1997 Tennessee Oilers season | |
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Owner | Bud Adams |
General manager | Floyd Reese |
Head coach | Jeff Fisher |
Home field | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 8–8 |
Division place | 3rd AFC Central |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Pro Bowlers | RBEddie George GBruce Matthews |
Uniform | |
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The 1997 Tennessee Oilers season was their 38th season overall and 28th in the National Football League (NFL). It was the team's first season in Memphis, Tennessee after moving from Houston, and they played at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
Led by head coach Jeff Fisher, the Oilers finished the season with 8 wins and 8 losses, and did not qualify for the playoffs. Despite defeating the Oakland Raiders 24–21 in their first game in their new city, they lost the next four games and would not recover.
1997 Tennessee Oilers draft | |||||
Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
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1 | 18 | Kenny Holmes | Defensive end | Miami (FL) | |
2 | 46 | Joey Kent | Wide receiver | Tennessee | |
3 | 75 | Denard Walker | Cornerback | LSU | |
3 | 81 | Scott Sanderson | Offensive tackle | Washington State | |
4 | 98 | Derrick Mason * | Wide receiver | Michigan State | |
4 | 107 | Pratt Lyons | Defensive end | Troy | |
5 | 143 | George McCullough | Defensive back | Baylor | |
6 | 181 | Dennis Stallings | Linebacker | Illinois | |
7 | 216 | Armon Williams | Defensive back | Arizona | |
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career |
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
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Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
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1 | August 2 | New Orleans Saints | L 12–21 | 0–1 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap |
2 | August 9 | Washington Redskins | L 12–18 | 0–2 | Vanderbilt Stadium | Recap |
3 | August 16 | San Diego Chargers | L 7–21 | 0–3 | Vanderbilt Stadium | Recap |
4 | August 22 | atDallas Cowboys | L 10–34 | 0–4 | Texas Stadium | Recap |
The Oilers' new stadium would not be ready until 1999, however, and the largest stadium in Nashville at the time, Vanderbilt Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University, seated only 41,000. At first, Bud Adams rejected Vanderbilt Stadium even as a temporary facility and announced that the renamed Tennessee Oilers would play the next two seasons at Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiuminMemphis. The team would be based in Nashville, commuting to Memphis only for games—in effect, consigning the Oilers to 32 road games for the next two years. Even though this arrangement was acceptable to the NFL and the Oilers at the time, few people in either Memphis or Nashville were pleased by it. Memphis had made numerous attempts to get an NFL team (including the Memphis Hound Dogs and the Memphis Grizzlies court case), and many people in the area wanted nothing to do with a team that would be lost in only two years—especially to longtime rival Nashville. Conversely, Nashvillians showed little inclination to drive over 200 miles (300 km) to see "their" team. As a result, attendance at the Liberty Bowl was disastrous: on at least two occasions, fewer than 18,000 fans came to the stadium to see the Oilers, a number smaller than the attendance figures the team was getting in Houston after they had announced the move, and smaller than the fan bases the USFL's Memphis Showboats and XFL's Memphis Maniax had drawn/would draw to the same stadium. If not for the attendance of fans supporting the Oilers' opponents, attendance would likely have even been smaller than it was for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs. Even in weeks when the Oilers drew over 30,000 fans (which only happened twice), many of the attendees were fans of the opposing team, padding the attendance totals.
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap | |
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1 | August 31 | Oakland Raiders | W 24–21 (OT) | 1–0 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
2 | September 7 | atMiami Dolphins | L 13–16 (OT) | 1–1 | Pro Player Stadium | Recap | |
3 | Bye | ||||||
4 | September 21 | Baltimore Ravens | L 10–36 | 1–2 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
5 | September 28 | atPittsburgh Steelers | L 24–37 | 1–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap | |
6 | October 5 | atSeattle Seahawks | L 13–16 | 1–4 | Kingdome | Recap | |
7 | October 12 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 30–7 | 2–4 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
8 | October 19 | Washington Redskins | W 28–14 | 3–4 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
9 | October 26 | atArizona Cardinals | W 41–14 | 4–4 | Sun Devil Stadium | Recap | |
10 | November 2 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 24–30 | 4–5 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
11 | November 9 | New York Giants | W 10–6 | 5–5 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
12 | November 16 | atJacksonville Jaguars | L 9–17 | 5–6 | Alltel Stadium | Recap | |
13 | November 23 | Buffalo Bills | W 31–14 | 6–6 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
14 | November 27 | atDallas Cowboys | W 27–14 | 7–6 | Texas Stadium | Recap | |
15 | December 4 | atCincinnati Bengals | L 14–41 | 7–7 | Cinergy Field | Recap | |
16 | December 14 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 19–21 | 7–8 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
17 | December 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 16–6 | 8–8 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |
Week One: Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
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Raiders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
Oilers | 10 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 24 |
atLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Two: Tennessee Oilers at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
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Oilers | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Dolphins | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 16 |
atPro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Game information | ||
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Week Four: Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Ravens | 3 | 17 | 3 | 13 | 36 |
Oilers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Five: Tennessee Oilers at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 0 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 24 |
Steelers | 10 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 37 |
atThree Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game information | ||
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Week Six: Tennessee Oilers at Seattle Seahawks – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
Seahawks | 0 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 16 |
atKingdome, Seattle, Washington
Game information | ||
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Week Seven: Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Bengals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Oilers | 7 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 30 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Eight: Washington Redskins at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Redskins | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
Oilers | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Nine: Tennessee Oilers at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 3 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 41 |
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
atSun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
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Week Ten: Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Jaguars | 17 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
Oilers | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Eleven: New York Giants at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Giants | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Oilers | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Twelve: Tennessee Oilers at Jacksonville Jaguars – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
Jaguars | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
atAlltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida
Game information | ||
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Week Thirteen: Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Oilers | 14 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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Week Fourteen: Tennessee Oilers at Dallas Cowboys – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 14 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
Cowboys | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
atTexas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Game information | ||
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Week Fifteen: Tennessee Oilers at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
Bengals | 14 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 41 |
atCinergy Field, Cincinnati, Ohio
Game information | ||
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Week Sixteen: Tennessee Oilers at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Oilers | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
Ravens | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
atMemorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
Game information | ||
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Week Seventeen: Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Oilers – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Steelers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
Oilers | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Game information | ||
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AFC Central | |||||||
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W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
(2) Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 372 | 307 | L1 |
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 394 | 318 | W2 |
Tennessee Oilers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 333 | 310 | W1 |
Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 355 | 405 | W3 |
Baltimore Ravens | 6 | 9 | 1 | .406 | 326 | 345 | L1 |
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Stadiums |
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Culture |
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Lore |
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Rivalries |
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Division championships (11) |
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Conference championships (1) |
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League championships (2) |
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Retired numbers |
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Former league affiliation |
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Formerly the Houston Oilers (1960–1996) and the Tennessee Oilers (1997–1998) | |
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Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory |