Houston Texans NFL

Houston Texans

Houston Texans

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are a professional football team based in Houston, Texas, United States. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Texans joined the NFL in 2002 as an expansion team after Houston's previous franchise, the Houston Oilers, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they are now the Tennessee Titans.[1] The team majority owner is Bob McNair.

The name "Houston Oilers" was unavailable to the expansion team, as that name was still owned by the Tennessee Titans, whose owner Bud Adams had retired the name from use in 1999.

On March 2, 2000, Houston NFL 2002 announced that the team name search had been narrowed down to six choices: Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, Texans, Toros and Wildcatters. The list of names was determined after several months of research conducted jointly by Houston NFL 2002 and NFL Properties. An online survey regarding the name generated more than 65,000 responses in just seven days. In April the list of six names was narrowed down to three: Apollos, Stallions and Texans.

The name which was chosen, the "Houston Texans," had previously been the name of a defunct World Football League franchise, which moved to Louisiana to become the Shreveport Steamer. The nickname "Texans" was also used by the precursor of the NFL's present-day Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Texans. The nickname "Texans" was more recently used by the now-defunct Canadian Football League franchise in San Antonio. Owner Bob McNair did have to make a deal with Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt to use the Texans nickname for his new team