Houston Oilers

[leedsunited]

The new Houston franchise should have taken over the Oilers name and uniform instead of going with Texans. The Texans uniforms are very underwhelming.

I think the Texans' uniforms, colors and logo blow the bland Oilers stuff out of the water. I'm pretty sure most fans would agree.

Actually, the Texans are the bland one to me. Uninspired colors (navy, red), middling logo, absolutely atrocious nickname.

[Shizznick]

The new Houston franchise should have taken over the Oilers name and uniform instead of going with Texans. The Texans uniforms are very underwhelming.

I think the Texans' uniforms, colors and logo blow the bland Oilers stuff out of the water. I'm pretty sure most fans would agree.

Actually, the Texans are the bland one to me. Uninspired colors (navy, red), middling logo, absolutely atrocious nickname.

I always thought that if they went with the Navy/ Red scheme, it should have been red jersey/ navy pants. I believe someone once posted that look on here. At least they would not have looked like any other NFL team.

[hecticbro]

They don't look like every other NFL team. Baseball is the sport with the real navy and red crisis. The Texans share a similar color scheme with just three or four teams, and none of those teams are simply red and navy (Pats have silver, Giants have a lighter blue and gray, Titans have the light blue, Bills have some other weird blues). The Texans uniforms are sleek and modern while classy and simple at the same time, just like their logo.

As the Oilers, they had an ugly logo and a poor color scheme for football. Football teams should look bold, not weak.

[Shizznick]

Point taken, but I was speaking generally. Navy helmet, navy jersey, white pants.

[otherwilds]

As a Titans fan here in Nashville, I had always loved the Houston Oilers uniforms. I have wondered if someday they would have a retro uni game with some other AFL team. They can gimmick up a retro Titans logo, maybe take the T/sword logo re-envisioned in a shape not unlike that the old Oilers derrick helmet decal.

[Spearhead]

I'm an old Oiler fan and I wish we could have kept the Oiler name and colors as well. The old Oilers had a great look:

[FiddySicks]

I think if Bud Adams had the option he should stuck with Tennessee Oilers. Sure it's ridiculously out of place, but considering the teas history despite the move it would've been accepted.

And plus, theres no denying how boss of a look this was

[BlueSky]

Outstanding look. Those colors just look terrific together. Couldn't disagree more with those who dislike the 'derrick' logo. It was everything a logo should be - clean and to the point.

[John in KY]

I forgot to clarify. That's how I believe it should be. Everything I wrote is purely opinion on my part. I wasn't stating facts. Just my opinion on how it should be.

Sorry, I did misunderstand. I actually agree with you - when a team moves and does not plan on using its existing identity, I believe that identity should be returned and held "in trust" by the league in case another team returns to that city and wants to use it. Right now it is up to the personalities and egos involved. I think it is somewhat ironic that Bud Adams refused to let go of the Oilers name and identity and yet willingly used the "recycled" Titans name to build his new brand/identity in Nashville.

[Mac the Knife]

In my flag football league I'd simply LOVE for a team to adopt any combination of the Oilers colors. Sadly though, no local screen printer is willing to do jersey shirts featuring a light color outlined by a dark one (they screen a slightly larger number first, then once it cures they center a smaller number over the first and do a second screen). The color scheme is and always was one of my faves, even if the team itself wasn't.

[Blue Falcon]

I think if Bud Adams had the option he should stuck with Tennessee Oilers. Sure it's ridiculously out of place, but considering the teas history despite the move it would've been accepted.

And plus, theres no denying how boss of a look this was

My understanding is that the Oilers players didn't think the look was "boss" enough, and they voted to wear the all-white uniforms starting in 1997. The Oilers only wore these blue jerseys twice from 1997-98, because some of the players thought the light shade of blue looked "weak."

[powersurge]

They don't look like every other NFL team. Baseball is the sport with the real navy and red crisis. The Texans share a similar color scheme with just three or four teams, and none of those teams are simply red and navy (Pats have silver, Giants have a lighter blue and gray, Titans have the light blue, Bills have some other weird blues). The Texans uniforms are sleek and modern while classy and simple at the same time, just like their logo.

Exaaaaactly.

Navy is not a Football uniform problem...its a BASEBALL uniform problem.

The name may leave little to be desired, but the Texan's logo is simple, iconic, and an instant classic. They are also easily recognized IMO. I don't know of any other team, besides my beloved Bears or Rams who have a navy helmet AND navy jersey. The Texans looking nothing like the Rams and not as close to the Bears as people think.

I think they completely nailed everything about that identity...and I hope they keep it the same for a long time.

[Spearhead]

I always thought the old post and ball symbol for the H and O was a great idea.

Found this photo from a 1960 Oilers game program. Wonder how close this helmet came to being official?

[leedsunited]

OMG, great photo. Love their matching hairhelmets. And the feather coming out of the derrick is a bad touch

[hecticbro]

Found this photo from a 1960 Oilers game program. Wonder how close this helmet came to being official?

Maybe that's a bit over the top, but I think it's a better take on the oil derrick. When I was a little kid, I wondered why a team from Houston had the Eiffel Tower on their helmets.

[tBBP]

They don't look like every other NFL team. Baseball is the sport with the real navy and red crisis. The Texans share a similar color scheme with just three or four teams, and none of those teams are simply red and navy (Pats have silver, Giants have a lighter blue and gray, Titans have the light blue, Bills have some other weird blues). The Texans uniforms are sleek and modern while classy and simple at the same time, just like theIir logo.

Exaaaaactly.

Navy is not a Football uniform problem...its a BASEBALL uniform problem.

The name may leave little to be desired, but the Texan's logo is simple, iconic, and an instant classic. They are also easily recognized IMO. I don't know of any other team, besides my beloved Bears or Rams who have a navy helmet AND navy jersey. The Texans looking nothing like the Rams and not as close to the Bears as people think.

I think they completely nailed everything about that identity...and I hope they keep it the same for a long time.

Yeah...you sho' iz right about the baseball thing. Let's see...Braves, Indians, Angels (although you wouldn't know it from a distance), Nationals (even with the lil' bit of gold mixed up in there), Red Sox, Cardinals, Twins...that's SEVEN out of, what, 29 or 30 teams? That's damn near a third of the league! I will say, however, that of late the NFL has become a little too saturated with the navy conversion, as well. (And the by the way, powersurge, the Denver Broncos also have a navy helmet and navy jerseys...but maybe that orange swoosh on the sides was reason enough to forget about including them. )

I think what it is is that most of us (I would guess) grew up in a time when colors were more vivid...and bear in mind the 70s was also the time when the exposure of TV pretty much led to some pretty wild colors and color schemes, and I think most of that rolled over into the '80s and early '90s (which, for me, might have been the golden era of uniform creativity, however garish that creativity may have been--see the thread on the "tire tread" college roundball unis, to say nothing of Apex One as a whole). At some point, in the late 90s into the turn of the decade, at least in my opinion, I think the general consensus became "darker is meaner, darker is tougher", and maybe that led to the perceived black and navy onslaught we saw with (in no particular order) the Broncos, Rams, Bills, Seahawks, and Jaguars (even though it was always in their scheme, it seems like for the past five years, the color pretty much, for all intents and purposes, "got promoted") and, more recently, the Ravens with their all-black alternate look--and all that is to say nothing of darker color schemes in general, the two most obvious being the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (which fits them, but still...). Now the Rams, I could see, due to relocation and wanting to develop a separate identity from the L.A. days (which they've now done...although that Super Bowl was won in the "L.A. look" ). The Titans? Ehh...the luv-ya blue...a link to the Oilers days, which may also be why some red was kept. But methinks the navy was picked as a "flavor of the moment" type deal. I will say, however, that maybe things are coming full-circle in Nashville, or maybe Vince Young got more pull than any of us may have thought previously (he is HOuston born-and-bred after all), because now that luv-ya blue done came out full-force with the Titans...and I, for one, like it. Now with the Texans, with their colors also being somewhat the same as can be found on the state flag of Texas, it makes a little bit more sense. (And yes...that is DEFINITELY a sweet logo.)

Well...that's just my two rusted Lincolns on the matter.

[Joshawaggie]

It's Bucco Bruce's feather in his cap!

Graet find, and way too detailed for a helmet, they even have the little thing (I dunno what it is, part of the pump??) on the side of the derrick there, crazy.

[Gothamite]

Navy is not a Football uniform problem...its a BASEBALL uniform problem.

Must respectfully disagree.

When the Broncos, Patriots, Chargers, Oilers/Titans, Seahawks, Bills and Rams all change their main color to navy (and the Dolphins add navy to their color scheme), then navy is a football uniform problem.

Besides, the Broncos and Rams each have a navy jersey and navy shell.

[Aero3001]

It's great that the Texans use the state flag for inspiration for their logo but the Texas flag does not use Navy Blue. The Oilers look was classic and the colors worked well together.

[Jaybird]

As for the Texans name, another former AFL team owner, Lamar Hunt, gave the Houston team his blessing when asked if they could use the Texans name, as Hunt and Oiler owner Bud Adams helped start the league, and the fact that Houston was an original AFL city.