winning drive by Vince Young, culminating in a touchdown pass on fourth down with 6 seconds left from the 10-yard line to Kenny Britt.
File:Chris Johnson sitting on his helmet.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Titans running back Chris Johnson was known for his speed, which enabled him to rush for 2,006 yards in 2009, plus make himself a valuable receiver.
During the Week 10 home game against Buffalo, Bud Adams was seen making an obscene gesture towards the Bills bench, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fined him $250,000. Afterwards, the Titans sustained a defeat against Indianapolis, wins over St. Louis and Miami, a loss to San Diego, and finally a victory in Seattle to end the season at 8–8. Not only did the Tennessee Titans have a great 8–2 finish, but along the way, running back Chris Johnson became only the sixth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards, surpassing Marshall Faulk's record for the most yards from scrimmage during a season with over 2,500 total yards.
The Titans started 2010 with alternating wins and losses. They crushed Oakland at home in Week 1 and then were beaten, 19–11, by the Steelers in Week 2. In Week 3, Tennessee beat the Giants 29–10 in the New Meadowlands. In week 4, Tennessee lost 26–20 to Denver, and finally won 34–27 in Dallas to reach a 3–2 record by Week 5. The following game was a MNF rout of Jacksonville. In Week 7, they beat Philadelphia 37–19 in a come-from- behind win that included scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Kenny Britt had a break out performance with 225 reception yards, 3 touchdowns and 7 receptions. However, after a loss to the Chargers in Week 8, they were the only team to submit in a claim for the recently waived Randy Moss. Even after this widely publicized claim, the team was still unable to beat the Dolphins after their bye week, 29–17. In Week 11, at home against the Washington Redskins, the Titans lost Young to a thumb injury in-game and they snapped their NFL-leading interconference win streak at 14 games, losing to Washington 19–16 in overtime. After the game, Young had a highly publicized meltdown in the locker room because he believed he could play through the injury and walked out on Fisher, causing him to not only be promptly put on injured reserve, but also essentially guaranteeing his release from the team in the offseason. Losses continued to mount for the Titans, until a week 15 win against the Houston Texans kept their season alive at 6–8. Needing a miracle to get into the playoffs, this nonetheless happened with consequent losses against the Chiefs and Colts. The Titans' season ended at 6–10.
In the week following the Titans' final loss to the Colts, the generally pro-Young Bud Adams agreed that it would be best for the team to release or trade Young. On January 7, 2011, Adams released a statement announcing he was retaining head coach Jeff Fisher, as Fisher was under contract for the next season. Adams also stated that he hoped to extend Fisher's contract following the 2011 season, but that an extension would be contingent upon the team's performance. Despite these initial proclamations, it was announced on January 27, 2011, that Fisher and the Titans had mutually agreed to part ways. This ended Fisher's tenure as head coach, a tenure which lasted more than 17 seasons, spanned three cities, and saw three different incarnations of the team.