Houston football fans were dealt a severe blow in 1997 when the owner of the city’s former team, the Oilers, announced that he was moving to Tennessee and taking his team with him. The departure of Bud Adams threatened to leave the city’s many professional football fans without a team to support for many years to come. In fact, the National Football League had made it clear that there were no imminent plans to offer new franchises to any city. Fortunately for Houston, the National Football League changed its mind shortly thereafter, and made Cleveland the thirty-first NFL franchise city. To even up the odd number of teams that would now be in the League, the NFL considered various proposals for another expansion team and ultimately settled on Houston – with the end result being the creation of the Houston Texans.

Off to a Rocky Start

There were few fans or observers who would have expected the Texans to get off to anything but a rocky start in the NFL. Expansion teams generally take years to develop into legitimate contenders – Houston’s new team was no exception. The first five years of NFL play saw the Texans in the middle or bottom of their division each year. What’s worse, the team had made a serious mistake in using their 2002 first round pick in the draft to acquire David Carr. As quarterback of the team, he proved less than inspiring. However, the Texans didn’t wait long to bolster the position, and they decided in 2007 to trade with the Atlanta Falcons and bring in Mat Schaub. The newcomer Schaub was subsequently declared the starting quarterback for the team, while Carr was given free rein to sign with another franchise.

The 2007 and 2008 Campaigns

As 2007’s season began, the Texans looked to have turned the corner as Schaub led them to wins in their initial two contests. Then fate intervened in the form of team injuries, as Schaub was sidelined for five entire contests, as well as being unable to play for the majority of two other games. With other players hurt as well, it is a wonder that the team accomplished as much as they did. Despite those setbacks, however, the 2007 Texans finished with a .500 average, giving them their first season without a losing record.

After losing the first two matchups in 2008, and then being forced to compete on the road for three games as a result of the hurricane damage in Houston, the Texans had all they could do to scrape together wins. But a mid-season run of four wins in a row helped them to secure enough victories to ensure that they would at least finish the season no worse than they had the year before. With another .500 campaign, Houston fans and players looked forward to 2009 and what would hopefully be the team’s first actual winning season.

Onward to Victory

After the first eight games of the 2009 season, the Texans were 5-3. They remained competitive in the four losses that followed, and then won the last four of their matchups to complete their first winning season in franchise history at 9-7. They narrowly missed an appearance in the playoffs, but managed to elevate expectations for the 20210 campaign. In doing so, they have declared to their competition that they are now a team that can no longer be taken for granted.

Author Bio: Ivan Jamison is a big sports fan. You can check out his Houston Texans Watch or his Arizona Diamondbacks Watch or his Cleveland Indians Watch

Category: Sports
Keywords: Houston Texans