Nickname
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 five choices: Bobcats, Stallions, Texans, Toros, and Apollos. 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. 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, which was also the name of a former Arena Football League franchise. 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.
Read more about this topic: Houston Texans
Famous quotes containing the word nickname:
“A nickname is the heaviest stone that the devil can throw at a man. It is a bugbear to the imagination, and, though we do not believe in it, it still haunts our apprehensions.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)