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The professional American football team now known as the Tennessee Titans were originally called the Houston Oilers. Based in Houston, Texas, the team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. The Oilers won two AFL championships before joining the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL Merger.

The Oilers competed in the East Division (along with Buffalo, New York and Boston) of the AFL before the merger, after which they joined the newly formed AFC Central. The Oilers throughout their existence were owned by Bud Adams and played its home games at the Astrodome for the majority of its time in Houston (Jeppesen Stadium and Rice Stadium hosted the Oilers for their first eight years).

The Oilers were the first champions of the American Football League, winning the 1960 and 1961 contests, but never again won another championship. The Oilers appeared in the 1962 AFL Championship, losing in double-overtime to their in-state rivals, theDallas Texans; they also won the AFL East Division title in 1967 and qualified for the AFL Playoffs in 1969, both times losing to the Oakland Raiders. From 1978 to 1980, the Oilers, led by Bum Phillips and in the midst of the Luv Ya Blue campaign, the Oilers appeared in the 1978 and 1979 AFC Championship Games (but losing both). The Oilers were a consistent playoff team from 1987 to 1993, an era that included both of the Oilers' only division titles (1991 and 1993), as well as the dubious distinction of being on the losing end of the largest comeback in NFL history. For the rest of the Oilers' time in Houston, however, they were generally in the second division of the league, compiling losing seasons in almost every year outside the aforementioned high points.

The Oilers' main colors were Columbia blue and white, with red trim, while their logo was a simple derrick. Oilers jerseys were always Columbia blue for home and white for away. The helmet color was blue with a white derrick from 1960 through 1965, silver with a blue derrick from 1966 through 1971, and light blue with a white and red derrick from 1972 through 1974, before changing to a white helmet with a blue derrick beginning in 1975 and lasting the remainder of the team's time in Houston.

Owner Bud Adams relocated the Oilers to Nashville, Tennessee, where they were known as the Tennessee Oilers for the 1997 and 1998 seasons. In 1999, Adams changed the team name to the Tennessee Titans, and the color scheme from Columbia Blue, Red and White to Titans Blue, Navy, and White. The new Titans franchise retained the Oilers' team history and records, while the team name and colors were officially retired by then NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.