In the state of Tennessee, there’s only one NFL team that’s still present today and that team is called the Tennessee Titans. The Titans, formally known as the Houston Oilers, were founded in 1959 by Bud Adams, who remained the owner of the franchise until 2013. The Oilers first played in 1960 in Houston as part of the AFL and won their first 2 AFL championships with 4 division titles. In 1970, the Oilers joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL merger and were part of the AFC Central Division. Between 1970 to 1977, the Oilers never clinched a playoff berth with one of their winning seasons coming in 1975. Then in 1978, the Oilers drafted a running back named Earl Campbell who led them to 3 straight playoff berths in 1978 to 1980 by his dominant performance. They made it to the AFC championship games in 1978 and 1979 but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers twice. From 1981 to 1987 is when the Oilers never achieved a winning season which led to them acquiring quarterback Warren Moon. He led the team to 6 straight playoff appearances from 1987 to 1993 and was part of the largest blown lead in playoff history against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round during the 1992-93 playoffs. The Oilers went 2-14 in 1993 which led to them drafting Steve McNair and Eddie George and finished with a combined 15-16 in their last two years in Houston.
After the 1996 season, Bud Adams announced the Oilers were moving to Tennessee. Their new stadium in Nashville wouldn’t be finished until 1999, so the Oilers played only one season in Memphis during the 1997 season due to poor attendance. They went 8-8 during the 1997 season before they moved to Nashville to play at Vanderbilt Stadium for the 1998 season but finished with the same 8-8 record prior to their new stadium being finished
During the 1998 offseason, Bud Adams and the advisory committee decided on a new name for the Oilers amid the opening of their new stadium now called Nissan Stadium. In November 1998, the Oilers were renamed as the Tennessee Titans and a year later, they had a remarkable season in their first year in their new stadium. They finished the season 13-3 and made a dramatic playoff run to Super Bowl 34. Their playoff run included the well-known Music City Miracle win over the Buffalo Bills where a last second lateral play resulted in a game winning kickoff return touchdown. The Titans made it to their first Super Bowl in franchise history in late January 2000 but lost to the St Louis Rams after falling a yard short of a potential game tying touchdown.
Several years after their Super Bowl appearance is where the Titans had a mixed bag of success. They made the playoffs several times in the early 2000s but never found any consistency and faced many rebuilds in the process. From the 2010s to 2020, the Titans would have 5 losing seasons, 6 winning seasons, and 3 playoff appearances during that stretch with the farthest playoff run coming in the 2019-20 playoffs where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. In 2021, the Titans finished the season 12-5 and the one seed in the AFC but lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round on a game losing field goal. Since their last playoff appearance, the Titans would go on to have 4 straight losing seasons as of today and are going through another retooling phase this year.
