Oh look, it’s Tennessee finding a way to live in the past against the City of Houston again.
Maybe the Titans wish it was at least 2021 to see what winning looks like for the first time in years.
To no one’s surprise, the Titans will close out their season by wearing their Houston Oilers’ Luv Ya Blue jerseys against the Houston Texans on Sunday at Nissan Stadium. The last-place AFC South team wore those jerseys last season when the Texans visited Nashville before Christmas.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/D34Q2vD1Ly
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) January 1, 2025
The hope is Houston (9-7) can pull out another victory while the once-Oilers franchise suffers once more, though most Texans fans probably wish to avoid overtime.
When then-Oilers owner Bud Adams moved the franchise from Houston to Memphis in 1997, he took all of the franchise’s history with him, including the logo, uniforms, and record books. The branding changed in 1999 from Oilers to Titans when the team officially called Nashville home, but Adams retained the rights to everything associated with the Oilers branding.
BRITCHES REPORT
pic.twitter.com/KN8SSnNPb5
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) January 1, 2025
Since the Texans were founded in 2002, the city has tried to incorporate some bit of homage to the “H-Town Blue” in their uniform scheme, though Amy Adams-Strunk has a firm clasp on how the color can be used.
#Titans Jeffery Simmons takes a lot of pride and is excited to wear the Luv Ya Blue jerseys on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/dFaLv00xdc
— Kayla Anderson
(@KaylaAndersonTV) January 1, 2025
Most recently, Houston rebranded with a different shade off of “Columbia Blue” in the new “H-Town” uniform, capped off with a Blue H on the helmet.
While Texans players hate seeing a team don a uniform that doesn’t have anything to do with the state of Tennessee, Titans players understand how much the jersey means to Adams Strunk and a win over Houston.
“I think the real message behind it is (former Oilers players) didn’t feel like they had a home,” defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons told reporters on Wednesday. “Especially since the uniforms started in Houston and came here now with the Tennessee Titans. So it’s like, ‘Where do we have a home at?’ So with us wearing those uniforms, it means a lot and I know it means a lot to our former players who played in those uniforms.”
Simmons also knows the Texans would love nothing more than to send the Titans a loss while donning the Oiler logo.
“It’s our job not to get embarrassed in those uniforms,” Simmons said. “I’m sure that the Texans would love to embarrass us in that uniform, especially with what we did earlier this year to them.”