What are the worst moments in the history of each NFL team? A lot of you are asking for the Worst Moments in Tennessee Titans History and today we decided to bring you some of the moments that the Titans will always want to forget and bury as deeply as possible.
The following are 5 of the worst occurrences in the history that we consider to be the worst when it comes to the famous football club.
5. Bud Adams flips the bird
Bud Adams was a typical Texan who created two fortunes: one from oil and the other from turning an AFL team into an NFL team. He was crusty and cruel later in life, after transferring his Houston Oilers to Tennessee, and that nature bit him during a 2009 game against the Buffalo Bills.
In the midst of a 41-17 victory over the Bills, Adams flipped the bird to Buffalo supporters twice, once from the luxury box and once from the sideline. (Ironically, Adams and then-Bills owner Ralph Wilson were longstanding friends, having both brought their clubs into the NFL decades previously.) So what was the penalty for Adams? A staggering $250,000 was paid. Those were some priceless digits.
4. Memphis Oilers
After a disappointing 1996 season on the field and in the seats, Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams announced that the team would be relocated to Tennessee, which had no professional sports teams at the time. One issue: outside of Vanderbilt’s stadium, there was nowhere to play in Adams’ intended destination of Nashville.
As a result, Adams devised a scheme to play games in Memphis, three hours away, while claiming Nashville as his home. It was an unusual strategy that pleased exactly no one.
Fans in Nashville did not travel to Memphis to witness the “Tennessee Oilers,” and Memphis fans were not content to be babysitters. After just one season, Adams ended the experiment, relocating the team to Vanderbilt’s stadium until Nissan Stadium, formerly called as Adelphia Coliseum, opened in 1999.
3. One Yard Short
The Titans were down 24-17 to the St. Louis Rams with seconds left in Super Bowl XXXIV. With one play remaining at the Rams’ 10, the Titans attempted to open up the field by sending numerous receivers wide and leaving the interior open for a Kevin Dyson slant. Dyson took Steve McNair’s throw in stride, but he was tackled at the three-yard line by Rams defender Mike Jones.
Even though Dyson stretched, the ball landed one yard short of the end zone as time expired. Is it possible that McNair threw too early? Was Dyson’s route too congested? Did the Titans’ receivers do enough to keep Jones off the field? In the end, it didn’t matter because Tennessee was only a few feet away from glory.
2. Blowing it in Buffalo
The Titans now own the whole history of the Houston Oilers, which means they’re stuck with one of the most heinous collapses in NFL history. The setting: Following the 1992 NFL season, Houston went to Buffalo for the wild card game. Buffalo was coming off its second consecutive Super Bowl loss and didn’t appear to be in line for a third, as the Oilers stormed out to a quick lead and extended it to 35-3 with 13 minutes left in the third quarter.
However, backup quarterback Frank Reich had completed the biggest comeback in college history, rallying Maryland from a 31-point hole to defeat Miami, starting in place of injured starter Jim Kelly. In Buffalo, he pulled off a similar trick, forcing overtime with a combination of accurate drives, onside kicks, Oiler defensive blunders, and plain old luck. Warren Moon of the Oilers threw an interception that put Buffalo on the Houston 20-yard line. Three plays later, kicker Steve Christie kicked the game-winning field goal, propelling Buffalo forward and handing the Houston Texans their worst loss in a lifetime.
1. McNair’s tragedy
Steve McNair is still one of the Titans’ most popular players, which makes his terrible end all the more tragic. McNair spent a decade with the Oilers/Titans, leading them to their sole Super Bowl trip, before finishing his career with two seasons in Baltimore. He moved back to Nashville after retiring, where he lived with his wife of more than a decade and their two children.
McNair, however, was found dead in an apartment he owned on July 4, 2009, from numerous gunshot wounds. McNair was discovered next to the body of a lady by friends who had been unable to contact him; evidence at the scene indicated that McNair was the victim of a murder/suicide. The Titans conducted a two-day tribute at Nissan Field, and for the 2009 season, the squad wore a No. 9 patch on their helmets.
