the houston texans are a professional american football team based in houston.the texans compete in the national football league as a member club of the american football conference (afc) south division, and play their home games at nrg stadium.the texans were founded in 1999, and were owned by bob mcnair until his death in 2018; following mcnair's death, the majority ownership of the team went to his wife, janice.the team replaced the city's previous nfl franchise, the houston oilers, who played from 1960 to 1996 before moving to nashville and eventually becoming the tennessee titans.the texans began play as an expansion team in 2002, making them the youngest franchise currently competing in the nfl.while the texans mainly struggled in the 2000s, their fortunes would take a turn for the better in the 2010s when they first found success in the 2011 season, winning their first division championship and clinching their first playoff berth.the texans have gone on to win five more afc south division championships in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019.they are the only franchise to have never won a road playoff game along with the only one to have never appeared in a conference championship game; they are also one of four franchises to have never appeared in a super bowl, alongside the cleveland browns, detroit lions, and division rival jacksonville jaguars.in 1996, the cleveland browns had controversially relocated to become the baltimore ravens.as part of the settlement between the nfl, the city of cleveland, and the team owned by art modell, the league promised to return football to cleveland within the next three years.in order to even out the franchises to 32, the nfl contemplated adding another expansion franchise.as houston was one of the favorites for the extra franchise, along with toronto and los angeles (the latter of whom had lost the rams and the raiders in 1995), mcnair then decided to join the football project and founded houston nfl holdings with partner steve patterson.with houston livestock show and rodeo, they would push for a domed stadium as part of the bid to lure the nfl back to houston.on october 6, 1999, the wnfl awarded the 32nd team to houston at a cost of $700 million.in the process of naming the new franchise leadership conducted an extensive review and research process; the final list of names was determined after several months of research conducted jointly by houston nfl 2002 and nfl properties.this included an online survey asking fans and the community to weigh in which received more than 65,000 responses in one week.on march 2, 2000, it was announced that the team name search had been narrowed down to five choices: apollos, bobcats, stallions, texans, and wildcatters.on september 6, 2000, the nfl's 32nd franchise was officially christened the houston texans before thousands at a downtown rally in houston.mcnair explained that the name and logo were chosen to 'embody the pride, strength, independence and achievement that make the people of houston and our area special.'the name 'texans' had been used by several now-defunct football teams, including the canadian football league franchise in san antonio; the world football league franchise in houston, which moved to louisiana to become the shreveport steamer; the dallas texans of the nfl which played in only the 1952 season; and by the precursor of the present-day kansas city chiefs, when they were the second incarnation of the dallas texans in the american football league (afl).owner bob mcnair received permission from chiefs' owner lamar hunt to use the texans name for his new team.
houston texans | city | texas <tsp> houston texans | owner | bob mcnair <tsp> akeem dent | debutteam | atlanta falcons <tsp> akeem dent | formerteam | houston texans <tsp> atlanta falcons | city | atlanta
the texans were founded in 1999, and were owned by bob mcnair until his death in 2018; following mcnair's death, the majority ownership of the team went to his wife, janice.as houston was one of the favorites for the extra franchise, along with toronto and los angeles (the latter of whom had lost the rams and the raiders in 1995), mcnair then decided to join the football project and founded houston nfl holdings with partner steve patterson.on march 2, 2000, it was announced that the team name search had been narrowed down to five choices: apollos, bobcats, stallions, texans, and wildcatters.mcnair explained that the name and logo were chosen to 'embody the pride, strength, independence and achievement that make the people of houston and our area special.'owner bob mcnair received permission from chiefs' owner lamar hunt to use the texans name for his new team.