Once in Memphis, they called themselves the Oilers but after two years renamed themselves the Titans.

The Houston Oilers

The Houston Oilers were founded and owned by Bud Adams, a rich oilman who tried unsuccessfully to bring a NFL expansion team to Houston. The Oilers were a charter member of the American Football League. It was only after the NFL-AFL merger that they became part of the NFL.

The Oilers were the first AFL champions when they defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960. They repeated the feat by defeating the same team, now known as the San Diego Chargers in 1961. The third year they were not as lucky and lost to the Dallas Texans in what came to be known as the longest football championship game at that time. The game had gone into double overtime and lasted over 77 minutes.

The Oilers have the distinction of being the first AFL team to sign a player from the NFL when they took Willard Dewveall away from the Chicago Bears in 1962. They also became the first team to play in a domed stadium, the Astrodome in Houston for the 1968 season.

The Oilers did not have a very good run in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Although they were successful in reaching the playoffs, but never made it to the Super Bowl from 1987 to 1993. In 1991 they won the AFC Central Division title, which was their first since 1967.

The Oilers

Bud Adams requested for a new stadium in Houston but was declined by the mayor due to lack of funds. Adams then started looking at other cities and decided upon Nashville after having talks with the mayor there. The Oilers first played In Memphis for one season at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 1997. A year later, they moved to Nashville.

The Tennessee Titans

Once they started playing in Nashville, Adams appointed an advisory committee to decide on a new name for the team. He wanted a name to reflect power and leadership. Thus was born the Tennessee Titans in 1999.

The same year the Titans went on to the Super Bowl only to lose to the St Louis Rams. In 2000, they won their first AFC Central title as the Titans. It was their third overall. The only other titles they won as the Titans were the AFC Conference championship in 1999 and the AFC South division championship in 2002. The Titans played for the AFC Central division until 2002, when they became part of the South division.