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While visiting the city of Houston, consider catching a Houston Texans Football game. Featured below is background information for Houston Texans Football and ticket purchasing options. Please call our sponsor at 1-888-529-5800 for more information and additional details. Thanks for stopping by and supporting AARoads.com. |
Houston Texans Travel Information
The departure of the Houston Oilers in 1997 to the state of Tennessee left southeastern Texas without a football franchise. Houston businessmen Chuck Watson and Bob McNair began efforts early in 1997 while the Oilers were still in town to ensure football would return to the Space City. NFL Commissioner and Paul Tagliabue and the expansion committee mowed over their plans but ended up awarding the newest team to the city of Cleveland to replace the relocated Browns. In 1999 expansion again was on the agenda for the Commissioner's office and the two cities in the running for a new franchise were Los Angeles and Houston.
On October 9, 1999, the NFL Owners voted 29-0 to award the 32nd Franchise of the football league to the city of Houston for a record $700 million. Five choices of team names were selected by 2000 for the new franchise. They were the Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, Texans and Wildcatters based upon polls and research in not only Houston but also San Antonio, Austin, Galveston and Beaumont. Ground breaking for the new stadium occurred on March 9, 2000 for the NFL's first retractable-roof stadium. By September 6, 2000 the new team was christened the Texans in front of crowds in not only Houston but also San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
Reliant Energy purchased the naming rights of the Texans' new home on October 26, 2000 and by September 25, 2001 the Houston franchise unveiled its team colors and logo. The team would begin play the next season in the new AFC South Division.
Players to join the Texans in the 2002 expansion draft include T Tony Boselli, T Ryan Young, CB Aaron Glenn, DT Gary Walker, LB Jamie Sharper, WR Jermaine Lewis, CB Marcus Coleman, DT Seth Payne, G Matt Campbell, S Matt Stevens, G Jeremy McKinney, T Ryan Schau, RB Charlie Rogers, TE/LS Sean McDermott, DE Jabari Issa, WR Avion Black, QB Danny Wuerffel, LB Brian Allen and TE Johnny Huggins. Less than a month after expansion QB Danny Wuerffel was traded to the Washington Redskins in exchange for DT Jerry DeLoach. The 2002 NFL Draft netted Fresno State quarterback David Carr as the first overall selection. The Texan's signed their prized QB for seven seasons.
Houston played its first exhibition game on August 5, 2002, a 34-17 loss to the New York Giants. Reliant Stadium opened for business on August 24th with a 24-3 preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins. However on September 8 in the season opener, the Houston Texans won their first ever regular season in a thrilling 19-10 upset over the Dallas Cowboys in front of 69,604 fans. Their first year saw CB Aaron Glenn and DE Gary Walker selected for the 2003 Pro Bowl.
In 2003 the Texans again started the season 1-0 with a victory over the Miami Dolphins 21-20 in south Florida. RB Domanick Davis is named NFL Rookie of the Year for 2003 on January 29, 2004. Reliant Stadium then hosts Super Bowl XXXVIII, an outstanding contest between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers in which the Pats won 32-29. The 2004 NFL Draft brought the Texans South Carolina CB Dunta Robinson Western Michigan LB Jason Babin in the first round. Unfortunately the Texans started the 2004 campaign 0-2 with losses versus the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions.
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