Tennessee Titans Information
The Tennessee Titans began their history as the Houston Oilers of the AFL in 1960 and won the championship in their first two seasons in the league. They joined the NFL prior to the 1970 season and played in Houston thru the 1996 season. After the season was over, the team moved to Tennessee but kept the Oilers name. After two years as the Tennessee Oilers, they officially changed their name to the Tennessee Titans and have kept the name ever since. The team has had too many memorable moments to count with the biggest two likely to have occurred in the 1999 playoffs. The first took place in a playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills drove late and scored to take the lead with only enough time for the kickoff. The ball was squib kicked downfield and taken by tight end Frank Wycheck who started running towards the right sideline. As Wycheck was being tackled, he through the ball laterally to Kevin Dyson who ran 70 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Bills players protested that the pass was forward and illegal, but after review, the referee saw the play to be perfectly legal. The Titans eventually advanced to the Super Bowl against the upstart St. Louis Rams where the Rams scored to take the lead late in the fourth. Quarterback Steve McNair led the team inside the Rams 10-yard line, and on the last play of the game, McNair again found Dyson who came up inches short of scoring a touchdown, giving the Rams the Super Bowl of 1999.
Jeff Fisher has been the coach of the franchise since 1994, so he’s been involved in the move and the name change. Fisher has one of the longest tenures in the league (only trailing the Steelers’ Bill Cowher) and has compiled an 88-62 record over the regular season and a 5-4 playoff record in four playoff appearances. Over the last four years, the Titans have only missed the playoffs once and Fisher has led the team to a .700 winning percentage. Fisher has had the services of all-pro quarterback Steve McNair for his entire duration with the team and McNair has been one of the best QBs in the league for that time. Over his career, McNair has shown he has one of the best arms while still being able to run for yardage and showing the strength to throw off defenders. In 2003, he finished with a QB rating over 100 and won a share of the MVP Trophy. He’ll have Eddie George in the backfield with him in 2004 to take the load off his shoulders, and he’ll also be able to throw to Derrick Mason and Drew Bennett again, so he should post comparable stats to his MVP 2003 season.
Keith Bullock led the vaunted Titans defense with 137 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and five forced fumbles during the 2003 season. Jevon Kearse led the team with 9.5 sacks last year, but he was signed by Philadelphia as a free agent in the off-season, so the team will need to find a way to replace him. The Titans also had four other players record at least three sacks during the season. Kevin Carter led the way with 5.5 and Robaire Smith followed with 4.5. Samari Rolle picked off six passes last year and Andre Dyson found his way in front of four errant balls returning two for scores.
Even with their success over the years, the Titans still made 13 picks in the 2004 draft. With their first pick, they selected Ben Troupe, a tight end out of Florida. Troupe will replace longtime Titan Frank Wycheck who retired following the 2003 season. The next two picks were defensive ends Travis LaBoy and Antwan Odom. LaBoy and Odom, out of Hawaii and Alabama, are likely candidates to fill the void left by Kearse. Many of the picks made by the team were used to beef up the offensive and defensive lines, one of the few weaknesses the team had in the 2003 season.