Houston Texans

The Houston Texans, despite being 23 years old – are the most recent addition to the National Football League. The Texans were founded in 1999, and their own Bob McNair had the team until he passed away in 2018. The team from Houston came into existence as an expansion team in 2002. Houston had a team known as the Houston Oilers until 1996 before moving to Nashville and becoming the Titans.

Deep in the heart of Texas, NRG Stadium has been home to the Houston Texans since they started playing in 2002. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, along with the Texas Bowl and Texas Kickoff game, are annual traditions at NRG Stadium in Houston.

NRG hosted the Super Bowl in 2004 as the Patriots beat the Panthers in front of over 71,000 fans. Houston played their first playoff game at home in 2012, and then again in 2017, Houston hosted the Super Bowl again. This was one of the most famous Super Bowl games of all time, as the Patriots came from behind and beat the Falcons in overtime in Super Bowl LI.

In January 2024, NRG Stadium will be the host of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. This will feature the winner of the Rose Bowl taking on the winner of the Sugar Bowl.

Houston, obviously, is located in the state of Texas. There were several names that were discussed for the name of the franchise. A few of them include the Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, and Wildcatters. That, of course, goes along with the Texans.

After spending March through August to figure out what they are best served as, owner Bob McNair named in front of thousands at a downtown parade that the team would be the “Texans.” McNair would later go on and tell the crowd they chose Texans for the pride, strength, independence, and achievement that the people of Houston embody. The motto of the organization has been “Let’s do this together, H-Town.”

Without a ton of history, the Texans do not have a ton of Historical records. Heading into the 2023 season, Houston has won 145 games, and 4 of them in the postseason. The Texans have had some really solid players, including Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and J.J. Watt.

Foster is the running back that finished with more than 6,000 rushing yards and 54 touchdowns. Johnson was known as one of the most elite receivers in the game, finished with just shy of 14,000 yards and 64 touchdowns.

J.J. Watt is known as the most dominant defensive player that has played for the Houston Texans. Watt played his career with Houston from 2011-2020 and finished as the defensive player of the year 3x. He was also the Walter Peyton Man of the Year in 2017. Watt also saw 5 Pro Bowl selections. Watt led the 2012 Texans with 20.5 sacks and did again in 2014. Watt later finished his career with 23 games in Arizona before retiring after the 2022 season.

Houston has seen their share of struggles as well. It took three seasons for the Texans to win more than 4 games in a season. In fact, during a three-year stretch, Houston went 11-38. The Texans won just 2 games in 2013, and their recent struggles of just 24 wins in five seasons is among the record book for futility. Houston has not won the division since 2011.

The Houston Texans have not only never won a Super Bowl title but also have never even played in the Super Bowl. Despite that, the Texans do have a little history of playoff football, as they have reached the postseason six times. All six times they have reached the postseason, it was via winning the AFC South.

Houston won the division in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Houston has won four playoff games. In fact, the only two seasons they did not advance was in 2015 and 2018.

Famous may not be the right term when talking about quarterbacks from the Houston Texans. But there are some interesting names on the list. Matt Schaub is the name that has been seen the most under center. From 2007-2013 Schaub started 88 games and won 46 of them. He was the second quarterback in franchise history to win a playoff game. The first was T.J. Yates, who made a total of 10 starts.

David Carr is second on the list of starts at quarterback for Houston. Carr’s career was not great in Houston, finishing with just 22 wins in 75 starts. Deshaun Watson is third with 53 starts, 28 of them as wins.

Other guys on the list include Davis Mills, Brock Osweiler, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, Tom Savage, and Ryan Mallett.

Schaub leads the team with 124 touchdowns and also 78 interceptions. Watson is second on the list for 104 touchdowns while competing just shy of 1,200 passes. Carr has 59 touchdown passes, while Davis Mills has 33.

As of the 2023 season, the Houston Texans saw just one player that spent a portion of his career with the Houston Texans. This one just played one season with Houston – Ed Reed, a safety, who was inducted in 2019. Reed was part of the 2013 team.

Houston has two guys in their own Ring Of Honor. The first is wide receiver Andre Johnson, who was with the team from 2003-2014 and was inducted in 2017. The second was former owner/founder Bob McNair. McNair was inducted into the Ring of Honor in 2019 after his tenure from 1999-2018.

When the Texans were announced as the 32nd team, the league gave Los Angeles six months to figure out their situation. The NFL then moved the organization to St. Louis, but that came after the NFL owners voted 29-0 to give a new franchise to Houston.

Charley Casserly was the first-ever General Manager for the Houston Texans. The first head coach of the franchise was Dom Capers. He was hired on January 21st, 2001. Capers came to Houston with experience with expansion teams, as he was in Carolina during their first four seasons.

The Texans won the first game in franchise history over the Dallas Cowboys. The win was the first for an expansion team in their first-ever game since 1961.

Houston has had 8 head coaches in their franchise history. Two of them have been interim head coaches. Only one head coach has finished over .500 with the Texans. That was Bill O’Brien from 2014-2020. He finished 52-48 with 4 divisional titles.