Team History: McNair’s patience pays off, but Texans have had limited success since
Team History: McNair’s patience pays off, but Texans have had limited success since
Football in the state of Texas is pretty much a way of life. From the high school level, which has inspired movies and television shows, to top-notch college programs, to a pair of NFL teams, fans in the state have no shortage of football to watch.
The first professional team in the Lonestar state was the Dallas Texans, which began play in 1952. However, the owners could not meet expenses and turned the team back over to the league before the end of the 1-11 season. With no buyers willing to keep the team in Texas, the NFL relocated the franchise to Baltimore to become the Colts.
Three teams began to play in Texas in 1960. A new Texans and the Houston Oilers joined the AFL and the Dallas Cowboys started at the same time in the NFL. With the city of Dallas unable to support two teams, Lamar Hunt moved the Texans to Kansas City, where they were renamed the Chiefs.
The Oilers were successful at the start, winning the AFL Championship in the league’s first two seasons and making the title game in 1962. However, over the next 34 seasons, Houston appeared in the playoffs just 12 times. They never reached the Super Bowl and lost all three league championship game appearances.
In the mid-1990s, Oilers owner Kenneth “Bud” Adams Jr. wanted the city of Houston to pay for 75 percent of the cost of a new downtown stadium. However, Harris County taxpayers were leery of the proposal, having paid for improvements to the Astrodome in 1987. After a contentious 1996 season, Adams was allowed out of the stadium lease a year early and moved the team to Tennessee.
Enter Bob McNair, the owner of heat, power and real estate companies. After a failed attempt to bring a National Hockey League team to Houston, he turned his focus to the NFL. The league was in need of another expansion team, since the “new” Browns would bring the number of franchises to 31. Houston, along with Los Angeles and Toronto, were the three top candidates.
In March 1999, the NFL approved a resolution to make Los Angeles the 32nd franchise, provided the city could put together an acceptable ownership team and stadium deal. Throughout the rest of the year, league executives visited the nation’s second largest city and saw no improvements on either front. Los Angeles would not appropriate funds for the stadium, and there were three LA ownership groups.
McNair outbid all three groups, and on October 6, the league accepted his $700 million bid and awarded an expansion team to Houston. In 2000, the city broke ground on Reliant Stadium, which would be ready in time for the team’s 2002 inaugural season.
Later in the year, the team chose a name from nearly two dozen entries. McNair wanted to call the team the Stallions, but Broncos and Colts had similar names, so Texans were picked instead.
The year before the team began to play, McNair hired Dom Capers as Houston’s first head coach. Capers had experience leading expansion teams, having coached the Panthers from 1995-98, including an unexpected run to the NFC Championship game in their second season.
In February 2002, Houston selected 19 players in an expansion draft, with 12 eventually making the roster. The team’s first selection was Tony Boselli, a five-time Pro Bowler with the Jaguars who was one of the best left tackles in the game. However, a left shoulder injury caused him to retire in July without ever playing in a game for the Texans.
Other players that were chosen included Jacksonville defensive tackle Gary Walker, former Ravens Jermaine Lewis and Jamie Sharper, ex-Jets cornerbacks Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman, and Chicago quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who was sent to Washington for defensive tackle Jerry DeLoach in the first trade in Texans history.
In late April, the Texans had 14 picks in the NFL Draft, seven original picks and seven more given to them by the NFL. Houston had both the first overall selection, and the team signed Fresno State quarterback David Carr to a contract days before announcing his name on stage.
Houston drafted five other players that weekend who started in 2002: running back Jonathan Wells, fullback Jarrod Baxter, wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, tackle Chester Pitts and guard Fred Weary. The Texans played in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, in their inaugural preseason contest, losing to the Giants, 34-17.
The Texans opened the regular season at home and Carr threw two touchdown passes in a 19-10 win over the Cowboys. The victory was only the second by an expansion team in its first game (the 1995 Panthers under Capers was the first). The success was short-lived, though. Carr was sacked nine times in a Week 2 loss to the Chargers, and the offensive line was simply terrible. Carr, who was groomed to be the team’s star, ended up on his back more often than not. He was sacked an NFL record 76 times during the 4-12 season.
Capers failed to get a winning season out of the squad. Houston went 18-46 in four years, and the high spot was a 7-9 record in 2004, the only season the Texans were not in the AFC South basement. Capers was fired after a 2-14 mark the following season.
The team’s next coach was Gary Kubiak, who had spent 11 seasons as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan in Denver. Carr showed improved chemistry with receiver Andre Johnson, but Houston finished just 6-10. Through his first five seasons, Carr was sacked 249 times.
Before the 2007 season, the Texans traded for Falcons backup quarterback Matt Schaub and made him the new starter after releasing Carr. Houston finished 8-8 in each of the next two seasons before posting a 9-7 mark in 2009 for their first winning record. However, the team lost out on tiebreakers to the Jets and Ravens and missed the playoffs.
After a step back in 2010, the Texans won their first division title and made the playoffs with a 10-6 record the following year. The team was led by Schaub, Johnson, running back Arian Foster and tight end Owen Daniels, as well as rookie defensive end J.J. Watt. Houston won its first playoff game, 31-10, over the Bengals in the Wild Card round. Foster ran for 132 yards and a touchdown in the next game, but the Ravens won 20-13.
The Texans went 12-4 and won the AFC South again in 2012, and once again defeated the Bengals in the Wild Card game. This time, they lost to Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Division round.
The 2013 season started with Houston coming back to win its first two games, but then the team fell apart. Despite playing several close games, Kubiak was fired after 11 straight losses, including eight by a touchdown or less. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips finished the season as coach, with the Texans losing their final three contests.
Bill O’Brien, who had spent the previous two seasons as head coach at Penn State after replacing Joe Paterno, was named Houston’s new coach. He led the team to 9-7 records in his first three seasons. After missing out on a Wild Card spot in 2014, the Texans won the division the next two seasons. Houston lost to the Chiefs in the 2015 Wild Card game. The following year, Brock Osweiler led a victory over Oakland, but again the team fell to New England in the Division round.
Despite signing a lucrative contract the year before, Osweiler was released in favor of rookie DeShaun Watson, who made plays both passing and running. The team started 3-3 but fell apart after Watson tore his ACL in Week 8 and finished 4-12. Watt, who missed most of the previous season thanks to two back surgeries, suffered a tibial plateau fracture and only played three games in 2017.
With Watson, Watt, and another defensive star, Jadeveon Clowney, healthy for a full season, Houston returned to the playoffs last year with an 11-5 record and another AFC South title. The Texans and Colts split a pair of close games in the regular season, but Andrew Luck outdueled Watson in a 21-7 Indianapolis road win in the Wild Card round.
Bob McNair died in November 2018 after battling skin cancer for several years. His son Cal, the chief operating officer, is now running the team’s day-to-day operations.
All of Houston’s stars from last season return in 2019, with Watson leading an offense that includes running back Lamar Miller, wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Demaryius Thomas, Keke Coutee, and tight end Ryan Griffin.
Watt and Clowney lead a defense that finished third against the run last year. Joining them will be defensive end D.J. Reader, linebackers Benardrick McKinney, Zach Cunningham, and Whitney Mercilus, cornerback Jonathan Joseph and safety Tashaun Gipson, who started the past three years with Jacksonville.
-By: Kevin Rakas