Should Houston Oilers history be returned to Houston?

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Click through to see who made the cut... PHOTOS: Houston's most beloved sports figures

From Warren Moon to Jose Cruz, these are Houston's sports legends.

Click through to see who made the cut... Photo: Brian Masck, Stringer Photo: Brian Masck, Stringer Image 1 of / 140 Caption Close Should Houston Oilers history be returned to Houston? 1 / 140 Back to Gallery

A special honor this weekend for Houston Oilers legend Robert Brazile had many locals pondering yet again the prospect of the Tennessee Titans returning Houston Oilers team history to the city where it was made.

Brazile, known as "Dr. Doom" for his devastating defensive skills as linebacker, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night. He became the fourth member of the Luv Ya Blue-era Oilers to earn entry into the hall in Canton, Ohio.

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When the Tennessee Titans Twitter account congratulated Brazile as one of their own, more than a few Houston football fans took umbrage. As happy as they were for Brazile's honor, many think its not one for Tennessee residents to celebrate.

Brazile retired 15 years before the Titans became the Titans. He is an Oiler, not a Titan; a Houston legend, not a Nashville one. https://t.co/1a2qKwmkY4 — Jerome Solomon (@JeromeSolomon) February 4, 2018

When the Houston Oilers moved to Nashville at the end of the 1996 NFL season, fans in Houston were, of course, devastated. The team was later renamed the Titans in 1999, retiring the Oilers brand.

The only Oilers left in the Houston area are the Pearland High School Oilers. To be fair, they've done the name rather proud.

Professional football returned to the Bayou City in 2002 when the Houston Texans debuted at the brand-new Reliant Stadium next to the Astrodome. As of now, the Texans are still the NFL’s newest team.

When owner Bud Adams (who originally bought the franchise for $25,000) moved the team, he also took franchise history with him, which still rankles many people.

Some would prefer that the team's pre-Nashville history be returned to the state of Texas and the Texans.

This still isn't right. It's past time for the Titans & Texans to work out the return of the rights to where they still mean something.



Who in Tennessee is celebrating this tonight? It's not their memory. It's not their legacy.



Oilers are still part of the culture, here. https://t.co/EgML23ExaA — Jayson Braddock (@JaysonBraddock) February 4, 2018

In a Tennessean piece from early 2017, former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon said that the experience of getting his No. 1 retired by the Titans in 2006 was strange since he never wore a Titans jersey.

“When franchises move, all the history from that franchise usually moves along with that team. And all my history and everybody else who played for the Oilers were in the same boat. It all moved to Tennessee,” Moon said.

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One of Moon’s former teammates, Bruce Matthews, also told The Tennessean that he’d prefer Oilers history to be absorbed by the Texans.

“Whoever, the Adamses, whoever they are (that own) the Titans, they ought to give back the Oilers’ history to the Texans,” Matthews said. “It’s just sitting up there (in Nashville), whereas I think the Texans could really utilize it. According to Matthews, Oilers history goes largely uncared for in Nashville, which makes sense.

After you get remarried you don’t continue to celebrate your old anniversaries and milestones. If there comes a day the Titans’ Marcus Mariota leads his team to a Super Bowl win, Houstonians wouldn't celebrate it like it's our victory.

“There are just people up there who don’t know anything, nor do they care about the Oilers' history. And I can’t blame them. But the people down here I think would appreciate it,” Matthews added.

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The Oilers, in an official sense, don’t exist except in the hearts and minds of Houstonians. Some of us grew up seeing those first teams in the Dome, then rooted for the Luv Ya Blue era and watched Moon and others fight for NFL supremacy in the ‘90s.

So who knows, maybe one day Oilers history could be enveloped into Texans history, though highly doubtful.

When the Oakland Raiders move to Las Vegas, what happens to decades of lore? Does the clock just restart in the desert? Some say yes, others disagree.

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It might be a long shot, but it would sure would be fun for those Houstonians who invested so much of their hearts in the guys in Columbia blue. Yes, copyright issues would need to be sorted out.

Who knows, maybe we could one day see J.J. Watt and the rest of the boys on Kirby in throwback Oilers jerseys.

A long-suffering Houston sports fan can still dream.

Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com. He's an intolerable native Texan with too much ink in his skin and too much brisket stuck in his teeth.