The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). They are sometimes referred to as the team with the most potential in the National Football League. The Texans joined the NFL as a 2002 expansion team. The city's previous franchise, the Houston Oilers, moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1997, changing their name to the Tennessee Titans in 1999.

Professional Football in Houston dates back to 1960 when oilman Bud Adams founded the Houston Oilers, a charter member of the American Football League. Although the team did well, the city lost the team when it was moved to Tennessee in 1997 and became the Tennessee Titans. The fourth-largest city in the United States found itself without professional football for the first time since 1959 as Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams got the final approval to move his team to Tennessee.

On the morning of October 6, 1999, in Atlanta, the NFL owners voted 29-0 to award the 32nd franchise and the 2004 Super Bowl to Houston.

After that, things moved fast for the yet-to-be-named football team. Focus groups were formed across the state to determine the image and direction for the franchise. NFL Properties and team officials began working on the identity, name and logo and the front office began to take shape with the hiring of former Washington Redskins General Manager Charley Casserly as Executive Vice President/General Manager in January of 2000.

That spring, Houston NFL 2002 celebrated the official groundbreaking of Reliant Stadium. The 69,500-seat state-of-the-art facility would become the NFL's first retractable-roof stadium.

After almost a year of speculation, the worst kept secret in Houston became reality as the team was officially christened the Houston Texans during a downtown celebration in September 2000 that included NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Bob McNair unveiling the new logo.

On January 21, 2001 the Houston Texans turned to the coaching staff and introduced Dom Capers as the club's first head coach. Capers had served the previous two seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars' defensive coordinator. From 1995 to 1998, Capers was the head coach of the expansion Carolina Panthers. Capers would soon fill out the rest of the staff in the months to follow. After five long seasons, Houston was at last ready to rejoin the league.

On March 2, 2000, Houston NFL 2002 announces that the team name search had been narrowed down to five choices: Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, Texans and Wildcatters. The five names are determined after several months of research conducted jointly by Houston NFL 2002 and NFL Properties. An online survey regarding the name generated more than 65,000 responses in just seven days. In April the list of five names is narrowed down to three: Apollos, Stallions and Texans. Before selecting "Texans", owner Bob McNair asked fellow NFL owner Lamar Hunt for his permission to use the moniker. Hunt and his franchise, the Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs), were charter members of the American Football League. On September 6, 2000, the NFL's 32nd franchise is officially christened the Houston Texans before thousands at a downtown rally on Texas Avenue. Before unveiling the logo Bob McNair described the colors as "Deep Steel Blue", "Battle Red" and "Liberty White". The logo was abstract depiction of a bull split in such a way to resemble the flag of Texas, including a lone star, the five points of which representing pride, courage, strength, tradition and independence. A year later the Texans unveiled their uniforms during another downtown rally.

The Houston Texans' helmet is dark blue with the Texans bull logo. The uniform design consists of red trim and either dark blue or white jerseys. The team wears white pants with its blue jerseys, blue pants with its white jerseys, and on occasion they will wear all-white or all-blue. In 2003, the Texans introduced an alternative red jersey with blue trim. The Houston Texans have never worn a red jersey-blue pants combination.

Like many other NFL teams located in subtropical climates, the Houston Texans traditionally wear their white jerseys at home during the first half of the season — forcing opponents to wear their dark ones under the hot autumns in Houston. The team will still wear white jerseys during those early regular season games even though the retractable roof of the club's home field, Reliant Stadium, may be closed.

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