Tag: 1992 AFC wild-card

Analyzing the Texans’ recent track record of diversity in top positions

The Houston Texans have committed themselves to being a more inclusive franchise with a soft spot for social justice. How does that intent manifest?

The NFL has received backlash from fans and players alike for its lack of diversity and its ill-treatment of Black players and other players of color. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL released a video, which now has over 8 million views, that many called insincere at best and flat-out insulting at worst.

In 2016, the NFL announced it would be using virtual reality training to help combat racism and sexism within the NFL. Studies show however, that not much has changed in terms of diversity, with the number of players of color actually decreasing since 2016. That was the year former San Francisco 49ers player Collin Kaepernick kneeled during the National Anthem to peacefully protest the systemic racism and discrimination against Black people in the United States. He has yet to play another game in the NFL since 2016.

How do the Houston Texans compare on terms of diversity to their peers in the NFL? We decided to compare the Texans to their AFC South rivals the Tennessee Titans. The three categories we look are: Players, General Managers, and Head Coaches. For simplicity, I will be using two ethnicity markers which include W for White or Caucasian and POC to denote a person of color, which for our analysis indicates anyone who doesn’t fall under the W category. I will analyze the diversity of the Texans starting from 2013 when the NFL first started publishing the NFL Diversity and Inclusion Report, and compare them with the Titans.

Players: Titans Win

I will specifically analyze the starting quarterbacks, which is any quarterback that started a game during a season, Houston had since 2013 and compare them to the Titan’s starting quarterbacks.

From 2017-2019 the Texans had Deshaun Watson, a POC, as a starting quarterback. Therefore, Houston had a POC as a starting quarterback for 42.9% of the time which is pretty close to an even split, but not quite. This percentage is much better than say the Arizona Cardinals at 28.6%, but not quite as high as the Seattle Seahawks at 100% with Russell Wilson.

However, for this comparison, the Texans lose to Tennessee who sit at 71.4% POC at starting quarterback with Marcus Mariota holding it down since 2015. Both teams, however, have given ample chance for POCs to have a starting quarterback at their franchise and for that they should be acknowledged.

General Managers: Texans WIN by a landslide

From 2006-2017 the Texans had Rick Smith, a POC, as their general manager before hiring Brian Gaine in 2018 (Gaine was fired midway through ’19, but will be included in that year’s results). This means the Texans have 71.4% of their general managers being POC since 2013. Compare that to the Titans who are at 0% for the same time period.

Head Coaches: TIE

Neither team has had a head coach that is a POC and thus they tie by default. This should make you think about why that could be, especially with the Rooney Rule in place. Are there not enough opportunities for NFL players, who are majority POC, to transition into a coaching role that leads them to a head coaching position? Is the Rooney Rule just not yet strong enough? Do POC players not want to be head coaches?

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a strong history of diversity within the franchise dating back to 1933. They have also won six Super Bowls with this diversity.

Since its implementation, the Rooney Rule has assisted in the hiring of 14 coaches with minority backgrounds. But Steelers president Art Rooney II knows those numbers should be significantly higher.

“I think where we are right now is not where we want to be, not where we need to be,” Rooney told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche in a January interview.

“We have about one-third of the coaches in the National Football League are from the minority communities. That’s really not a bad pipeline,” said Rooney. “And so, the question is, why aren’t more of those people getting interviews? Why aren’t more of those people advancing through the process? Like I said, there are a lot of pieces to it that we have to look at. We have a lot of work to do that.”

Conclusion

This article is not a call to fire or ban certain ethnic groups from positions of power within the NFL. On the contrary, I want to understand why positions of power don’t seem to be proportionately available to POC. The statistics are meant to make you take a step back and think about what the reasons could be and if there is a way to resolve the seeming disparity. While the NFL indicates it has a commitment to solving the disparity, not much seems to have changed. The players in the NFL also see the disparity and will not put up with it anymore, they are speaking out.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien on Bills’ playoff comeback versus the Oilers: ‘That was 26 years ago’

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien sees zero correlation between the 1992 AFC wild-card between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers.

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien had to take a trip into the past before he could move forward with his Monday morning presser at NRG Stadium.

More specifically, O’Brien had to take a trip into the Tennessee Titans franchise’s past and answer a couple of questions relating to the 1992 AFC wild-card playoffs between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers.

“That’s one heck of a way to start off this deal,” O’Brien told reporters. “Oh man, that was 30 years ago almost, 26 years ago. Holy smokes. No, I think this is about this week and this is about the Houston Texans versus a very, very good Buffalo Bills team. So, I’m not going down that road. Holy smokes, that was 26 years ago.”

The Bills face the Texans at 3:35 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 4.

Even though the Titans own all of the records and history of the Oilers, including that ignominious playoff loss where they blew a 35-3 third quarter lead and lost 41-38 in overtime, the colossal letdown was a part of Houston’s sports history, playing a part in the Bayou City being known as “Choke City,” especially after the Houston Rockets fell down 2-0 to the Phoenix Suns in the 1994 NBA Western Conference semifinals.

However, that’s all on the late Bud Adams, founder of the Oilers who moved the franchise to Tennessee in 1997. That is on the Titans franchise to have to bear.

“I think, again, 26 years ago,” O’Brien said. “The game will be played in 2020. So, we got a lot of work to do, we’ve got a very tough opponent coming in here that’s played very well. Very well coached, got a lot of respect for [Bills coach] Sean (McDermott) and his staff and how they do things. So, we’ve got a big week here.”

The Bills have not won a playoff game since they defeated the Miami Dolphins 37-22 in the 1995 AFC wild-card. The Texans have won three playoff games since their 2002 inception.

The Titans franchise blew a 35-3 lead to the Bills in the 1992 AFC wild-card, not the Texans

The Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Oilers, the future Tennessee Titans, in the 1992 AFC wild-card, not the Houston Texans.

Get ready for it this week.

“In the 1992 AFC wild-card, the Buffalo Bills rallied from 35-3 to beat the Houston Oilers.”

So what? What does that have anything to do with the Houston Texans?

Yes, both the Oilers and the Texans share the same city, Houston, but they are no more connected than the Ravens and Colts are, even though both played ball in Baltimore, or the Rams and Browns are, even though both won championships in Cleveland.

One of the big reminders that gets thrown in the face of Houston sports fans like mace full of bad memories that the Tennessee Titans own the records, jerseys, and history of the Oilers. Amy Adams Strunk reminded everyone of that in the offseason when J.J. Watt expressed interest in wearing Oilers throwbacks sometime.

If the Titans want to own Oilers history so bad, they can own that ignominious playoff loss to backup quarterback Frank Reich. It has no place in Texans franchise history. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

How inequitable is it that the city of Houston can have no piece of the Oilers legacy aside from the Astrodome that Bud Adams demanded have luxury boxes installed in 1986 or else he would move the team? But if it’s a horrible playoff loss in the history of pro football, oh, sure the Texans can have that demon haunting the tunnels at NRG Stadium.

Let the past die, or at least let the Titans have the past.

The Texans won’t be reliving the failures of the Oilers on Saturday at 3:35 p.m. when they take on the Bills. They will be creating their own new failures or establishing a brand new avenue of postseason season excellence.

The Titans blew a 35-3 lead to the Bills nearly 26 years ago, not the Texans.