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Usually, in the world of fashion, what’s old is new. (If you don’t know about the industry’s 20-year cycle, you’ve got this dad rock, Air Jordan, sweats, and baseball hat enthusiast right in front of you. But I digress.)
And if this rule of thumb holds true for Milan or Paris Fashion Week, or even the highly coveted teenage demographic, why doesn’t it apply to the NFL, where expanding uniform closets and retro looks have been all the rage in recent years?
Pro football fans certainly had flashbacks to March 12, when the Tennessee Titans unveiled a sleek new look that was very reminiscent of the brand from decades ago. This callback seems likely to appeal to more casual football fashionistas (by the way, can fashionistas even be casual?). Titans has gone through various iterations and numerous color combinations since 1999, not to mention bold design choices on the shoulders and hips, simplifying an overly busy thread. Similar to how the Arizona Cardinals went in 2023, going from a mess of different panels and oddly tapered piping and striping to something more Ohio State-adjacent… if you’re interested. that Some kind of thing.
(FWIW, the Titans are ranked 29th out of 32 teams in the league in USA TODAY Sports’ latest NFL Uniform Power Rankings.)
Also? The Titans will no doubt gaslight some of their die-hard supporters, namely Houston fans, especially Houston Oilers fans who lost their beloved “Love Ya Blue” team when they relocated from Texas to Tennessee after the 1996 season. They played for two years as the Tennessee Oilers and re-raised the banner as the Titans in 1999, which was notably the only year the franchise qualified for the Super Bowl…which they lost to the “Greatest Show on the Turf” St. Louis Rams, another organization caught up in franchise free agency in the stupid 1990s.
But there was a fundamental difference between the Oilers, who collected stakes in the Volunteer State, and the Browns, who fled Cleveland for Baltimore in 1996. Meanwhile, while the Browns left their uniforms, wordmarks, colors and records in Cleveland — renaming themselves the Ravens in the process and enabling the Browns’ rebirth as an expansion team in 1999 — the Oilers took all their intellectual property, history and logo with them. Residents of Houston, Tennessee are very angry.
Houston eventually welcomed the Texans in 2002, still the youngest organization in the NFL, but a team with an even worse success track record than the Oilers. The Oilers won at least two AFL titles in the 1960s and lost one game to the legendary Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s in the AFC Championship Game. The Texans remain the only NFL team to never reach the conference title game.
And Thursday night’s revelations only reopen wounds that have barely healed.
What do the Tennessee Titans’ new uniforms look like?
In a nutshell, these are basically modified versions of the classic Oilers uniforms. The jersey numbers have a simple white, red, and “Titans Blue” color scheme, and appear to have almost the same font. (And yes, “Titans Blue” is almost identical to Pantone’s identical twin of the Oilers’ gorgeous “Columbia Blue.”)
There are subtle differences. The blue home jerseys have “Titans” written above the red-trimmed number, while the white roadie jerseys have “Tennessee” written on them instead. The stripes along the centerline of the helmet and on the sides and shoulders of the pants are also distinctive. It has a wide stripe outlined in red and a series of very narrow “Titans Blue” stripes with a dark outline in between.
What about the new logo? At least, it doesn’t remind you of the Oilers’ iconic oil derrick. Instead, it’s a stripped-down version of the logo the Titans have used since their inception in 1999. The outer fireball effect is gone, and the stylized shading of the “T” that doubles as a dagger is gone. The three stars representing Tennessee’s state flag are left in place and, oddly enough, appear to have been added, grouped more closely together, near the armpit of the jersey.
Shop new Tennessee Titans jerseys and gear.
There’s none of the navy palette that the Titans have always featured (similar to the hue used in the state flag) or the gray and silver trim that has long been a prominent part of the presentation.
To summarize, the effect looks a lot like an Oilers uniform with a modified Titans logo on it…which ironically (or isn’t it?) looks like an “O”.
“We’ve been talking and listening to our fans, and there’s a clear desire to have the Titans and their teams on the field in these striking colors, just as we have from Houston in 1960 to Memphis to Vanderbilt to when we played at (Nashville’s) Nissan Stadium,” Titans president and CEO Burke Nihil said last year.
“This year, I’m going to emphasize that and change the primary color to Titans Blue.”
Will the Texans ever get permission to wear an Oilers throwback?
Hehe. The Titans have dealt with retro looks from time to time over the years, even as recently as 2024, and while they don’t seem to have any plans to do so again, they’re still reluctant to share it. Much to the delight of salty Houston fans, the Texans defeated the Titans in both 2023 and 2024 at their home in Nashville, decked out in Oilers throwbacks.
But now, after being away from the Oilers for five seasons (two more than Cleveland had to wait), those in Houston will be inspired every time they watch Tennessee play.
And certainly, the Oilers’ memories remain strong in H-Town. The Texans have developed an alternate uniform in 2024 with trim very close to Columbia Blue. The University of Houston football team even debuted imitation Oilers uniforms in 2023, prompting the NFL to demand that they stop wearing the uniforms.
The Titans, who are coming off a 3-14 consecutive season, have made a ton of free agent acquisitions in recent days and now own the No. 4 pick in the upcoming draft. The infusion of talent should further support second-year QB Cam Ward and first-year coach Robert Saleh, who should figuratively look even better between the lines in 2026. Literally, they definitely will.
now? Let’s have dreams and hopes. Perhaps in these divisive days, it’s time to throw past history with Houston under the bridge. Perhaps by lending some of its past history, oil derricks and the like, to Houston’s current team.
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