To start its 2023 season, the University of Houston unveiled powder blue Oilers-like uniforms against the UTSA Roadrunners in September. They drew rave reviews and were generally well-received by almost everyone.
That is, except for the NFL.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the league’s merchandising and license division sent a cease-and-desist letter to the school to stop any further usage of the Oilers’ trademarked uniforms. An NFL attorney reportedly threatened Houston with further legal action if the school didn’t stop its “blatant copying” of the old Oilers’ jerseys. Houston apparently decided to wear the uniforms anyway after the NFL had already warned the program. The Tennessee Titans — the extremely loose spiritual successor to the now-defunct Houston Oilers — wore the official trademarked version of the uniforms in their 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
More from the Houston Chronicle:
“The Houston Cougars’ attempt to free ride on the popularity of the NFL and the club violates the intellectual property rights of the NFL and the (Tennessee) Titans,” attorney Bonnie L. Jarrett wrote in the Oct. 13 letter.”
All of this raises an important question. If Houston, the school, can’t wear these uniforms, paying obvious homage to the city’s former pro football history, then why do the Titans get the golden opportunity to maximize them?
Yes, the Titans are still owned by the late Bud Adams’ family. (These days, it’s his daughter, Amy Adams Strunk.) And yes, Bud Adams transferring over the Oilers to Nashville did initially mean taking all of their uniforms and history with them. But as veteran Nashville reporter David Boclair wrote in a Facebook post, Adams only rebranded the Oilers because the people of the city threw a “hissy fit” over the team not having an original Tennessee identity and flavor. (This I can understand because the regular Titans’ uniforms are boring abominations borne of a Create-A-Team in Madden.)
Not to mention that the city of Houston seemingly barely wanted the Oilers to stay around before they moved in the mid-1990s:
As always, @BoclairSports with the right perspective on the Oilers throwbacks pic.twitter.com/f9zqJdanmW
— Steve Cavendish (@scavendish) October 29, 2023
That’s the rub here.
If Nashville wanted the Titans to be distinct and represent their city on their own merits, they deserve that right. A pro football squad can and should be an important cultural appendage of a bog-standard American town. But why does the NFL continue to allow them to wear uniforms from a now nonexistent pro football team from another city? It’s thoroughly hypocritical. It’d be like the Oklahoma City Thunder wearing Seattle Supersonics “throwback” uniforms in the NBA. It also speaks to a bizarre cognitive dissonance where Nashville and the Titans are allowed to brazenly dig up the grave of an old franchise with little continued connection to them (to almost certainly make money off selling throwback jerseys) while a school tangentially related to the Oilers can’t even pay proper tribute.
The NFL and Titans, by extension, need to get their priorities in order. This is not a copyright battle worth fighting, and it only makes both parties look incredibly silly.
This was how Twitter reacted
I feel like a Houston team wearing these is less annoying than a Nashville team wearing them, but that’s not a legal argument. https://t.co/KplctHowXP
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 30, 2023
The NFL owns baby blue and red uniforms now? https://t.co/R1fD0CWkzd
— Cade Webb (@cadewebb) October 30, 2023
We talk a lot in our sports media and production class about the NFL protecting its copyrights and trademarks so here is a classic case.
For people to say the university should tell the NFL to kick rocks, legally that’s probably not a great idea. https://t.co/pehfO0j1Rh
— Kris Freeman (@KrisFreemanPA) October 30, 2023
Imagine the NFL complaining about a team cosplaying as another team, especially after yesterday. https://t.co/ylnvTukXEi
— Phil Spain (@philenespanol) October 30, 2023
Georgia literally wears the Packers logo. https://t.co/85OBHCoul2
— Adam Eargle (@adameargle) October 30, 2023
It's not the NFL's trademark, though. The Adams family that owns the Titans would own the trademark.
I'm not gonna blame the NFL for doing a stupid thing, I'm gonna blame the Adams family for not letting a Houston area team have any fun. https://t.co/4zB8sGohKA
— Matt Bagley (@BagleySports) October 30, 2023
I want to see the Ravens wearing Browns inspired throw backs while playing in Cleveland https://t.co/m12BVvZ8oN
— and I never slice. (@bushwood_c) October 30, 2023
Okay but these looked way better https://t.co/kHtn0qjW6d
— Edwin Mascorro (@EdwinM201) October 30, 2023
Georgia and a million other teams use the packers logo, Arkansas straight up copied the cowboys uniforms for a game, Iowa copied the Steelers look, but you draw the line at using the same colors as an NFL team that no longer exists? https://t.co/mEbsAHJ0Tc pic.twitter.com/DZ45JLunUn
— Jeffrey Rose (@imRoseHD) October 30, 2023
