2002 - present    Houston Texans

TEXANS TEAM HISTORY 1997 June 18: The NHL bypasses Chuck Watson and Bob McNair’s efforts to bring an expansion hockey club to Houston. The pair moves on to their next project - returning the NFL to Houston. July 3: Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams gets the green light to move his team to Nashville, Tennessee. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes signs the final consent judgment in the lawsuit against the team after all parties involved agree to a settlement. October 15: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue praises the early plans of Bob McNair and Houston for an expansion franchise at the NFL Owners’ Meetings. October 17: In reaction to Tagliabue’s comments, officials from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLS&R) say they will push for the building of a domed stadium that the Rodeo will share with an NFL team, as opposed to renovating the Astrodome. It marks the Rodeo’s first public statement in support of McNair’s efforts. 1998 Bob McNair signs autographs at the pep rally at Party on the Plaza, October 14, 1999 March 23: The NFL expansion committee awards an expansion team to Cleveland. McNair, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and Mayor Lee Brown meet with Tagliabue for the first time as a group at the owners’ meeting held in Houston. May 7: Los Angeles-based entertainment broker Michael Ovitz announces he will spearhead a $750-million proposal to build a stadium in Carson, California, in an effort to bring the NFL back to L.A. June 30: Tagliabue and NFL Stadium Committee head Jerry Richardson visit Houston to see plans for the city’s retractable-roof stadium, meeting for several hours with McNair, Houston Sports Authority Jack Rains, Brown, Eckels and HLS&R president Jim Bloodworth. September 25: The HLS&R votes unanimously to approve paying a $1.5 million annual lease to use the proposed retractable-roof NFL stadium. October 27: Tagliabue announces that NFL owners will have a decision on the league’s newest expansion team by April. 1999 Former NFL coach Bum Phillips and Bob McNair on stage at the pep rally at Party on the Plaza, October 14, 1999 February 16: The NFL Expansion Committee meets, but does not pick a winning bidder from the three finalists. Tagliabue says the decision will come within a month. March 16: The NFL Expansion Committee votes 29-2 to give Los Angeles until September 15 to work out a feasible stadium and ownership plan. If L.A. cannot get a plan together, the committee will then recommend Houston for the 32nd franchise. May 25: Ovitz unveils a new plan for a 60-acre spread of parks, parking garages and a new stadium where the Los Angeles Coliseum currently sits. The plan impresses the NFL, but the league remains concerned about a lack of financial planning for the proposed project. June 3: In a two-hour meeting with Tagliabue, McNair is encouraged to step up his efforts for an expansion team. July 28: Los Angeles presents an exclusive negotiating agreement to the NFL but the league does not sign it, stating that it does not address the financial situation behind the New Coliseum at Exposition Park. September 9: NFL executives tell the Houston group to be prepared to come to the owners’ meetings in Atlanta on October 6. September 28: Marvin Davis, one of the bidders for the Los Angeles franchise, bows out of the expansion race. Houston owner Bob McNair at a press conference after the NFL awarded Houston its 32nd franchise October 6: The National Football League owners vote 29-0 to award the 32nd NFL franchise to Houston and Bob McNair for a record amount of $700 million. November, 1999: McNair and Houston NFL executives start the first of 40 separate focus group sessions, which eventually total 500 individual participants. The sessions are conducted not just in Houston, but in Galveston, Austin, Beaumont, San Antonio and Corpus Christi as well. Fans are asked for their opinions on the image of Houston and its surrounding areas, the image of the NFL and the expectations for the Houston franchise. November 24: Houston NFL debuts “transition” logo, which serves as the organization's mark until a team name is selected, and the corresponding official logo, team colors and uniform are developed. The "transition" logo is created by NFL Properties, the New York-based licensing and marketing arm of the NFL. 2000 Bob McNair announces that Charley Casserly will become Houston's first General Manager January 19: Houston NFL hires Charley Casserly as Executive Vice President/General Manager. Casserly comes to Houston after 23 years with the Washington Redskins, the last 10 as general manager. The Redskins captured Super Bowls XVII, XXII and XXVI during his tenure in Washington. February: The National Football League begins researching and developing computerized designs for potential logos. Additional focus groups are conducted in Houston and San Antonio. March 2: Houston NFL announces that its team name search has been narrowed to five choices: Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, Texans and Wildcatters. The five names were determined after several months of research conducted jointly by Houston NFL 2002 and National Football League Properties. That research included multiple focus group studies performed in both English and Spanish in not only Houston, but also in numerous surrounding markets such as San Antonio, Austin, Galveston and Beaumont. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Bob McNair pose at the Reliant Stadium groundbreaking ceremony March 9: Houston NFL 2002 celebrates the official groundbreaking of the new stadium that will house the team when it begins play in 2002. The 69,500-seat state-of-the-art facility will be the world's first retractable-roof football stadium. Houston NFL 2002 will be a co-tenant of the new stadium with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Participants in the groundbreaking ceremony include Owner Bob McNair, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo President Mike Wells, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Commissioner Steve Hatchell, Houston Mayor Lee Brown, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, Harris County Commissioner (Precinct 1) El Franco Lee, Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation Chairman Mike Surface and Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Chairman Billy Burge. April: The list of five team names is shaved to three - Apollos, Stallions and Texans. Color logo designs are presented to focus groups for feedback. July: McNair reviews logo designs and colors for all three potential names. August 10: McNair and other club officials view the final proofs of the selected team logo at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. NFL Properties conducts television and photo testing of the logo as well. September 6: The NFL’s 32nd franchise is officially christened the Houston Texans before thousands at a downtown rally on Texas Avenue. NFL Commissioner Tagliabue introduces McNair, who then unveils his team’s name, colors and logo to the crowd. The ceremony, televised live on ESPN2, includes simultaneous unveilings in Austin and San Antonio. McNair then heads to Enron Field, where he throws out the first “pitch” (actually a Texans football) to Houston Astros Owner Drayton McLane before the Astros play the Florida Marlins. Bob McNair and Hall of Fame RB Earl Campbell pose before a pep rally at Party on the Plaza, October 14, 1999 September 7: The Texans are honored by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco. Club officials present the Hall of Fame with a Texans helmet, football and other merchandise, which is placed in a display case in the football wing of the Hall of Fame. October 26: Reliant Energy acquires the naming rights for Houston’s new state-of-the-art football stadium and the sports, entertainment and convention complex currently known as the Astrodomain Complex. Reliant Energy’s 32-year agreement to acquire the naming rights for five different buildings and the complex is the most comprehensive naming rights agreement in history. Reliant Park will be a partnership of mutual support between the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, the Houston Texans, RodeoHouston and Reliant Energy. The facilities at Reliant Park will include Reliant Stadium, Reliant Astrodome, Reliant Arena, Reliant Hall and Reliant Center. November 1: At its owners’ meetings in Atlanta, the NFL announces that Reliant Stadium will host Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004. Houston becomes the seventh city to host multiple Super Bowls. Rice Stadium hosted Super Bowl VIII in 1974. Jacksonville is awarded Super Bowl XXXIX and Detroit earns Super Bowl XL. 2001 Houston Texans first Head Coach Dom Capers. January 21: The Texans introduce Dom Capers as the club's first head coach. Capers comes to Houston from Jacksonville, where he served the previous two seasons as the Jaguars' defensive coordinator. From 1995-98, Capers was the head coach of the expansion Carolina Panthers, leading the team to the NFC West title and a berth in the NFC Championship Game in 1996. February 2: Chris Palmer is hired as the Texans' first offensive coordinator. Palmer spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the expansion Cleveland Browns. May 22: The NFL announces its realignment plan for the 2002 season at league meetings in Chicago. The league will realign into eight four-team divisions. The Texans are placed in the AFC South with Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Tennessee. June 12: Bob McNair and Titans owner Bud Adams each donate $100,000 to the Red Cross in an effort to aid Houston flood victims. NFL Charities matches the donation. More than 20,000 Houston-area families were displaced from their homes by raging flood waters the previous weekend.