Titans Will Wear Oilers Uniforms in HoF Game

[HPF Bob]

Meh...it's history.

Think that's bad? Imagine being the Broncos and having to don again those San Diego Padres' brown-and-mustard color combination unis with vertical socks.

as shown here.

And here's a rare color photo of an Oilers at Broncos game from 1960 or 1961:

http://endzonesportscharities.org/60h_act.jpg

[Keith]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Imagine being the Broncos and having to don again those San Diego Padres' brown-and-mustard color combination unis with vertical socks.

as shown here.

Actually, I think that looks pretty cool. I mean, this is football, not a beauty contest, and those colors are just football to me.

Yeah, the Oilers are history, but damn if it isn't MY history.

[NBT]

That's the point with me! I do go back to the very beginning, with Adams signing Billy Cannon under the Sugar Bowl goalpost in 1958! I don't care if he did help fund the AFL, he screwed over this city big time for a long time. I don't forget and I sure as hell don't forgive.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by NBT

That's the point with me! I do go back to the very beginning, with Adams signing Billy Cannon under the Sugar Bowl goalpost in 1958! I don't care if he did help fund the AFL, he screwed over this city big time for a long time. I don't forget and I sure as hell don't forgive.

Amen!

And that uniform is the uniform of Earl Campbell, Bum Phillips and Luv a Blue. And it is the uniform of Run N Shoot, House of Pain, 35-3. It is my cities sports history, and that man stole it.

As a fan I was told we do not matter, and that we where bad fans by the former commissioner. The league did everything it could to bypass the Houston fans. Well screw that man.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Keith

Actually, I think that looks pretty cool. I mean, this is football, not a beauty contest, and those colors are just football to me.

Yeah, the Oilers are history, but damn if it isn't MY history.

VERTICALLY striped socks?! My understanding is that, among the players, those atrocities rank right up there with the NHL's California Golden Seals white skates for pure seething hatred. I heard that they all got together and burned the socks when they changed uniforms. Awful.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by Dave

VERTICALLY striped socks?! My understanding is that, among the players, those atrocities rank right up there with the NHL's California Golden Seals white skates for pure seething hatred. I heard that they all got together and burned the socks when they changed uniforms. Awful.

That's a bit overstated. The Broncos switched head coaches for 1962 and the new coach decided he needed to jettison the Broncos' colors as well as their attitude so he had the old unis burned during training camp as a motivational ploy. True, the socks were not popular but the burning wasn't just for the socks - it was for the whole ugly-assed ensemble which had been purchased on the cheap from a defunct college bowl game (The Copper Bowl in Tucson, AZ).

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Keith

Yeah, the Oilers are history, but damn if it isn't MY history.

Me too. As for team history, name, uniforms, etc., I still think the NFL should handle all franchise relocations like it did when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens -- that stuff stays in the old city, and the franchise is treated like an expansion franchise in the new city. I would think the new city would prefer it that way as well -- remember the minor uproar in Tennessee when Bud started backtracking from his promise to rename the Oilers after the move? If the old city got a new team, it would have the option of adopting the old name.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Warren

Me too. As for team history, name, uniforms, etc., I still think the NFL should handle all franchise relocations like it did when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens -- that stuff stays in the old city, and the franchise is treated like an expansion franchise in the new city. I would think the new city would prefer it that way as well -- remember the minor uproar in Tennessee when Bud started backtracking from his promise to rename the Oilers after the move? If the old city got a new team, it would have the option of adopting the old name.

I agree one hundred percent The name/unis should stay with the original city, but the owner, and not the NFL, are the ones who own the rights to that "property", correct?

I seem to remember hearing that McNair tried to buy the Oilers name from Mephistopheles, but he wouldn't sell.

p.s. I find it depressing that Firefox spell check flags "Oilers"

[Warren]

Originally Posted by papabear

I agree one hundred percent The name/unis should stay with the original city, but the owner, and not the NFL, are the ones who own the rights to that "property", correct?

I'm pretty sure that is the case, although I know the NFL has certain merchandising rights (through NFL Properties) and approval rights over uniforms and logos.

I'm not holding my breath that the owners would vote to limit their own rights, and they probably wouldn't want to even suggest that the cities/fans have even a symbolic right to part of the teams.

Originally Posted by painekiller

I agree with you on this, but the league has only gone to that extreme once. The Colts still claim Johnny U, he does not belong to Baltimore. The Cardinals have been in 3 different cities. The KC Chiefs where originally the Texans from Dallas. The team owned the name, not the city, except in Green Bay

And the Rams have been in three cities (Cleveland, LA, and St. Louis) and Chargers in two (LA and San Diego).

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Warren

And the Rams have been in three cities (Cleveland, LA, and St. Louis).

I had forgotten the Cleveland Rams, that was how they got the Browns, might of had a lot to do with the exception given to the fans about the history staying with the city.

[popanot]

People who love football know that Earl, Bum, Kenny, Dan and Billy were Houston Oilers. They know it was the Houston Oilers who cratered like little school girls in Buffalo. And they know it was the Houston Oilers when Buddy Ryan tried to sucker punch Gilbride on national TV. While I was upset at first that Bum took the name and history with him - and that the NFL let him do it, I'm okay with it now and find starting with a clean slate refreshing. For me it would have been harder to digest the first few years of this franchise had all the Oiler baggage came along with it. Now if only we could get competetive on a consistent basis and build some good Houston Texans history...

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Warren

Me too. As for team history, name, uniforms, etc., I still think the NFL should handle all franchise relocation's like it did when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens -- that stuff stays in the old city, and the franchise is treated like an expansion franchise in the new city. I would think the new city would prefer it that way as well -- remember the minor uproar in Tennessee when Bud started backtracking from his promise to rename the Oilers after the move? If the old city got a new team, it would have the option of adopting the old name.

I agree with you on this, but the league has only gone to that extreme once. The Colts still claim Johnny U, he does not belong to Baltimore. The Cardinals have been in 3 different cities. The KC Chiefs where originally the Texans from Dallas. The team owned the name, not the city, except in Green Bay.

The commissioner did not really have the right to take Modell's history, but Modell allowed the city and the league the right to the name out of guilt. Bud just gave us the finger, guess he was listening all those years when we where cursing him.

[HPF Bob]

p.s. I find it depressing that Firefox spell check flags "Oilers"

It spell check flags "Astros" as well.

[Warren]

It was weird seeing those uniforms last night, especially with "Houston Oilers" on the sideline gear. Will the Chiefs be wearing Dallas Texans uniforms at some point this season?

Speaking of the Oilers, I saw that free agent OT Jon Runyan is expected to be cleared to begin playing again after knee surgery. Unless I'm overlooking somebody, when he's gone there will be no former Houston Oilers playing in the NFL.

[Keith]

I'm finally watching this now, and yeah, it's a bit surreal. I keep having flashbacks. And it isn't helping when I see Oilers head coach Jeff Fisher on the sideline.