The history behind the name of the Houston Texans

Here at Toro Times, we often make note of the Houston Texans being the newest team in the National Football League. Today we are going to take a different approach and dive into the franchise’s roots. 

How did the Houston Texans get their name? Were there any other choices that were under deep consideration? 

According to Stacker there actually was! The Houston Texans franchise had a few names that they were actually considering before ultimately becoming what we know them as today. 

"“Houston’s expansion football franchise conducted months of research into devising a team’s name. Five candidates were considered – Apollos, Bobcats, Stallions, Texans, and Wildcatters. Texans was selected as the winner, with a live ceremony on ESPN2.”"

- Stacker.com

The official website of the Houston Texans offers more insight into finalizing the name of their franchise. Originally starting out as “Houston NFL,” team brass went full-on pedal to the medal in 2000 to finalize their selection process. 

Team owner Bob McNair and the National Football League did this by focusing their efforts on research and development of designs for an official team logo. Ultimately, several months of research landed the name of the Texans. 

They achieved this by creating focus groups in the state of Texas, primarily focused in highly populated areas in large markets including Houston, San Antonio, Beaumont, Austin, and Galveston according to the Houston Texans website. Each area had its own focus group and was jointly conducted by the Houston NFL franchise and the National Football League Properties. 

September 6th, 2000 was the day the Houston Texans were officially born, with then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue introducing McNair and the team’s logo, colors, and name in front of thousands of eager fans at a rally on Texas Avenue in Houston. The team would go on to make their debut two years later in 2002.

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