The Tennessee Titans came up with a brilliant idea of trolling their rivals, the Houston Texans, by donning the Houston Oilers uniform in their Week 15 showdown at Nissan Stadium. However, the whole thing backfired as the Texans won the game in a 19-16 overtime win last Sunday, leading Houston fans, and even JJ Watt, to assert ownership of the Oilers’ jersey.
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Adding more to the rivalry, the former defensive end, who was invited to ‘The Pat McAfee Show‘, shared his excitement about his former team clinching the win against their biggest divisional rival. JJ Watt was notably one of the first few people to talk about winning the Jersey, which Pat McAfee’s co-hosts congratulated him for. In the show, the former DE even talked about missing the intense rivalries of the past, where these teams really despised each other.
He then expressed his desire for the stakes to be higher, like betting on the old uniform in a game. In his view, this could have been the coolest rivalry in the history of sports.
“So you lost you’re out of the playoffs. That sucks for you. We won,” JJ Watt said. “You guys get to keep the uniforms. Yes, I know, technically you get to keep them. I wish that we could put them on the line because that would make it the coolest rivalry in the history of sports.”
After the Texans defeated the Titans on Sunday, JJ Watt took to X (formerly Twitter) to openly express his thoughts on the uniform rivalry. He pointed out that, according to the norms, the Texans should get the Oilers’ uniforms back due to their victory.
The Texans-Titans rivalry is one for the history books and the former DE has witnessed it firsthand. For now, the Houston fans have their last laugh.
Did JJ Watt Take the Titan-Texans Rivalry to the Next Level?
Back in the day, the Titans were known as the Oilers when they were based in Houston. However, in 1997, they relocated to Tennessee and played two more seasons under the name of the Oilers before changing it to the Titans in 1999. Since the inception of the Houston Texans, which is also the youngest expansion team in the NFL, they have had to live under their predecessor’s shadow for years.
This isn’t the first time the Tennessee Titans have worn the Oilers’ throwback jersey this season. The Titans also wore it against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8. However, the light blue uniform resembles the one the Houston Oilers wore in their first season in 1960. The white-colored helmets made their appearance years later in 1975 and remained the same until they became the Titans.
The Houston Texans will face the Cleveland Browns in the Week 16 game on Sunday. With their latest win, the Texans are 8-6 and tie the record with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts in their division. With three games left, they still have a 48 percent chance of making it to the playoffs this season.
