1997 Tennessee Oilers season

The 1997 Tennessee Oilers season was their 38th season overall and their 28th in the National Football League (The NFL). The Oilers finished the season with 8 wins and 8 losses, and did not qualify for the playoffs. The head coach was Jeff Fisher, and the team played their home games at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis. The 1997 season was the first season that the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers, following their move from Houston. In their first game in their new city, they defeated the Oakland Raiders 24-21. However, after the win, the Oilers would struggle, as they lost their next four games and could not recover.

1997 Tennessee Oilers season
OwnerBud Adams
Head coachJeff Fisher
General managerFloyd Reese
Home fieldLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Uniform

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1997 NFL Draft
1997 Tennessee Oilers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 18 Kenny Holmes  Defensive end Miami (FL)
2 46 Joey Kent  Wide receiver Tennessee
3 75 Denard Walker  Defensive back 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

[1]

Personnel

Staff
1997 Tennessee Oilers staff
Front office
  • Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – Floyd Reese
  • Director of Player Personnel – Rich Snead
  • Director of College Scouting – Glenn Cumbee
  • Director of Regional Scouting – Mike Holovak

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Steve Watterson

Roster
1997 Tennessee Oilers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[2]

Schedule

Preseason
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
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 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Recap
3 August 16 San Diego Chargers L 7–21 0–3 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Recap
4 August 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–34 0–4 Texas Stadium Recap

Regular season
Tennessee Oilers inaugural season logo

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 Stadium in Memphis. 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.

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 August 31 Oakland Raiders W 24–21 1–0 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Recap
2 September 7 at Miami Dolphins L 13–16 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 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 24–37 1–3 Three Rivers Stadium Recap
6 October 5 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–13 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 at Arizona 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 at Jacksonville 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 at Dallas Cowboys W 27–14 7–6 Texas Stadium Recap
15 December 4 at Cincinnati 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

Standings
AFC Central
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

References
  1. "1997 Tennessee Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  2. "1997 Tennessee Oilers starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
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