1996 Houston Oilers season
| 1996 Houston Oilers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Jeff Fisher |
| Home field | Astrodome |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–8 |
| Division place | 4th AFC Central |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
The 1996 Houston Oilers season was the 37th season overall and 27th with the National Football League (NFL) and their final season in Houston. The team bested their previous season's output of 7–9, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Oilers only won two out of their eight games at home. However, on the road they won six out of eight games as the Oilers finish with an 8-8 record. Houston fans would get a tease as Running Back Eddie George won the Offensive Rookie of the Year with 1,368 yards rushing.
Houston had already established itself as a franchise; the league had approved the team's relocation to Nashville, Tennessee, although it was not originally scheduled to take place until 1998. With the team having given up on Houston, the city responded in kind: fan support and attendance dropped to negligible levels for the 1996 season, the team's radio network was all but disbanded, and the local broadcasts were being cut off in favor of preseason NBA basketball. The Oilers, unwilling to continue in Houston after such a debacle, quickly moved to Memphis, Tennessee's Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 1997, becoming the Tennessee Oilers (Memphis, too, would reject the "temporary" housing of the Oilers, forcing the team to move to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville until the new Nashville stadium was finished).
...
Wikipedia