BRIAN T. SMITH: AN OWNER’S BOND.

Jan. 1, 1937: Robert Cary McNair is born in Tampa, Fla. The family moves around the South for his father’s job with Sunshine Biscuit Co. until settling in Forest City, N.C.

1954: McNair graduates from Cool Springs High School in Forest City and, after turning down an offer from the Chicago Cubs to play baseball, enrolls at the University of South Carolina.

April 18, 1957: McNair is married to Janice Suber, a student at ColumbIa College in South Carolina.

1960: The McNairs move to Houston, and McNair starts a company that eventually became Executive Auto Leasing. He later expands into equipment leasing, trucking and telecommunications.

1983: McNair’s trucking company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with liabilities of $10 million. He eventually repays his creditors in full.

1983: McNair founds Cogen Technologies, an energy company operating plants that generate electricity while also capturing thermal heat that can be used for other purposes.

1992: McNair considers purchasing the Miami Dolphins but does not pursue the deal.

1994: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue suggests McNair partner with a group attempting to obtain an NFL expansion team in St. Louis, but he declines.

Sept. 13, 1995: The Oilers announce they will move to Tennessee for the 1998 season, eventually moving into a new stadium in Nashville.

Nov. 5, 1996: Harris County voters approve plans for a new downtown baseball stadium and to build a new football-rodeo stadium on the Astrodome grounds.

May 6, 1997: McNair, who has been recruited by Houston Aeros owner as a potential investor in an NFL expansion team, meets with city and county officials to discuss stadium financing plans.

1997: McNair is inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

Oct. 31, 1998: As he pursues an NFL franchise in Houston, McNair announces that

Cogen Technologies will sell three power generating plants to Enron for $1.5 billion in a deal that will close in 1999. He retains ownership in power plants in New York and Virginia.

March 16, 1999: NFL owners vote to award the 32nd NFL franchise to Los Angeles if a viable stadium plan can be arranged.

Oct. 6, 1999: With stadium plans in place and McNair having agreed to pay $700 million for a franchise, beating the Los Angeles offer by $160 million, Houston is awarded the NFL franchise.

March 9, 2000: Ground is broken for Reliant Stadium, the new retractable-roof stadium planned for the NFL and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.