NFL Team by Team Guide: Tennessee Titans
The Titans franchise was founded back in 1959 as the Houston Oilers. They were a charter member of the old American Football League (AFL). In 1997, the team moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they became known as the Tennessee Oilers for their first two seasons. The team changed its name to the Titans before the 1999 season.
When the team moved to Nashville, it did not have a home stadium and played at the Liberty Bowl and Vanderbilt Stadium while its current home, Nissan Stadium, was built. The Titans have been playing there since 1999.
Fans of the Titans can watch regional and national broadcasts of games on CBS and FOX Sports and also on NBC, ESPN, and ABC if Tennessee plays a prime time game. The Titans are strong draw on special broadcasts like Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football. Titans fans can watch almost the complete Tennessee schedule via live stream using a streaming service like HULU, fuboTV, or CBS All-Access.
Home of the Titans
As mentioned, the Titans moved into the brand new Nissan Stadium in 1999. It was known as the Adelphia Coliseum when it opened, the Coliseum from 2002 to 2006, and LP Field from 2006 to 2015. Nissan Stadium is one of the 14 NFL venues that use a natural grass surface. The stadium 69,143 fans for Titans home games.
Championship History
Sharing history with the old Houston Oilers, the Titans franchise has enjoyed several periods of success. There have been 23 playoff appearances, the most recent coming in 2019 when Tennessee advanced to the AFC championship game.
The Titans have won nine division titles. Four were won in the old AFL. The ’91 and ’93 Oilers won the AFC Central. The Titans won the AFC Central in 2000 and the AFC North in 2002 and 2008.
Tennessee claims one conference title. That came in 1999. The Oilers won AFL championships in 1960 and ’61.
Best of the Titans
The Titans franchise has 16 players inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Many of those are from the early Houston Oilers days. Quarterback Warren Moon spent time in the CFL before becoming a nine-time NFL Pro Bowler. He won the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award in 1990 and led the NFL in passing yards twice. Before Moon, there was RB Earl Campbell, a former Heisman Trophy winner. Campbell was the 1978 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, led the league in rushing three times, was the Offensive Player of the Year three times, and won the NFL MVP in 1979.
Moon’s and Campbell’s Titans’ counterparts were QB Steve McNair and RB Eddie George. McNair was the third pick in the 1995 NFL draft and went on to throw for over 31,000 yards in his career. He won the 2003 NFL MVP and was a three-time Pro Bowl pick.
George was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1996. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times and ran for over 1,000 yards in each eight full NFL season except one (2001).
Author: Dan Anderson