The city of Houston has hosted two Super Bowls since the Houston Texans kicked off in 2002. However, the city has never had one of its NFL franchises play in a Super Bowl.
Bringing a Super Bowl to Houston is an economic boost. Bringing a Super Bowl win is a morale boost among Houston pro football fans that have been long-suffering since the Oilers’ two AFL Championships from 1960-61.
The closest Houston got to the big game was from 1978-79 when the Oilers were played at Three Rivers Stadium against the Pittsburgh Steelers in consecutive AFC Championship Games. That last NFL final four appearance was 18 seasons before the Oilers moved to Tennessee and transformed into the Titans by 1999.
In the 18 seasons of Texans history, the franchise has produced six AFC South titles, four wild-card playoff wins, and subsequently four postseasons that stalled out in the divisional round.
Defensive end J.J. Watt feels the fans’ frustrations.
“I understand the fans want to get past what we’ve gotten past,” Watt told reporters on May 27. “I want to get past where we’ve been. That’s the whole goal. It’s literally why I wake up, go work out, put in the time, put in the effort, put my body through this. If that wasn’t my goal, I wouldn’t keep doing this after these injuries, I would have shut it down a long time ago. But the goal is to bring this city a championship and that is why we’re putting in the work that we do.”
On Jan. 1, 2019, Watt spoke with the media ahead of the club’s wild-card playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts and said he wanted to recapture the “Beatlemania” fans were feeling in 2011 during the team’s first playoff appearance.
The only way to get the Beatlemania back would be for the Texans to advance to the AFC Championship Game as a minimum. Even another stalling out in the divisional round would have to start weighing on chairman and CEO Cal McNair as to the efficacy of the Bill O’Brien Way.