November 20, 1978: ABC Monday Night Football airs a game between the Houston Oilers and the Miami Dolphins, at the Astrodome in Houston.
The Oilers had drafted Earl Campbell, who had won the Heisman Trophy the year before, at the University of Texas, nearly leading them to the National Championship. He became perhaps the greatest fullback the NFL had seen since Jim Brown, knocking over much bigger men trying to tackle him. In this game, he ran for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns, and the Oilers beat the Dolphins, 35-30 in front of 50,000 rapturous fans, many of them waving pom-poms of the Oilers' powder blue.
This was the "Luv Ya Blue" era, where Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips, a native of Orange, in the southeastern corner of Texas, was the head coach and the general manager. He built a team led by quarterback Dan Pastorini. Joining Campbell in the backfield was former USC star Anthony Davis. They had 3 good receivers in Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Ken Burrough (known as "Double-O," because he was the last NFL player to wear Number 00), and Mike Renfro. The defense had end Elvin Bethea, tackle Curley Culp, and linebacker Robert Brazile.
But Campbell was the key. Phillips said, "I don't know if he's in a class by himself, but I do know that when that class gets together, it sure don't take long to call the roll." When asked about Earl's inability to finish a one-mile run in training camp, he said, "When it's first and a mile, I won't give it to him."
And, at the height of the Dallas Cowboys' self-proclaimed "America's Team" era, South Texas fans couldn't get enough of them. Phillips said, "The Cowboys may be America's Team, but the Oilers are Texas' team." (Ironically, at least for this game, the song they sang had been stolen from the Dolphins: "We're the Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers, Number 1... ")
But the Oilers were victims of geography and NFL alignment. They had been placed in the AFC Central Division, the same as the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were at the height of their powers. Phillips coined a saying that has since been adapted to fit other teams: "The road to the Super Bowl runs through Pittsburgh. Sooner or later, you've got to go to Pittsburgh."
In 1978, the Oilers went 10-6, and got to the AFC Championship Game, but lost to the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. In 1979, they went 11-5, and got to the AFC Championship Game, but lost at Three Rivers again. In 1980, Phillips traded Pastorini to the Oakland Raiders for Ken Stabler, who was more his kind of quarterback. The Oilers went 11-5 again, and had a home Playoff game with the Raiders. What happened? Pastorini had gotten hurt, and replaced by Jim Plunkett, who led the Raiders all the way to the Super Bowl. The Steelers finally got old, and the Oilers couldn't take advantage. Campbell was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year all 3 times, but they didn't get to the Super Bowl.
Oilers owner Bud Adams fired Phillips, and the team went into decline. They were a Playoff team again from 1987 to 1993, then fell apart again. After the 1996 season, Adams moved them, making them the Tennessee Titans. They finally reached the Super Bowl in the 1999 season. The Houston Texans began play in 2002, and while they've made the Playoffs a few times, they've never gotten to the AFC Championship Game.
The Oilers had won the AFL Championship in its 1st 2 seasons, 1960 and 1961; and Houston has hosted the Super Bowl 3 times. But that 1978 Monday Night Football game remains the signature moment in the history of Houston professional football; and Campbell, more than the Oilers' 1960s quarterback George Blanda and the Texans' 2010s defensive end J.J. Watt, remains their signature player.
Campbell and Phillips would be reunited when Phillips was named head coach of the New Orleans Saints, but they couldn't win together there, either. Campbell, Bethea, Culp, Brazile and Stabler went on to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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November 20, 1978 was, as stated, a Monday. Baseball was in the off-season. There were no games in the NBA or the World Hockey Association, and only 1 in the NHL: The Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Apparently, by this point, the leagues had learned not to try to compete with Monday Night Football for TV viewers.
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