| 1996 Houston Oilers season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Bud Adams |
| General manager | Floyd Reese |
| Head coach | Jeff Fisher |
| Home field | Houston Astrodome |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–8 |
| Division place | 4th AFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | OLB John Henry Mills SS Blaine Bishop |
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 1996 Houston Oilers season was the 37th season overall and 27th with the National Football League (NFL) and their final season in Houston. The team bested their previous season's output of 7–9,[1] but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Oilers only won two out of their eight games at home. However, on the road they won six out of eight games as the Oilers finished with an 8-8 record. Houston running back Eddie George won the Offensive Rookie of the Year with 1,368 yards rushing. Despite finishing 8–8 record, the Oilers failed to sell out any of its home games at the Houston Astrodome for the second consecutive season.
The Oilers had already established itself as a lame duck franchise; the league had approved the team's relocation to Nashville, Tennessee a year ahead of schedule, although it was not originally scheduled to take place until 1998.[2] With the team having given up on Houston, the city responded in kind: fan support and attendance dropped to negligible levels for the 1996 season, the team's radio network was all but disbanded, and the local broadcasts were being cut off in favor of preseason NBA basketball.[3] The Oilers, unwilling to continue in Houston after such a debacle, quickly moved to Memphis, Tennessee's Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 1997, becoming the Tennessee Oilers (Memphis, too, would reject the "temporary" housing of the Oilers, forcing the team to move to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville until the new Nashville stadium was finished in 1999).
- ^ 1996 Houston Oilers
- ^ PRO FOOTBALL;N.F.L. Owners Approve Move To Nashville By the Oilers. The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ Oilers hope to prove lame ducks can soar. The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2012.