J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins would love to celebrate the history of NFL football in Houston by wearing Houston Oilers throwback jerseys during the regular season. There’s just one problem — the Houston Texans have no rights to the Oilers colors or logos. Those all belong to the Tennessee Titans.
And what do the Titans think of loaning out the unis to the Texans? Not much.
“Very interesting, except the Oilers don’t have anything to do with the Texans,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said. “So that’s a hard no.”
That doesn’t mean the Oilers uniforms won’t be showing up on an NFL field at some point in the near future. Just don’t expect it to be in Houston or with Texans players wearing them. The then Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997. They changed their name to the Titans in 1997, which ironically, was the former nickname of the New York Jets from 1960-62.
“I think that would be something I would take to the fans,” Adams Strunk said. “If they were on board and excited. So many people love those uniforms. Maybe we’ll put a survey out there and sometime if they loved it and wanted it to happen, I’m sure we could make it happen.”
Bring back the HOUSTON Oilers unit? #wearetexans pic.twitter.com/szxSB7tII5
— D-Texan (@dtexanz) March 27, 2019
Considering the Texans and Titans are arch AFC South rivals, that’s not likely to change. Still, Watt’s bummed about the whole thing.
“People think I don’t understand that we have no rights whatsoever to the Oilers’ history or uniforms,” Watt said. “I understand it completely. It doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy those uniforms and wish we did have the rights.”
NFL News Round-up
The Oakland Raiders added former Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions tight end Luke Wilson to their roster Friday night. Last season Wilson started eight games and played in 14, catching 13 passes for 87 yards.
Former All-Pro Punter Shane Lechler has officially retired after 18 NFL seasons. In his nearly two decades of service, Lechler played for just two teams — the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans. He led the league in punting yards four times including last season, when he booted 4,507 yards worth of footballs, averaging 49 yards per punt.
