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The Almost All-Time Tennessee Titans Defense

JW Nix

Senior Writer Written on November 04, 2009

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Before they were the Titans, they were the Houston Oilers.

Bud Adams started the franchise in 1960 with the fledgling American Football League. Adams put together an excellent team quickly, some with hard work and some with good luck.

His big move in 1960 was signing Billy Cannon away from the clutches of the NFL.

Cannon was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams with the first pick of the draft, and he was the first pick of the AFL as well.

Adams signed the LSU legend and 1959 Heisman Trophy winner on the field after LSU won the Sugar Bowl.

Future NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was the general manager of the Rams at that time, and he tried to force Cannon to sign with his team. Adams took the NFL to court and won.

Another of the many key signings that season was of future Hall of Famer George Blanda. Blanda had washed out of the NFL and did not even play football in 1959.

He joined the Oilers and immediately became the team's leader, helping them win the first AFL Championship when he hit Cannon for an 88-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.

Blanda led the Oilers to a second consecutive championship in 1961 and was named the AFL Player of the Year.

He tied the record of seven touchdown passes in a game the next season, as the Oilers reached a third championship before losing to the Dallas Texans in the longest championship game in professional football history.

Blanda also set a record of 42 interceptions thrown in that 1962 season.

Though the Oilers would reach the AFL Championship in 1967, losing to an Oakland Raiders team that now had Blanda on their roster, the team has never won a championship game again.

Many great players played for the Oilers, and several are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Players like Blanda, Earl Campbell, Ken Houston, Elvin Bethea, Mike Munchak, Warren Moon, and Bruce Matthews are just a few players that played for the Oilers and are now enshrined in Canton.

Despite their legacy, as well as being the first professional sports team to win a championship in Houston, the team relocated to Nashville, Tenn., before the 1997 season.

They changed their name from the Oilers to the Titans just before the 1999 season.

The timing of the name change worked out well for Adams, as his team went on to Super Bowl XXXIV but lose to the St. Louis Rams. It is the only season that the franchise has won the AFC Championship.

Please remember that this team consists of players who are not, and maybe never will be, members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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The Almost All-Time Tennessee Titans Defense

JW Nix

The Almost All-Time Tennessee Titans Defense

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