The University of Houston football program plans to honor the NFL's departed Oilers by wearing powder-blue uniforms at least once during the Cougars' upcoming college season, despite the NFL's demand that they discontinue the practice.
"We're doing it," Houston athletic director Chris Pezman told the Houston Chronicle, as reported by Sports Illustrated. "We've reviewed everything and come to the conclusion that we are going to proceed."
Houston has informed the NFL of its decision, but is yet to receive a response as of early Tuesday.
"We're giving them two or three weeks to respond," Pezman said. "We're waiting on a response to see if we get one. We literally have a story we can show the city uses it. This isn't a reach. This is a layup. We've got a very defensible position."
According to SI's James Parks, the NFL told the university last fall to stop wearing a uniform inspired by the city's former Oilers franchise, which moved to Nashville and became the Tennessee Titans. The current NFL franchise switched shades of blue from powder to navy but still wears the occasional throwback uni to pay respect to the Oilers, who wore the powder-blue look from 1960 to 1996. Last season, the Titans wore powder blue twice.
Houston's primary football colors are red and white, but the school expects to wear a powder-blue look of its own to pay tribute to the city's football heritage.
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