Established as the Houston Oilers on August 3, 1959, the Tennessee Titans have been a franchise in the National Football league for more than 62 years now. The club would play in Houston from the 1960 NFL season through the 1996 season before moving to Nashville. Today, the Tennessee Titans play in the AFC South division of the NFL, which also includes their rival Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Here are five interesting facts about the Tennessee Titans, formerly known as the Houston Oilers, of the National Football League
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- The Tennessee Titans are one of twelve NFL franchises to have never won the Super Bowl. (source) Even going back to the franchise’s time as the Houston Oilers, the Tennessee Titans are one of just twelve teams in the National Football League that have never won a Lombardi Trophy. The Titans have appeared in one Super Bowl, which was a 23-16 loss to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. The other teams that have never won a Super Bowl include the Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.
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- During the 1999 NFL season, the Titans were the only team that was able to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars. (source) The Jaguars dominated the NFL during the 1999 season, but their kryptonite proved to be their division rival Tennessee Titans. That season, Jacksonville went 14-2 in the regular season, with both losses coming to the Tennessee Titans (Titans won these games 20-19 and 41-14). Later on in the playoffs, Jacksonville defeated the Miami Dolphins in very convincing fashion by a score of 62-7, but would fall to Tennessee 33-14 in the AFC Championship Game. It’s the only time in NFL history where a team went 14-3 (including the playoffs) and had all three losses come to the same franchise.
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- The Titans all-time leading rusher is Eddie George. (source) Eddie George is one of the most respected Titans players ever, and was drafted by the franchise back in 1996 when they were still in Houston as the Oilers. Throughout his career with the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans from 1996 through 2003, the former Ohio State star running back and first round selection rushed for 10,009 yards, making Eddie George the franchise’s all-time leading rusher. Following his career with the Titans, George would spend one season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2004, bringing his career total to 10,441 rushing yards.
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- As a franchise, the Titans have held the number one overall selection in the NFL Draft twice. (source) Both times that the club held the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft was back when the team was playing in Houston as the Houston Oilers. The team held the first overall selection in both 1973 and 1978. In 1973, the franchise selected defensive end John Matuszack out of Tampa, followed by running back Earl Campbell in 1978. It would turn out that John Matuszack wasn’t the best pick for the team, as he only played one season for the Oilers before finishing out his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Raiders. Earl Campbell, on the other hand, would go on to become one of the greatest to ever play his position, spending time with the Oilers from 1978 through 1984, being named to five Pro Bowls, and eventually being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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- In 2009, Chris Johnson became the first Titans running back ever to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. (source) Just one year after being drafted in the 2008 NFL Draft, Chris Johnson ran for 2,006 yards on the ground and broke the record held by the legendary Marshall Faulk of 2,509 yards from scrimmage. Chris Johnson would also spend time with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals in his NFL career, with his career total falling just short of 10,000 rushing yards (9,651).
To all of the Tennessee Titans fans out there, do you have any fun facts to share about this storied franchise? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured image photo credit: Chipermc, 2019. Originally found on Wikimedia.org. Image was resized and cropped. Creative Commons 4.0.
