IThe Texans – A Brief History

The first team in the city was the Oilers who relocated to Tennessee in 1997 because they did not get the finances from the city to build a new stadium. That left the city with no football team.

Bob McNair attempted to bring in a hockey team into the city but was refused because the stadium there was inadequate. After the Oilers moved, he decided to start a NFL team. Thus he started the fight to get NFL back into the city. There was strong local support. It all came down to two cities fighting to get the 32nd NFL franchise, Los Angeles and Houston. Eventually in October 1999, the NFL owners voted in support of the Texans and it became the 32nd team in the NFL and was also given the honor of hosting the Super Bowl in 2004.

The Reliant Stadium was inaugurated in 2002, which has been their home field ever since. It is the first NFL stadium with a retractable roof. Dom Capers was appointed as their first head coach.

The first game of the Texans was at Reliant Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys on 8th September 2002. The Texans won the game becoming only the second team to win their first ever game. The next two seasons saw them defeat big wigs like the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers making them a very successful team. Their optimism did not last very long though as they started suffering losses in their third season. By 2005, fans started doubting the abilities of coach Capers and General Manager Charley Casserly in drafting suitable players. At the end of the 2005 season, most fans were demanding the two be fired as the Texans losing streak continued. In 2006, Dom Capers was fired along with most of his staff and Gary Kubiak took over.

The Texans have not yet won any championship titles. They are only 7 years old and there is ample time for them to prove themselves.

It is interesting to note that there were three options for names of the team, Apollos, Stallions and Texans. Texans was chosen eventually, but Bob McNair had to ask fellow NFL owner Lamar Hunt permission to use the name as he had a team with the same name, the Dallas Texans.