With the Titans getting set to unveil their Oilers throwbacks, I’ve done a deep dive on the Oilers’ uniforms for this week’s Uni Watch Premium article on Substack. Just like my previous deep dives on the other uniforms that are being revived for this season’s new NFL throwbacks — the Bucs’ creamsicles, the Eagles’ Kelly greens, and the Seahawks’ blue/silver set — this Oilers article is full of historical fun facts and loads of great visuals.
You can read the first part of the article here. In order to read the entire thing, you’ll need to become a paying subscriber to my Substack (which will also get you full access to my Substack/Bulletin archives). My thanks, as always, for your consideration!
I think the carolina/ powder blue and red combo is too scarce in sports. I wish teams (esp the Guardians) would try something like that when rebranding from navy/ red.
Yes, really underutilized. This was the first colour scheme for the Quebec Nordiques before they transitioned to a darker blue.
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Agree 100%. The Guardians really missed the boat with this. Even if they switched the red to crimson or maroon (like the Phils light blue and various shades of red). Would still have ties to their history being shades of blue and red, but would set them apart from so many other MLB teams using a combo of navy and red. And the Phillies old design is incredibly popular for a reason, it is a unique color set that works great together.
Which is weird, because basketball teams – college and pro – use powder blue as an alternate for blue at the drop of a hat. Los Angeles Stars, Kansas City Kings, Clippers, Louisiana Tech.
As an old-school Houston Oilers fan, it will forever disappoint me that the now-Titans franchise did not let Houston keep the Oilers name/branding when they hightailed it out of town.
It will never, ever happen, but if the Texans could somehow find a way to add enough zeroes to a check for the Titans to sell them the Oilers rights, I legitimately believe they wouldn’t be able to keep Houston Oilers gear in stock. It would be immensely popular in Houston and such a great way to help bring more interest to the team.
Absolutely believe the Oiler legacy belongs in Houston.When I moved to Houston in 1968 I believe the Oilers were wearing the blue jerseys and gray pants which I thought was a great combination. Really liked the uniform when they dropped the blue pants and went white.
The white jerseys/powder blue pants combo may well be my favorite sports uniform of all time.
I’ve always had a thing for those first-year 1960 Oilers uniforms with the round numbers. The later white throwback to that had numbers the wrong color because no one did uni research back then and no one had unearthed color photos of the 1960 road games.
That number font was quite popular in colleges for a few years, including Rice University, which was the big-time football in Houston before the Oilers.
I’m holding out hope that when the Adams family eventually sells the team the new owners will be willing to sell the Oilers history to Houston. None of the TN fans care about that era