Houston Oilers

[n2pux]

grew up in the houston area, as an oiler fan, and i loved the oilers' look. but i have also warmed up to the texans identity too. difficult for me to say which i prefer.

colors: oilers win this one for me. the columbia blue/red/white combo was unique. some might have thought the light blue was a "weak" color. but after you were run over by a sky blue earl campbell, it didn't seem so weak. and whenever i bust out my throwback earl jersey here in phx, it gets plenty of ooh's & ahh's. texans colors are not bad. but i hoped for more originality. guess it's better than some trendy colors like purple, teal, etc.

name: slight edge to texans. most of the non-texas population doesn't like texans as a team name (or you could argue as a group of people either). but it plays well on the whole texas pride thing. texans are prouder of where they're from than any other state. maybe it has something to do with the size, or the fact it was once a country, or old westerns. justified or not, texans are proud to be texans. ask someone in russia where texas is & there's a great chance they know. ask them where arizona is &, even though it's a great place, they probably wouldn't know. so while it's a name that gets funny looks elsewhere, it's a strong identity locally. oilers ...well, my nostalgic feelings aside, it never was that great a name to me. it's kind of a made-up name. you can find it in the dictionary. but it was never used in the industry. i worked at a couple of refineries in texas when i was young. there were plenty of roughnecks, wildcatters, boilermakers, pipefitters, etc. but the only time i ever heard oilers mentioned was in football discussions.

logo: draw. i love both. my only complaint with the texans is that it's almost too good. that doesn't really make any sense. i guess i mean it looks a bit corporate to me. comparing it to other recent expansion teams like jax, baltimore, carolina ...it is very classy & could easily be used for almost any texas business. the oilers though, to me, had a strong, iconic logo. it was perfect for the team & region. it was simple without being bland, i thought. plus, i have to admit that as a kid with the name derek, it was cool that they had a derrick on their helmets (different spelling, sure). it was even cooler that their cheerleaders were the derrick dolls. you know, i took that & ran with it.

maybe one of you photoshop maestros could whip up a texans uni with oilers colors. that would be interesting.

there's your unsolicited, former houstonian newbie contribution.

[hecticbro]

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.

All seven of those teams simply darkened their shade of blue, and the Dolphins' navy trim was a barely-noticeable necessity (in order to break up the aqua and orange a bit).

[Grish]

. texans colors are not bad. but i hoped for more originality. guess it's better than some trendy colors like purple, teal, etc.

name: slight edge to texans. most of the non-texas population doesn't like texans as a team name (or you could argue as a group of people either). but it plays well on the whole texas pride thing. texans are prouder of where they're from than any other state. maybe it has something to do with the size, or the fact it was once a country, or old westerns. justified or not, texans are proud to be texans. ask someone in russia where texas is & there's a great chance they know. ask them where arizona is &, even though it's a great place, they probably wouldn't know. so while it's a name that gets funny looks elsewhere, it's a strong identity locally. oilers ...well, my nostalgic feelings aside, it never was that great a name to me. it's kind of a made-up name. you can find it in the dictionary. but it was never used in the industry. i worked at a couple of refineries in texas when i was young. there were plenty of roughnecks, wildcatters, boilermakers, pipefitters, etc. but the only time i ever heard oilers mentioned was in football discussions.

Unless you ask an Okie then they will say they are prouder of where they're from than any other state.

[random_ax]

sorry saw some old clips and i miss these...

great uni' to bad the owner had to leave town...

In a perfect world......okay, in MY world...the Oilers would've remained in Houston and we'd still have the Houston Oilers (GO BLUE). Of course, we'd also still have the Baltimore Colts and New York Titans and I'm not sure where I'd have the Rams...they might as well have moved them to Indy since in my word there would never have been an Indianapolis Colts.

I do like the Texans logo though but couldn't it have been used for an expansion team in San Antonio or Austin...named the Toros?

If Austin has roughly the same population as San Francisco..although I'm not sure if that includes the students of Univ of Texas....why can't they have an NFL franchise?

If Hartford was being considered for the new home of the Patriots..why can't they have an NFL franchise now:? You know if the Pats had moved to Hartford, Boston would've petitioned (and received) a new franchise...so why can't there ba an NFL franchise in both?

And how come teams threaten to leave a city because that city won't build them a new state-of-the-art stadium..and so after the team moves...the first thing the city does to secure one of the coveted new franchises...is to build a new stadium?

[Krona]

And how come teams threaten to leave a city because that city won't build them a new state-of-the-art stadium..and so after the team moves...the first thing the city does to secure one of the coveted new franchises...is to build a new stadium?

You could be adding St.Louis to that list. They blew it. build a new stadium on the cheap. and its already one of the worst in the league and potentially lose your team to the city you stole it from. i can always hope.

[Gothamite]

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.

All seven of those teams simply darkened their shade of blue, and the Dolphins' navy trim was a barely-noticeable necessity (in order to break up the aqua and orange a bit).

We can argue about how "necessary" a navy drop-shadow is (especially when the team admits that it made the numbers harder to read).

My point is that all seven of those teams went from jerseys of another color (and not just one of several shades of blue - we've also got orange and red into this mix) to navy jerseys.

So yes, navy is easily "a football problem," as was so eloquently put. Perhaps not as much a problem as in baseball, but a problem nonetheless.

[Gothamite]

And how come teams threaten to leave a city because that city won't build them a new state-of-the-art stadium..and so after the team moves...the first thing the city does to secure one of the coveted new franchises...is to build a new stadium?

You could be adding St.Louis to that list. They blew it. build a new stadium on the cheap. and its already one of the worst in the league and potentially lose your team to the city you stole it from. i can always hope.

We'll see. The LA situation is one that the League feels cannot continue, and expansion ought be off the table. That relocated franchise has to come from somewhere, and St. Louis seems as good as any.

[leedsunited]

sorry saw some old clips and i miss these...

great uni' to bad the owner had to leave town...

In a perfect world......okay, in MY world...the Oilers would've remained in Houston and we'd still have the Houston Oilers (GO BLUE). Of course, we'd also still have the Baltimore Colts and New York Titans and I'm not sure where I'd have the Rams...they might as well have moved them to Indy since in my word there would never have been an Indianapolis Colts.

I do like the Texans logo though but couldn't it have been used for an expansion team in San Antonio or Austin...named the Toros?

If Austin has roughly the same population as San Francisco..although I'm not sure if that includes the students of Univ of Texas....why can't they have an NFL franchise?

If Hartford was being considered for the new home of the Patriots..why can't they have an NFL franchise now:? You know if the Pats had moved to Hartford, Boston would've petitioned (and received) a new franchise...so why can't there ba an NFL franchise in both?

And how come teams threaten to leave a city because that city won't build them a new state-of-the-art stadium..and so after the team moves...the first thing the city does to secure one of the coveted new franchises...is to build a new stadium?

Oh man, that helmet is beauteous.

[leedsunited]

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.

All seven of those teams simply darkened their shade of blue, and the Dolphins' navy trim was a barely-noticeable necessity (in order to break up the aqua and orange a bit).

The dolphin navy wasn't barely noticeable to me (or probably any of us). It was a complete eyesore.

[Spearhead]

In a perfect world......okay, in MY world...the Oilers would've remained in Houston and we'd still have the Houston Oilers (GO BLUE). Of course, we'd also still have the Baltimore Colts and New York Titans and I'm not sure where I'd have the Rams...they might as well have moved them to Indy since in my word there would never have been an Indianapolis Colts.

*sigh* That IS a perfect world.

[hecticbro]

"If Austin has roughly the same population as San Francisco..although I'm not sure if that includes the students of Univ of Texas....why can't they have an NFL franchise?

If Hartford was being considered for the new home of the Patriots..why can't they have an NFL franchise now:? You know if the Pats had moved to Hartford, Boston would've petitioned (and received) a new franchise...so why can't there ba an NFL franchise in both?"

It's not as simple as population. With the NFL, you have to worry about TV markets and corporate sponsors and all of that. Also, the Pats own Hartford's market and I'd guess that Dallas would own Austin's. On top of that, Austin is probably too dedicated to college football to care about having its own NFL team.

If we gave every biggish city in the country a franchise, there'd be twice as many teams in the league and it would be ridiculous.

[leedsunited]

"If Austin has roughly the same population as San Francisco..although I'm not sure if that includes the students of Univ of Texas....why can't they have an NFL franchise?

If Hartford was being considered for the new home of the Patriots..why can't they have an NFL franchise now:? You know if the Pats had moved to Hartford, Boston would've petitioned (and received) a new franchise...so why can't there ba an NFL franchise in both?"

It's not as simple as population. With the NFL, you have to worry about TV markets and corporate sponsors and all of that. Also, the Pats own Hartford's market and I'd guess that Dallas would own Austin's. On top of that, Austin is probably too dedicated to college football to care about having its own NFL team.

If we gave every biggish city in the country a franchise, there'd be twice as many teams in the league and it would be ridiculous.

Exactly. The deciding factor is tv market size. That's why, when coupled with the rest of the Bay Area, the Niners represent the 5th biggest TV market in the nation (along with the Raiders, who are just along for the ride). That's why SF deserves a pro team moreso than Austin, TX.

The one anomaly to all this is the fact that Jacksonville got a pro franchise despite its middling tv market ranking.

[McCall]

"If Austin has roughly the same population as San Francisco..although I'm not sure if that includes the students of Univ of Texas....why can't they have an NFL franchise?

If Hartford was being considered for the new home of the Patriots..why can't they have an NFL franchise now:? You know if the Pats had moved to Hartford, Boston would've petitioned (and received) a new franchise...so why can't there ba an NFL franchise in both?"

It's not as simple as population. With the NFL, you have to worry about TV markets and corporate sponsors and all of that. Also, the Pats own Hartford's market and I'd guess that Dallas would own Austin's. On top of that, Austin is probably too dedicated to college football to care about having its own NFL team.

If we gave every biggish city in the country a franchise, there'd be twice as many teams in the league and it would be ridiculous.

Exactly. The deciding factor is tv market size. That's why, when coupled with the rest of the Bay Area, the Niners represent the 5th biggest TV market in the nation (along with the Raiders, who are just along for the ride). That's why SF deserves a pro team moreso than Austin, TX.

The one anomaly to all this is the fact that Jacksonville got a pro franchise despite its middling tv market ranking.

Exactly. And that's what took away St. Louis's expansion bid (though they probably worked out better with the Rams, 2007 excluded) and thus, you could say, Los Angeles's NFL spot.

And on the navy subject, while the Seahawks do have navy, Seahawk blue, which is more of a "grayish/royal mix" and not near the darkness of navy, is their primary color. And the Dolphins' navy is nearly non-existent in comparence to the other colors in their set.

[Shizznick]

sorry saw some old clips and i miss these...

great uni' to bad the owner had to leave town...

In a perfect world......okay, in MY world...the Oilers would've remained in Houston and we'd still have the Houston Oilers (GO BLUE). Of course, we'd also still have the Baltimore Colts and New York Titans and I'm not sure where I'd have the Rams...they might as well have moved them to Indy since in my word there would never have been an Indianapolis Colts.

I do like the Texans logo though but couldn't it have been used for an expansion team in San Antonio or Austin...named the Toros?

If Austin has roughly the same population as San Francisco..although I'm not sure if that includes the students of Univ of Texas....why can't they have an NFL franchise?

If Hartford was being considered for the new home of the Patriots..why can't they have an NFL franchise now:? You know if the Pats had moved to Hartford, Boston would've petitioned (and received) a new franchise...so why can't there ba an NFL franchise in both?

And how come teams threaten to leave a city because that city won't build them a new state-of-the-art stadium..and so after the team moves...the first thing the city does to secure one of the coveted new franchises...is to build a new stadium?

Mainly because Bud pulled this crap before. His threatened move to Jacksonville in '87 caused the city of Houston to renovate the AstroDome for him which was the demise of the exploding scoreboard of the Astros (dated now, but it was a cool novelty at the time it was built). When Bud came back and played the same card the second time around (about 5 or 6 years and millions of tax dollars later), the Mayor told him to take a hike.

[Sodboy13]

sorry saw some old clips and i miss these...

great uni' to bad the owner had to leave town...

Now, see, my eyes immediately focused on the beauty in the background - the Pats' unis from the first year of the Parcells era.

[mmejia]

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.

The Texas flag does not use "navy blue", but it does use "dark blue". Official pantone shades (according to wikipedia) are for the Texas flag are 193 (red) and 281 (dark blue).

[powersurge]

close enough IMO.

[darkhaha]

Thanks to everyone for all the great photos in this thread. My favorite era of Oilers' uniforms was from 1966-71, especially '66-68. I've shown some samples below; if anyone has more color pics from this era, I'd like to see them. I always thought the combination of light blue, silver/gray and red worked really well together.

[Claystation360]

Well first off , this is different then the whole Browns/Ravens deal , Bud founded the Oilers , they are for all and all his team his colors and it was his name . Just the Fans of Houston like any other good fan nation made it blow up with the different levels and different catch phases , the whole Lov ya Blue , Run and Shoot , winning Championships in the AFL , the multiple number of Uniforms of course made their impact on the American Culture and im pretty sure that if it wasn't for being in the same division with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 70's im pretty sure they would have been to a few Super Bowls and possibly won .

As for the Uniforms and Name I would have loved to see them come back , but it didn't fit to me that wasn't going to ever be the Oilers so , I like the direction that Houston went besides Adams was trying to get out of there for years either the move to Memphis during the mid 80's Jacksonville in the late 80's or San Antonio during the early 90's he wanted a new stadium and the novelty of the Astrodome was far gone , it was awkward and very much out of date for NFL football . But as for the titans using more of the Titan Blue , Adams from what I understand has been pondering doing it for a bit now the whole navy deal because it went with the Columbia of the old Oilers and still serepate the team from it's recent past thats also part of the reason with all white at Memphis ( plus the fact they didn't feel at home there or the last year in Houston so the felt as if they were a full time road team) But the Titans pretty much set there own identity and that in combo with VY being a big fan of the Columbia its coming back all over even as a Alt . I would look for a Oilers throwback at some point either Thanksgiving or a game in Houston I would really assume but Adams is a ass so you just never know .

[swisherHOU]

I imagine if the Oilers never moved they would have updated by now. I can imagine them tweaking them like the Cardinals or Vikings. It would be interesting to see a concept of that.

I hate the Titans and hate that they are wearing the Columbia Blue pants, mainly because it actually makes their uniforms look decent. I'm happier when the Titans look ugly like they usually do and the Columbia Blue is painful because it reminds me of the Oilers.

As a fan of both teams I'm glad that the Texans and Oilers will always be separate. I think the nostalgia for the Oilers will always be there here in Houston. One day, however, most of the fans here will have no memory of that team. Even now, I just realized that I've been a Texans fan for six seasons and was an Oilers fan for seven seasons.

Comparing the two uniforms I have to go with the Texans, even though there will always be a place in my heart for the Columbia Blue and Scarlet Red.

By the way, this is the shelf above my computer monitor: