Bud Adams
Adams in 1964
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| Date of birth | January 3, 1923 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Bartlesville, Oklahoma |
| Date of death | October 21, 2013 (aged 90) |
| Place of death | Houston, Texas |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Founder/Owner |
| College | University of Kansas |
| Career history | |
| As Owner | |
| 1960–1996 | Houston Oilers |
| 1997–1998 | Tennessee Oilers |
| 1999–2013 | Tennessee Titans |
| 2005–2007 | Nashville Kats |
| 1967–1969 | Houston Mavericks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United States |
| Service/branch |
 U.S. Navy
|
| Rank |
 Lieutenant, Junior Grade
|
| Battles/wars | World War II: Pacific Theater |
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. (January 3, 1923 – October 21, 2013) was the owner of the Tennessee Titans, a National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was originally known as the Houston Oilers. He was the senior owner (by time) with his team in the National Football League, a few months ahead of Buffalo Bills' owner Ralph Wilson. Adams also was one of the owners of the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association and the owner of the second Nashville Kats franchise of the Arena Football League. He was elected to the American Football League Hall of Fame, an online site, but as of 2016 is not a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, despite several nominations and an ongoing effort to make him such.
Adams had many business interests in the Houston area. An enrolled Cherokee who originally made his fortune in the petroleum business, Adams was chairman and CEO of Adams Resources & Energy Inc., a wholesale supplier of oil and natural gas. He also owned several Lincoln-Mercury automobile franchises.
Born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on January 3, 1923, Adams was the son of K. S. "Boots" Adams and Blanch Keeler Adams. He became an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation by virtue of his maternal line. Two of his great-grandmothers were Cherokee women who married European-American men: Nelson Carr and George B. Keeler, who played roles in trade and oil in early Oklahoma. Keeler drilled the first commercial oil well, near the Caney River. Adams's father succeeded the founder Frank Phillips as president of Phillips Petroleum Company in 1939. Adams's uncle William Wayne Keeler, CEO of Phillips Petroleum Company for years, was appointed chief of the Cherokee Nation by President Harry S. Truman in 1949 and served through 1971, when the Cherokee were able to hold their own elections. Keeler was democratically elected and served until 1975. Adams's ancestors include other prominent Cherokee leaders.
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