1997 Tennessee Oilers season

1997 Tennessee Oilers season
Head coach	Jeff Fisher
Home field	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1997 season was the Tennessee Oilers 38th season and their 28th in the National Football League (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 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The 1997 season was the first season that the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers, following their move from Houston.

Offseason

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

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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 Head Coach – Jeff Fisher Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Les Steckel Running Backs – Sherman Smith Wide Receivers – Alan Lowry Offensive Line/Tight Ends – George Henshaw Offensive Line – Mike Munchak Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Bart Andrus			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Gregg Williams Defensive Line – Rex Norris Linebackers – O'Neill Gilbert Defensive Backs – Greg Brown Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Jerry Gray Special teams coaches Special Teams – Russ Purnell Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Steve Watterson

Roster

1997 Tennessee Oilers roster
	Quarterbacks 17 Dave Krieg  9 Steve McNair 16 James Ritchey Running backs 22 Mike Archie 27 Eddie George 35 Spencer George 33 Ronnie Harmon 20 Rodney Thomas Wide receivers 83 Isaac Byrd 86 Willie Davis 83 Malcolm Floyd 86 Joey Kent 82 Derrick Mason KR 85 Derek Russell 81 Chris Sanders		Tight ends 88 Roderick Lewis 87 James McKeehan 80 Michael Roan HB 89 Frank Wycheck HB Offensive linemen 77 Kevin Donnalley G 72 Brad Hopkins T 66 Jason Layman G/T 74 Bruce Matthews G 64 Erik Norgard G/C 69 Jon Runyan T 73 Scott Sanderson T 53 Mark Stepnoski C		Defensive linemen 78 Anthony Cook DE 91 Josh Evans DT 92 Henry Ford DT 93 Mike Halapin DT 99 Kenny Holmes DE 98 Pratt Lyons DE 97 Bryant Mix DT 90 James Roberson DE 96 Gary Walker DT Linebackers 58 Joe Bowden OLB 51 Lemanski Hall OLB 57 Lenoy Jones OLB 50 Terry Killens OLB 56 Lonnie Marts OLB 59 Dennis Stallings MLB 52 Barron Wortham MLB		Defensive backs 22 Tomur Barnes CB 23 Blaine Bishop SS 30 Anthony Dorsett CB 24 Steve Jackson CB 38 Roger Jones CB 29 Darryll Lewis CB 28 George McCullough CB 31 Marcus Robertson FS 37 Rafael Robinson FS 26 Rayna Stewart FS/SS 25 Denard Walker CB 42 Armon Williams SS Special teams  3 Al Del Greco K 21 Mel Gray PR  7 Reggie Roby P Rookies in italics

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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: 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 would draw to the same stadium (although this was larger than the attendance for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs).

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Location	Attendance
1	August 31, 1997	Oakland Raiders	W 24–21	1–0	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	30,171
2	September 7, 1997	at Miami Dolphins	L 16–13	1–1	Pro Player Stadium	64,439
3	Bye
4	September 21, 1997	Baltimore Ravens	L 36–10	1–2	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	17,737
5	September 28, 1997	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 37–24	1–3	Three Rivers Stadium	57,507
6	October 5, 1997	at Seattle Seahawks	L 16–13	1–4	Kingdome	49,897
7	October 12, 1997	Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–7	2–4	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	17,071
8	October 19, 1997	Washington Redskins	W 28–14	3–4	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	31,042
9	October 26, 1997	at Arizona Cardinals	W 41–14	4–4	Sun Devil Stadium	44,030
10	November 2, 1997	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 30–24	4–5	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	27,208
11	November 9, 1997	New York Giants	W 10–6	5–5	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	26,744
12	November 16, 1997	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 17–9	5–6	ALLTEL Stadium	70,070
13	November 23, 1997	Buffalo Bills	W 31–14	6–6	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	23,571
14	November 27, 1997	at Dallas Cowboys	W 27–14	7–6	Texas Stadium	63,421
15	December 4, 1997	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 41–14	7–7	Cinergy Field	49,086
16	December 14, 1997	at Baltimore Ravens	L 21–19	7–8	Memorial Stadium	60,558
17	December 21, 1997	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–6	8–8	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	50,677

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.

External links

• 1997 Tennessee Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com