Never happy anyone dies, but he is the person who fired Bum Phillips and moved my team to Tennessee. Strange timing with the death of Bum.
I for one am thankful for Bud Adams. It's because of him that for 5 sweet seasons (’97-’01), NBC broadcast the best AFC match-up of the day here in Austin instead of some crappy Houston team’s game. Alas, nothing lasts forever (sigh).
A pioneer, original AFL owner. Without the AFL and then Pete Roselle we wouldn't have the NFL of today. I was no fan of Bud Adams because he treated the citizens and local government in Houston and Harris County so poorly. But he was the consummate oil man and he had vision. If Houston had met his demand for a new stadium, the Oilers would have stayed and likely have been a NFL juggernaut.
Were it not for the oil bust in the 90s, Adams probably would have gotten his new stadium in Houston and things could have turned out quite differently.
Big Earl, I have to disagree with your assessment of Adams' treatment of Harris County. He was constantly turning down offers from SoCal to move the Oilers to LA, which actually offered him a much better deal than Nashville. He was never one for the bright lights preferring to fly below the radar. The Astrodome, which I think should be preserved as it is the first domed stadium, was and is in serious disrepair. Adams brought the ugly truth forward - Houston needed to build a new, state of the art stadium rather than continuing to dump millions into the Dome. Had he dumped $600,000 on the Grand Champion Steer at the HLS&R, maybe he would have gotten it. Want to talk about the citizens of Harris County getting ****** over, start with Drayton McLane at Enron Field ($300+ million), or the GRB expansion ($200 million) or the Toyota Center ($350 million) or the Hilton Americas ($325 million), all being paid for from hotel and rent car taxes that won't cover the GRB alone. Bud Adams wouldn't play the River Oaks game or be in Marge Crumbaker or Maxine Messenger's columns. His philanthropy was done without fanfare or publicity. All the business dealings I had with him, I found him to be honest and open. We owe him for bringing professional football to Houston, expanding to the NFL, and giving Houston Earl Campbell to enjoy for several years. RIP, Mr Adams. It was a pleasure to have met and dealt with you.
Good points SabreHorn. I agree. Bud brought us lots of joy. Guess I stayed bitter too long and should be over it.
