• HOW MCNAIR BEAT L.A. TO NFL.
Sept. 6, 2000: McNair announces the new franchise will be called the Houston Texans. Jan. 21, 2001: Dom Capers is announced as the first Texans head coach. April 20, 2002: The Texans select Fresno State quarterback David Carr with the first pick in their first NFL draft. Aug. 5, 2002: The Texans lose their inaugural exhibition game 34-17 to the Giants, in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. Sept. 8, 2002: The Texans become the first NFL expansion team since the 1961 Vikings to win their inaugural regularseason game, beating the Cowboys 19-10 on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football” at Reliant Stadium. Dec. 8, 2002: The Texans defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-6 despite totaling 46 yards, an NFL-record low for a winning team. Feb. 1, 2004: Houston hosts the Super Bowl for the first time in 30 years as the Patriots beat the Panthers 32-29 at Reliant Stadium. Jan. 3, 2006: Capers is fired after a 2-14 season. Former Houston high school star and Texas A&M quarterback Gary Kubiak is hired as his replacement. Aug. 10, 2006: The Texans’ Lone Star Sports & Entertainment division announces it will assume operation of Houston’s college bowl, which is renamed the Texas Bowl and is now known as the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl. Dec. 12, 2006: Titans quarterback and former Houston high school star Vince Young, who was passed over by the Texans with the first pick in the NFL draft, scores on a 39-yard touchdown run in overtime for a 26-20 Titans win at Reliant Stadium. March 22, 2007: The Texans acquire quarterback Matt Schaub in a trade with the Falcons, ending the David Carr era in Houston. Sept. 12, 2007: The McNairs donate $100 million to Baylor College of Medicine, which names its Texas Medical Center campus in the couple’s honor. Dec. 30, 2007: Despite a 1-5 division record, the Texans beat Jacksonville 42-28 to finish the season with a franchise-best 8-8 record. Jan. 3, 2010: The Texans beat New England 34-27 for the first winning season in team history at 9-7 but fail to make the playoffs. May 2010: McNair is inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. Jan. team 7, history, 2012: In the the Texans first playoff beat the game Bengals in 31-10 behind backup quarterback T.J. Yates and a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown by rookie defensive lineman J.J. Watt but lose a week later to Baltimore 20-13 in the divisional round. Jan. 5, 2013: After the Texans set a team record with a 12-4 regular season, Arian Foster runs for 140 yards and the Texans’ defense led by Watt, who is named NFL defensive player of the year, holds the Bengals to 198 yards in a 19-13 playoff win. The Texans are eliminated a week later by the Patriots 41-28. Dec. 6, 2013: Kubiak is fired with three games left in the regular season as the Texans slump from 12-4 to 2-14. Jan. 2, 2014: The Texans introduce Penn State coach Bill O’Brien, a former Patriots assistant coach, as the third head coach in team history. Aug. 7, 2014: McNair acknowledges to the Houston Chronicle that he has been undergoing cancer treatment for 10 months but has been declared cancer-free by doctors. Jan. 9, 2016: With Watt, who won his third consecutive defensive player of the year award in 2015, hampered by injuries, the Texans lose in the wild-card game 30-0 to the Chiefs, their first playoff appearance under O’Brien. Jan. 7, 2017: After winning their second straight division title under O’Brien, the Texans beat the Raiders 27-14 in the wildcard game but lose a week later to New England 34-16. Feb. 5, 2017: Houston hosts its second Super Bowl during McNair’s ownership of the Texans as the Patriots beat the Falcons 34-28 in overtime to win Super Bowl LI. April 20, 2017: The Texans select Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson with the 12th pick in the first round of the NFL draft. Oct. 27, 2017: In the midst of the controversy regarding player protests during the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality, ESPN reports McNair said during an NFL owners meeting, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.” McNair says his reference was to league officials, not to players, but his comment provokes protests among Texans players. Nov. 19, 2017: Wide receiver Andre Johnson, a 12-time Pro Bowl honoree, is inducted as the inaugural member of the Texans’ Ring of Honor. March Hunt the Texas Lifetime 1, 2018: Sports Achievement McNair Hall of receives Fame. Award the from Lamar July 2018: In one of his final public appearances, McNair and several Texans players with ties to South Carolina visit Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., where nine members were shot to death in 2015, to meet with parishioners. The McNairs paid for the victims’ funeral expenses and have donated $1 million toward a memorial. Nov. 18, 2018: After a 0-3 start to the season, the Texans record their seventh consecutive win with a 19-17 victory over Washington. Nov. 23, 2018: Robert C. McNair dies in Houston at age 81 with his wife, Janice, and family by his side.