I was born in Houston, TX in 1981. It is my city. I love Houston. I grew up rooting for everything Houston. The Astros, the Rockets, and the Oilers. The city is in my blood. My sports heroes were Craig Biggio, Jeff
Bagwell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Warren Moon, and Ernest Givins. These were the players that I grew up rooting
for and placing my faith in.
Life circumstances happen though, and mine took me to Idaho.
My love for my city and my teams, however, never wavered. I continued to root for the Houston teams
even while living so far away. They are
a part of me.
Following the 1995 NFL season, the Oilers announced that
they were moving to Tennessee. This came
as great news to my father, whose job had just relocated him to Nashville. To me, it didn’t make that much
difference. I was still in Idaho, and
rooting for these players in Tennessee felt pretty much the same as it did when
they were in Texas. I didn’t feel the
same sense of abandonment that a lot of Houstonians felt because I wasn’t
there. So, I just stuck with the
team. There was no plans to have another
team in Houston, and it was very natural for me to keep rooting for players
that I had watch come into our system; players like Steve McNair and Eddie
George. They continued to be a huge part
of my sports identity.
In 2002, the NFL added an expansion team located in Houston;
the Houston Texans. I felt a little
conflicted, but had stuck with the Titans (formerly Oilers) up to this point
and didn’t feel any huge connection to the Texans proximity-wise since I was
still living in Idaho. So, the Titans
continued to be my team. In the back of
my mind, however, I always kept an eye on the Texans, paid attention to their
drafts, and their offseason moves. But,
it was under the surface.
Then, in 2012, my family and I moved back to Texas, and I
really started to feel conflicted. I
felt very strange being so close to my home town, with all of the Houston games
on local TV, and yet rooting for a team 800 miles away. Adding to this was a change in ownership for
the Titans and a complete overhaul of the roster. It began to feel like a completely different
team and organization.
It is with these thoughts in my head that I began to ponder,
“Why am I not rooting for my home team?”
A few answers came to my head.
First, people associate me with the Titans; I may look like a fair-weather
fan if I switch (which is the opposite of what I consider myself to be). Second, even though the organization looks
and feels different, it is still technically the same organization that drafted
Earl Campbell and Ernest Givins.
I struggled with this issue for a long time. And although it may seem like a trivial thing
to some, sports in the Tiner family are anything but trivial. It is a part of who we are.
And who I am is a Houstonian.
So, having said that, I am writing to say that I have
decided to quit fighting what my heart has been leaning toward for quite a
while. I am openly admitting that I am a
Houston Texans fan.
I am not jumping ship because the Texans are better; they
were actually the worst team in the NFL last year, losing 14 games in a row. It is more that I am experiencing the removal of the Oilers
from the city of Houston 19 years after everyone else did.
Lastly, this is certainly not an easy thing for me. Honestly, I sat for 20 minutes in front of my computer wondering if I should publish this. But I feel like I have been right on the edge of this for a while.
I do not want to completely sever ties with the Titans/Oilers organization, as it will always hold a special place in my heart. But I am ready to fully embrace all of the teams of my city.
I do not want to completely sever ties with the Titans/Oilers organization, as it will always hold a special place in my heart. But I am ready to fully embrace all of the teams of my city.
Go Rockets. Go
Astros. And…… Go Texans.
