The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the then-Houston, Texas, team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. The Oilers won two AFL championships before joining the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.

The team relocated from Houston to the state of Tennessee in 1997, first playing in Memphis for one season before moving to Nashville. For two seasons, the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers before changing its name to Titans in 1999.

Franchise history

Logos and uniforms

Tennessee Oilers uniform: 1997-98.

Tennessee Titans uniform combination

When the team debuted as the Oilers in 1960, the club's logo was an oil rig derrick. Except for minor color changes throughout the years, this logo remained the same until the team was renamed the Titans in 1999. The logo was originally called Ol' Riggy but the use was dropped before the 1974 season.

The Oilers uniforms consisted of blue or white jerseys, red trim, and white pants. From 1966 through 1971, the pants with both the blue and white jerseys were silver, to match the color of the helmets. The team commonly wore light blue pants on the road with the white jerseys from 1972 through 1994, with the exception of the 1980 season, and selected games in the mid 80s, when the team wore an all-white road combination. For selected games in 1973 and 1974, and again from 1981 through 1984, the Oilers wore their white jerseys at home. The light blue pants were discarded by coach Jeff Fisher in 1995.

From 1960 to about 1965, and from 1972 to 1974, they wore blue helmets; from 1966 to 1971, the helmets were silver; and they were white from 1975 to 1998.

During the 1997–98 period when they were known as the "Tennessee Oilers", the team had an alternate logo that combined elements of the flag of Tennessee with the derrick logo. The team also wore their white uniforms in home games, as opposed to their time in Houston, when their blue uniforms were worn at home. The team reverted back to wearing their blue uniforms at home when the team name was changed to the Titans and their uniforms were completely redesigned, though on occasion the white uniforms are still worn for a home game.

When the team was renamed the Titans, the club introduced a new logo: A circle with three stars, similar to that found on the flag of Tennessee; a large "T"; and blue and red flames (sometimes jokingly referred to as the Flaming Thumbtack). The uniforms consist of white helmets, red trim, and either navy or white jerseys. White pants are normally worn with the navy jerseys, and navy pants are worn with the white jerseys. On both the navy and white jerseys, the outside shoulders and sleeves are light "Titans Blue". In a game vs. the Washington Redskins in 2006, the Titans wore their navy jerseys with navy pants for the first time.

The Titans introduced an alternate jersey in 2003 that is light "Titans Blue" with navy outside shoulders and sleeves. That jersey is usually worn with the road blue pants. When it was the alternate jersey from 2003 to 2007 the Titans wore the jersey twice in each regular season game (and also once in each preseason game). They would always wear the "Titans Blue" jersey in their divisional game against the Houston Texans and for another selected home game in each regular season (one additional selected home game in each preseason). In November 2006, the Titans introduced light "Titans Blue" pants in a game at Philadelphia. The pants were reminiscent of the ones donned by the Oilers. In December 2006, they combined the "Titans Blue" pants with the "Titans Blue" jersey to create an all "Titans Blue" uniform.

During the 2006 season, the Titans wore seven different uniform combinations, pairing the white jersey with all three sets of pants (white, Titans blue, navy blue), the navy jersey with the white and navy pants, and the Titans blue jersey with navy and Titans blue pants. In 2007 against the Atlanta Falcons, the Titans paired the navy blue jersey with the Titans blue pants for the only time, a game of which they won.They also did the navy blue jerseys with the light blue pants against the Tampa Bay Buccaneerss but they lost that game.The team has yet to pair the Titans blue jersey with white pants.

In 2008, it was announced that the "Titans Blue" jerseys would become the regular home uniforms, with the navy being relegated to alternate status.

The NFL and Hall of Fame committee have announced that the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills will kick off the 2009 National Football League preseason in the Hall of Fame Game. Kickoff is slated for 8:00 PM ET on Sunday, August 9 2009 at Canton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium. The game will be nationally televised by NBC. This will be the first time, since Tennessee changed its name, they will wear their Oilers uniform, in honor of the AFL's 50th anniversary.

Players

Pro Football Hall of Famers

• Elvin Bethea
• George Blanda
• Earl Campbell
• Ken Houston
• Bruce Matthews
• Mike Munchak
• Warren Moon

Retired numbers

• 1 Warren Moon
• 34 Earl Campbell
• 43 Jim Norton
• 63 Mike Munchak
• 65 Elvin Bethea
• 74 Bruce Matthews

Coaches of note

Head coaches

• Lou Rymkus (1960–1961)
• Wally Lemm (1961)
• Pop Ivy (1962–1963)
• Sammy Baugh (1964)
• Hugh Taylor (1965)
• Wally Lemm (1966–1970)
• Ed Hughes (1971)
• Bill Peterson (1972–1973)
• Sid Gillman (1973–1974)
• Bum Phillips (1975–1980)
• Ed Biles (1981–1983)
• Chuck Studley (interim) (1983)
• Hugh Campbell (1984–1985)
• Jerry Glanville (1985–1989)
• Jack Pardee (1990–1994)
• Jeff Fisher (1994–present)

Radio and television

The Titans' flagship radio station is WKDF 103.3FM, Mike Keith is the team's play-by-play announcer, and former Titans tight end Frank Wycheck provides color commentary during games. Larry Stone is also a part of the team doing. The Titans Radio Network is broadcast on some 70 other stations.

The team had long resisted placing any of its game on Sirius XM Radio.

Most preseason games are televised on WKRN, the ABC affiliate in Nashville. WKRN also airs a weekly show, on Tuesday nights, hosted by Fisher.

From Wikipedia