The
Houston Texans is a professional American football team based in Houston
, Texas
. They
are currently members of the
Southern
Division of the
American Football Conference
(AFC) in the
National Football
League (NFL).
The Texans joined the NFL in 2002 as an
expansion team after Houston's previous
franchise, the
Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee
Titans), moved to Nashville, Tennessee
. The club is one of five in the NFL that has
yet to qualify for the
Super Bowl, the
only team in the league that has not achieved a
playoff berth, and the
only team that has not achieved a winning season.
The Houston Texans' principal owner and chairman is
Bob McNair and the minority owner and vice
chairman is Chuck Watson. The Harris County Sports Authority also
is a minority owner of the team, and is the only NFL team to ever
have part ownership by a government.
Franchise history
1997: Bringing football back to Houston
In June
1997, Bob McNair and Chuck Watson were bypassed by the National Hockey League in an attempt
to bring a team to Houston.
Two weeks later, Houston found itself without professional football
for the first time since 1959 as
Houston Oilers owner
Bud Adams got the final approval to move his team
to Tennessee.
A lawsuit filed by the city of Houston,
Harris
County
, and other parties was settled with Adams paying
millions of dollars for leaving town. In an interview with
the
Houston Chronicle,
local entrepreneur and
San Diego
Padres owner
John J. Moores, whose name was often attached to
efforts to return the NFL to Houston, said that the city’s football
fans would be in for a long, dry spell without football and that he
did not foresee another league expansion in the next 10 years.
While efforts to get an NHL team in Houston faltered, McNair made
his decision to set his sights higher and founded Houston NFL
Holdings.
Steve Patterson, who had
been working with McNair in an attempt to bring NHL to Houston, was
immediately named as head of the new organization.
Now committed to the task at hand, McNair and Houston got an
immediate morale boost in October 1997, when the NFL Stadium
Committee reported to Commissioner
Paul
Tagliabue on the current attractiveness of Cleveland, Los
Angeles, and Houston. Cleveland had lost the
Browns in 1995 and had been promised by
Tagliabue that the next expansion team would play there, bringing
the league total to 31 teams. A future expansion to 32 teams seemed
both logical and destined to happen, and Tagliabue praised McNair’s
strong initial efforts. Two days later,
Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo (HLS&R) officials announced they would push for a
domed stadium as part of the bid to lure the NFL back to
Houston.
1998
In March 1998, McNair learned that the NFL officially awarded
Cleveland its promised expansion franchise, making it the NFL's
31st team; NFL Commissioner Tagliabue said that the league would
likely add a 32nd team in the next two years, with the three top
candidates being Toronto (which would have been the NFL's first
franchise outside the USA), Los Angeles (the USA's second largest
media market, and the victim of two relocated franchises in the
1990s), and Houston (which was the USA's fourth largest media
market).
Houston
officials worried that Los Angeles would get the nod due to its
media market size; in early May, those fears became reality as
entertainment guru Michael Ovitz
announced he would lead a largely privately financed $750 million
project to build a stadium in Carson, California
in hopes of landing the expansion team.
However, both McNair and Ovitz stated that they needed to know the
NFL's intentions regarding expansion by early 1999, lest they lose
public support as a result of long delays while the league
developed its plans.
In late October 1998, Tagliabue announced that the NFL owners would
indeed expand the league to 32 teams, and would decide by April
1999 which city would be awarded the NFL expansion franchise.
Meanwhile,
Ovitz now had competition coming from his own market, as real
estate developer Ed Roski announced a rival bid for a future Los
Angeles team; his proposal centered around putting a 68,000-seat
stadium inside the shell of the historic Los Angeles
Coliseum
.
1999
On March 16, 1999, the NFL owners, by a 29–2 vote, approved a
resolution to award Los Angeles the expansion 32nd franchise.
However, the award was contingent on the city putting together an
acceptable ownership team and stadium deal by September 15; if the
parties could not reach an agreement or be close to doing so, the
committee would then turn its recommendation to Houston.
A month later, NFL executives flew to Los Angeles to see how things
had progressed. What they found was that neither Ovitz nor Roski
would concede its bid to the other (or combine their efforts) in
attempts to put together a deal, Los Angeles would not allow tax
dollars to be used for a new stadium, and neither group was
prepared to build a state-of-the-art facility – while Houston had
promised such a facility (as part of its domed stadium plan) since
1997.
When the NFL executives returned to Los Angeles in late May,
nothing had progressed on Roski's bid. Meanwhile, Ovitz had changed
his tune, unveiling plans to turn the area around the Coliseum into
a complex of parks, parking garages, shopping areas and a brand-new
stadium. Tagliabue and the NFL officials were pleased with the
concept, but daunted by the cost, which included $225 million for
parking garages, especially since neither Los Angeles nor the State
of California was willing to commit the necessary funds.
In June, Tagliabue expressed his frustration with Los Angeles’
inability to get a plan together, and advised McNair to resume his
discussions with the expansion committee.
On September 9, 1999, the league’s expansion committee indicated
that McNair and other Houston officials should be prepared to
attend an October 6 meeting of the NFL owners in Atlanta. The LA
effort was not completely dead as Ovitz, Roski, and newcomer
Marvin Davis all scrambled to find the
right deal to woo the league back in the last six days before the
deadline.
In the first week of October, Ovitz announced that his group was
prepared to offer $540 million for the NFL franchise. Later that
week, McNair’s Houston NFL Holdings proposed a bid of $700 million
to the owners.
On the morning of October 6, 1999, McNair's persistence finally
paid off – the NFL owners voted 29–0 to accept McNair's $700M offer
and awarded the 32nd franchise to Houston as well as the
2004 Super Bowl.
2000
After that, things moved fast for the yet-to-be-named football
team. Focus groups were formed across the state to determine the
image and direction for the franchise.
NFL Properties and team officials began
working on the identity, name and logo and the front office began
to take shape with the hiring of former
Washington Redskins General Manager
Charley Casserly as Executive Vice
President/General Manager in January 2000.
That
spring, Houston NFL 2002 celebrated the official groundbreaking of
Reliant
Stadium
. The 69,500-seat state-of-the-art facility
would become the NFL's first retractable-roof stadium.
After almost a year of speculation, the team was officially
christened the Houston Texans during a downtown celebration in
September 2000 that included NFL Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue and Bob McNair unveiling the
new logo.
2001
On January 21, 2001, the Texans turned to the coaching staff and
introduced Dom Capers as the club's first head coach. Capers had
served the previous two seasons as the
Jacksonville Jaguars' defensive
coordinator. From 1995 to 1998, Capers was the head coach of the
then-expansion
Carolina Panthers.
Capers would soon fill out the rest of the staff in the months to
follow. After five long seasons, Houston was at last ready to
rejoin the league.
Play begins: 2002–2005
The Texans
launched their inaugural campaign on September 8, 2002 against the
Dallas Cowboys at Reliant Stadium. The two teams had also previously scrimmaged
at the first home of Houston's previous team, the University of
Houston's
Robertson
Stadium
the month prior. Rookie
David Carr hooked up with tight end
Billy Miller on the third play from scrimmage
for a touchdown (scoring the first points for the franchise). The
Texans shocked their intrastate rivals 19-10, becoming just the
second expansion team ever to win their first game (after the
Minnesota Vikings in 1961). The
Texans lost their next five games before winning for the first time
on the road against the
Jaguars, a team they would find success
against in the seasons to come.
Victories over the
New York Giants
in Houston and the
Steelers in
Pittsburgh (despite just 46 total yards of offense – an NFL low for
a winning team) and the Texans finished the season 4–12, sending
two players (
Gary Walker and
Aaron Glenn) to the
Pro
Bowl, the most ever by an expansion team. The season was deemed
a success despite David Carr being sacked an NFL record 76 times
and the realization that
Tony Boselli,
the man they had hoped would protect their young quarterback, would
never play a down of football for the team.
During the next two seasons, the Texans made steady progress. In
2003, they started out much as they had done in 2002 by shocking
the heavily favored
Dolphins in Miami
to open the season. No other expansion team had ever won the season
opener in each of its first two seasons. The Texans would only
improve their record by one game in that season, but after a
victory over the eventual NFC champion
Carolina Panthers and a tough overtime
loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion
New England Patriots, optimism was high
going into 2004 that they could compete with any team in the
league. That optimism soured, however, after the Texans started the
’04 season 0–3 and for the first time fans began to question the
direction in which head coach
Dom Capers
and the front office were taking. No other expansion team had taken
so long to win back-to-back games and expectations in the third
season were growing. Finally, after their first victory of 2004 in
Kansas City, the Texans came home
and defeated the
Oakland Raiders the
following week to secure their first win streak in franchise
history. Some guy at a certain point had said that he would not cut
his hair or shave until the Houston Texans won back-to-back games.
He was featured prominently on NFL coverage that weekend, looking
scruffy and unshaven.
sweeping division rivals Tennessee and Jacksonville and another
impressive pair of back-to-back wins late in the season, the Texans
were poised to finish the year 8–8. All they had to do was beat the
3-12
Cleveland Browns at home. The
Texans came out flat and unprepared, however, and fell to the
Browns 22–14. The game served as an omen of bad times ahead. On the
bright side, second year receiver
Andre
Johnson was selected to his first Pro Bowl and it was the first
(and, until 2008, only) season that the Texans did not finish last
in the AFC South.
Despite the disappointing end to the 2004 season and a troubling
preseason, a playoff push by the Texans in 2005 still seemed
likely. They got hammered by the
Bills
in Buffalo 22–7 to open the season and then humiliated by the
Steelers at home 27–7 the following week. As the losses mounted,
whatever optimism that was left over from the previous year faded
away. Offensive Coordinator
Chris
Palmer was replaced before the third week and media and fans
began to point to questionable personnel decisions and lackluster
draft picks by General Manager
Charley
Casserly and doubt about Dom Capers ability to lead the team in
the future began to surface. They started the season 0–6 before
beating the Browns in Houston only to follow that up with another
six game losing streak. By the end of the season most were calling
for Dom Capers and Charley Casserly to be fired. Conspiracy
theories that the Texans were tanking games to secure the number
one pick after several close losses late in the year culminated
with the “Bush Bowl” in San Francisco during the last week of the
season.
The Texans and 49ers came into the game with the two
worst records in the NFL and the loser would “win” the right to
choose USC
running back Reggie Bush
in the 2006 NFL Draft. The Texans lost 20–17 and finished
2–14, the worst in the league. One bright spot was the sensational
rookie season by kick returner
Jerome
Mathis who returned two kicks back for touchdowns, including
one for 99-yards against Kansas City. Mathis was Houston's only
player in 2005 to be selected to the Pro Bowl.
After finishing 2–14 in 2005 the Texans fired Dom Capers and most
of his staff. General Manager Charley Casserly was spared, but
would eventually leave after the draft, replaced by
Rick Smith.
Gary
Kubiak, offensive coordinator of the
Denver Broncos and a Houston native, was
hired to take over and the franchise headed into the most
controversial off-season in team history.
While most in the
national media believed that the Texans drafting Reggie Bush in the 2006 Draft was a no-brainer,
many in Houston began to voice their desire for the team to draft
hometown hero Vince Young after his
performance in leading the University of Texas
to victory over Bush's USC team in the Rose
Bowl
, that year's NCAA National Championship
Game.
In February, after a vote of confidence from Gary Kubiak, the
Texans exercised an $8 million bonus option for David Carr,
guaranteeing he would be a Texan in 2006. Still, the debate between
Bush and Young raged on for months over local sports talk radio and
internet message boards. While support for Vince Young was
mounting, most still thought Reggie Bush would eventually be
drafted by the Texans.
In a
stunning turn of events, however, the Texans shocked the NFL world
on the eve of the NFL Draft by announcing that North
Carolina State
defensive end Mario
Williams - not Reggie Bush or Vince Young - would be
the team’s choice for their number one pick. Fans were
angered and shocked, many booed the choice during a public draft
party at Reliant Stadium and the Texans were ridiculed by the
national media for committing what many believed was the worst
mistake in NFL Draft history. Comparisons to
Michael Jordan and
Sam
Bowie were immediately being made and the endless
second-guessing began. Reggie Bush fell to the
New Orleans Saints and Vince Young was
taken by the Titans. By drafting Williams, the Texans addressed
their greatest need, yet it would turn out to be a public relations
nightmare that would haunt them for much of the 2006 season. By the
end of the year Bush and the Saints were on their way to the NFC
Championship game and Young had won the Offensive Rookie of the
Year Award. Mario Williams finished with 4.5 sacks and 47 tackles
while suffering from debilitating
plantar fasciitis for the entire
season.
2006–present
2006
On September 10, 2006, native Houstonian
Gary Kubiak made his head coaching debut as he
led the Texans against the
Philadelphia Eagles at Reliant Stadium.
Despite taking the first drive down the field for a touchdown, the
game resulted in a disappointing 24-10 loss. They lost the next two
in embarrassing fashion before awarding Kubiak his first career
victory with a win over the Miami Dolphins in week four. After a
loss to Dallas, two of the next four games would be against
division rival Jacksonville – and Houston beat them both times. As
unexplainable as the Texans’ continued ability to beat the Jaguars,
so too was a game against the Titans where they out-gained
Tennessee in total yards 427 to 197 but lost because of five
turnovers.
The Texans went on to suffer two heart-breaking losses in their
final eight games because of a weak defense, which proved to cost
them their first breakeven season. They first allowed the
Buffalo Bills to score a go-ahead touchdown
with just nine seconds remaining, and then three weeks later
Tennessee Titans QB Vince Young ran
39 yards for the winning touchdown in overtime. A week later, the
emotionally exhausted Texans showed up in Foxborough to face the
New England Patriots and were
hammered 40–7.
The Texans made the most of the remainder of the season as Carr led
the team to victories in what would prove to be his final two games
as a Texan. Snapping a nine game losing streak to the
Indianapolis Colts, the Texans stunned
the eventual Super Bowl Champions 27–24 as Carr went 16–23 with 1
TD and no interceptions or sacks; and finished the game with a
6-play, 31 yard drive to put
Kris Brown
in a position to kick the winning field goal. Carr finished the
season by beating the
Cleveland
Browns in Houston; giving the Texans their first back-to-back
wins in two years. The Texans finished with six wins in 2006, four
more than the previous year. Had it not been for the last minute
defensive failures versus the Bills and the Titans, the Texans
would have finished with their first breakeven season at 8–8, on
the back of their rapidly improving offense.
In terms of individual performances, David Carr finished the season
with a career high 68.9% pass completion percentage and tied the
NFL record of 22 for consecutive pass completions in the game
versus the Buffalo Bills. The Carr-to-Johnson combination again
proved to be formidable, as Andre Johnson led the league in
receptions with 103 and was selected to his second Pro Bowl.
Finally, the Texans got contributions from all seven of their
2006 NFL Draft picks, including DE
Mario Williams, TE
Owen Daniels and LB
DeMeco Ryans - a second round pick who
was selected as the NFL’s
Defensive
Rookie of the Year.
2007
Most of the speculation in Houston following the 2006 season
involved David Carr and his future with the Texans. On March 21,
reports surfaced that backup
Atlanta
Falcons QB
Matt Schaub would be
traded to the Texans. The Texans and Falcons swapped first round
picks and the Texans gave Atlanta their second round pick in 2007
and 2008. Upon his introduction in Houston on March 22, Schaub was
announced as the starting quarterback in 2007. Despite rumors that
the Texans were attempting to trade him, the team granted the
popular Carr an unconditional release so that the former #1 pick
could shop for his own team. On April 6, 2007
David Carr joined the
Carolina Panthers and became the starter
after an injury to longtime Panthers
Jake
Delhomme ended his season. The Texans' first-round pick in
2007, DT
Amobi Okoye, is the youngest
player ever selected in the history of the NFL Draft. Okoye did not
turn 20 until June 10, 2007.
For Matt Schaub and the Texans, the 2007 season started on a high
note. They extended their franchise record two-game winning streak
from the end of 2006 to four with victories at home against the
Chiefs and on the road in Carolina. After the 2–0 start, however,
the Texans would be plagued with injuries and turnovers. Matt
Schaub missed five full games due to injury and major portions of
two others. Former Pro-Bowl receiver Andre Johnson missed 7 games
due to a knee injury.
Dunta Robinson
was lost for the season after a leg injury in a Week 9 game against
Oakland, starting Center
Steve
McKinney suffered a season-ending injury in the third game of
the season, and
Ahman Green, who was
signed in the offseason to a large contract, rushed for only 260
yards, missed several games and finished the season on IR. Despite
all of this, the Texans would have one of the best seasons in
franchise history, finishing with a .500 record for the first time
ever, including going 6-2 at home and setting several team and
individual records. The Texans had their best offense, setting team
highs in points, average yards per play, total touchdowns, passing
touchdowns, total yards and passing yards. Andre Johnson finished
with a career and franchise high 8 touchdowns. Mario Williams set a
franchise record with 14 sacks, finishing first in the AFC and tied
for third in the league and DeMeco Ryans was selected as a starter
in his first Pro Bowl. The Texans posted a 1–5 division record,
finishing last in the
AFC South, and a 7–3
record outside of their division. In 2007,
Kris Brown became the first kicker in NFL history
to make three field goals of 54 yards or longer in a single game,
which included a franchise record 57-yard field goal to beat the
Dolphins.
2008
The Texans opened the 2008 season with consecutive losses to the
Pittsburgh Steelers 38-17, and
the
Tennessee Titans 31-12. Their
week two home opener against Baltimore was rescheduled due to
damage in and around the city of Houston
Hurricane Ike forcing the Texans to play three
consecutive road games before finally returning home in October.
After back-to-back heartbreaking losses against Jacksonville and
Indianapolis, the Texans secured their first win of the season
against the Dolphins in dramatic come from behind fashion capped
with a fourth and goal touchdown run by Matt Schaub with three
seconds remaining in the game. The Texans then went on to beat
Detroit 28-21. The following week they blew out the Bengals 35-6,
the largest point differential in Texans history. They set a
franchise record for consecutive wins with 4, after beating the
Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, and the
Tennessee Titans. After a disappointing loss to the
Oakland Raiders in Week 16 the Texans
finished the 2008 NFL Season with a 31-24 win against the
Chicago Bears, effectively playing spoiler and
eliminating the Bears from a playoff spot that they would have
secured with a win over the Texans. On December 1, 2008, the Texans
defeated the
Jacksonville
Jaguars 30-17 in their first-ever game on Monday Night
Football. Rookie
Steve Slaton rushed
for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught 2 passes for 52 yards.
Mario Williams had 3 sacks and a
forced fumble, and
Andre Johnson
caught 7 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown.
They finished the season with an 8-8 record, tying the franchise
record for wins in a season. Little did the Texans realize that
their 2nd of two 3rd round picks in the 2008 NFL Draft, acquired
via trade, would be one of their two best offensive players in
2008.
Steve Slaton was the 10th running
back selected in the draft, but wound up being the steal of the
draft by leading all rookies with 1,282 yards rushing and 1,659
yards from scrimmage. Other highlights included
Andre Johnson leading the NFL in receptions
with 115 and receiving yards with 1,575. The Texans also sent three
players to the Pro Bowl:
Andre
Johnson,
Mario Williams and
Owen Daniels.
Nickname
Houston Texans uniform
combination
On March 2, 2000, Houston NFL 2002 announced that the team name
search had been narrowed down to six choices: Apollos, Bobcats,
Stallions, Texans, Torros and Wildcatters. The name Oilers had been
retired by the owner of the Titans. The five names are determined
after several months of research conducted jointly by Houston NFL
2002 and NFL Properties. An online survey regarding the name
generated more than 65,000 responses in just seven days. In April
the list of five names was narrowed down to three: Apollos,
Stallions and Texans. Before selecting "Texans", owner Bob McNair
asked fellow NFL owner
Lamar Hunt for his
permission to use the moniker. Hunt and his franchise, the
Dallas Texans (now the
Kansas City Chiefs), were charter members
of the
American Football
League; Hunt granted permission for the Houston franchise to
use the Texan nickname.
Logos and uniforms
On September 6, 2000, the NFL's 32nd franchise was officially
christened the Houston Texans before thousands at a downtown rally
on Texas Avenue. Before unveiling the logo Bob McNair described the
colors as "Deep Steel Blue", "Battle Red" and "Liberty White". The
logo was an abstract depiction of a bull split in such a way to
resemble the
flag of Texas, including
a lone star, the five points of which representing pride, courage,
strength, tradition and independence. A year later the Texans
unveiled their uniforms during another downtown rally.
The Texans' helmet is dark blue with the Texans bull logo. The
uniform design consists of red trim and either dark blue or white
jerseys. The team wears white pants with its blue jerseys, blue
pants with its white jerseys. Starting with the 2006 season, the
Texans wear all-white for their home opener, and also in 2006, the
team began to wear an all-blue combination for home games vs. the
Indianapolis Colts. In 2003, the
Texans introduced an alternative red jersey (most of the time worn
in divisional game against the
Jacksonville Jaguars) with blue trim.
In 2007 the Texans introduced red pants for the first time, pairing
them with the red jerseys for an all-red look. In October 2008 the
Texans paired blue socks (instead of the traditional red) with
their blue pants and white jerseys. Their uniforms are made by
Reebok.
In 2002 the team wore a patch commemorating their inaugural
season.
Like many other NFL teams located in
subtropical climates, the Texans
traditionally wear their white jerseys at home during the first
half of the season — forcing opponents to wear their dark ones
during the hot autumns in Houston.
The team will still wear white jerseys
during those early regular season games even though the retractable
roof of the club's home field, Reliant Stadium, may be closed. In the preseason, the Texans
wear white at home.
Image:568.png|Inaugural Season Patch
(2002)
Image:texansexpdraft.gif|Expansion Draft Logo
(2002)
Image:TexansSecondary.jpg|Secondary Logo
(2006-present)
Statistics
Season-by-season records
Players of note
Current players
NFL Draft history
First-round draft picks by year
Awards and honors
Coaches of note
Head coaches
| Name |
From |
To |
Record |
Titles |
| W |
L |
T |
| Dom Capers |
January 21, 2001 |
January 2, 2006 |
18 |
46 |
0 |
0 |
| Gary Kubiak |
January 26, 2006 |
Present |
22 |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Offensive Coordinators
Defensive Coordinators
Current staff
Traditions
- Battle Red Day -
On Battle Red Day the team wears the red alternate jerseys and fans
are encouraged to wear red to the game. Starting in 2007 and
including 2008, this included the Texans wearing red pants along
with the red shirts.
- Bull Pen - The sections behind the north end zone
of Reliant Stadium are known as the Bull Pen. Some of the
most avid Texans fans attend games in the Bull Pen and regular
members have helped create and implement fan traditions, songs and
chants.
- Bull Pen Pep
Band - 45-member musical group that performs at all
Houston Texans home games.
- Pre-Kickoff
Tradition - Before each kickoff at a home game, the
Texans will run a short clip of a raging bull thrashing the
opponent of the week. The video is paired with the AC/DC song
"Thunderstruck"
Radio and television
, the Texans' flagship radio stations were KILT SportsRadio 610AM and KILT 100.3FM. The AM station has an all-sports format, while the FM station plays contemporary country music. Both are owned by CBS Radio. Marc Vandermeer is the play-by-play announcer. Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware provides color commentary, and SportsRadio 610 host Rich Lord serves as the sideline reporter. Preseason games are telecast by KTRK
, an ABC owned and operated station. Joel Meyers calls the preseason games on TV, with former Oilers running back Spencer Tillman providing color commentary. Also it has been reported that singer/actress Hilary Duff is a huge fan of her hometown Texans. She plans to sing at some of their games this upcoming season and bring Houston Texans football to new heights as they will be trying to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
Spanish language radio broadcasts of the team's games are aired on
KLAT La Tremenda 1010AM.
Theme music
The official song of the Texans since the team's inception in 2002
has been "Football Time in Houston", written by Texas native
Clay Walker.
Work in the community
The Houston Texans organization is a major supporter of the
character education program
Heart of a Champion
Foundation.
Notes and references
- http://www.hworth.net/nfl_history/hou.html]
- http://www.hworth.net/nfl_history/hou.html
- ESPN - Falcons agree to deal backup QB Schaub to
Houston - NFL
- http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=1821
External links
.jpg/200px-Texans_v_Jaguars_(264).jpg)
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