After Texas joined the United States, the native Tejanos living in the state began culturally developing separately from their neighbors to the south, and remained culturally distinct from other Texans.

The Astrodome was joined by a new neighbor in 2002, the retractable-roofed Reliant Stadium, which was built to house Houston's new NFL franchise, the Houston Texans.

The Mavericks joined a group of Anglo Texans fleeing San Antonio, an event later known as the Runaway of ' 42.

Two bands of Texans tried to rescue them ; neither succeeded, and the second, which included Mary's uncle John Bradley, was also captured and joined Maverick's group in their march.

* The Houston Texans joined in 2002, after Houston was left without the NFL for five years following the Oilers ' move to Nashville, Tennessee, where they eventually became the Tennessee Titans.

In addition to his contract with the Oilers, he joined the Houston Texans of the World Football League, but played a total of seven plays before a restraining order that was served to him during a game that barred him from playing for two teams at the same time.

This format would continue for the next two seasons until the Houston Texans joined the NFL in 2002 and returned the league to an even number of teams.

On March 2, 2000, Houston NFL 2002 announced that the team name search had been narrowed down to five choices: Bobcats, Stallions, Texans, Toros, and Apollos.

Rosenbloom was awarded the remains of the Dallas Texans who had a long and winding history starting as the Boston Yanks in 1944 who later merged with the Brooklyn Tigers and were previously known as the Dayton Triangles, an original NFL team established in 1913.

However, the NFL considers the Texans and Colts to be separate teams, although many of those teams shared the same colors of blue and white.

The judge ruled that Matuszak could play for the Texans only when his NFL contract was up, meaning that Matuszak could not play for the Texans until the 1978 season.

The WFL also arguably had an impact on locations of other professional football teams: from the NFL, Hawaii hosted the Pro Bowl from 1980 through 2009, Jacksonville got the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995, Charlotte received the Carolina Panthers in the same year, and Houston's expansion franchise, the Texans, revived the name of the WFL team in 2002.

The NFL's Houston Texans revived the name of the WFL's franchise for that city ; " Texans " has also been used by an NFL Dallas team in 1952 – the remnants of which became the Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts, by an AFL Dallas team in the early 1960s – who became the Kansas City Chiefs, by an arena football team in Dallas in the early 1990s, and by a CFL San Antonio team for one year in the 1990s.

In 2002 the NFL added its 32nd team, the Houston Texans, and significantly reshuffled its divisional alignment.

* Cliff Washburn, NFL offensive tackle, Houston Texans

* Frank Murphy, Former NFL Football Player ( Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans ).

He is currently a free agent and was last a backup quarterback for the Houston Texans of the NFL.

* Garrett Graham ( born 1986 ), NFL tight end who plays for the Houston Texans.

* Cliff Washburn, NFL offensive tackle, Houston Texans

* Dom Capers-defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers former defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers, also the first head coach of the NFL Houston Texans and first head coach of the NFL Carolina Panthers

People of note born in Wynnewood include musician Roy Milton, General Tommy Franks, who commanded the invasion forces of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq, and Donna Shirley, who led the Mars Pathfinder project at JPL and James Allen, former NFL running back for the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans.

* Danieal Manning, NFL defensive back for the Houston Texans

* Todd Washington, former NFL center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Houston Texans

* Bruce Matthews, NFL Hall of Famer, who formerly played with the Houston Oilers and the Tennessee Titans, now assistant coach with the Houston Texans

He was also drafted in the second round ( 14th overall ) in the 1961 AFL Draft by the Dallas Texans ( now Kansas City Chiefs ) prior to the merger with the NFL.

The NFL moved the franchise's operations to Hershey, Pennsylvania ( though it kept the " Dallas Texans " name ).

Following the season, the NFL awarded the remains of the Texans operation to a Baltimore-based group headed by Carroll Rosenbloom, who used it to start the Baltimore Colts.

The NFL does not consider the Colts ( now based in Indianapolis ) to be a continuation of the Yanks / Bulldogs / Yanks / Texans franchise, or even the Dayton Triangles for that matter considering that franchise's successor, the Brooklyn Dodgers / Tigers, merged with the Yanks in 1945.

Image: Texans Inagural Season. gif | Inaugural Season Patch ( 2002 )

But the team lost its next two games, and suffered embarrassing losses to the Houston Texans over the course of the season ( Jacksonville has struggled against the Texans since Houston entered the league in 2002 ).

The " Texans " name has since been revived by the NFL for the current Houston Texans, which started play in 2002.

The 32nd franchise was the Houston Texans, added in 2002.

The stadium opened on August 24, 2002, with a preseason game between the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans which the Dolphins won 24-3.

The stadium hosted its first regular season NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans on September 8, 2002.

The Houston Texans have played their home games at Reliant Stadium since their inception in 2002.

The first game played was on August 24, 2002, in front of 69, 432 in attendance as the Texans hosted the Miami Dolphins in their first preseason game.

He was selected by the Houston Texans in the 2002 expansion draft, but injuries prevented him from playing and he retired after the season.

The stadium has been home to many football teams over the years, including: SMU Mustangs ( NCAA ), Dallas Cowboys ( NFL ; 1960 – 1971 ), Dallas Texans ( NFL ) ( 1952 ), Dallas Texans ( prior to moving to Kansas City ) ( AFL ; 1960 – 1962 ), and soccer teams, the Dallas Tornado ( NASL ; 1967 – 1968 ), and FC Dallas ( the Dallas Burn before 2005 ) ( Major League Soccer ; 1996 – 2002, 2004 – 2005 ).

The Alamodome is currently home to the UTSA Roadrunners football team, the host of the UIL State Marching Competition every year. The Alamodome was also home to the NBA San Antonio Spurs from 1993 to 2002 and the CFL San Antonio Texans in 1995.

On August 2, 2002, the NFL's Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys competed against each other in a scrimmage at Robertson Stadium.

He was drafted by the Houston Texans first overall in the 2002 NFL Draft.

In 2002, Graham was picked in the expansion draft by the Houston Texans to be their third-string quarterback.

In 2002, Walker wrote and recorded a song for the National Football League's newest expansion team at the time, the Houston Texans.

In 2002 in a game versus the Houston Texans he became the first player in NFL history to record a sack, an interception, forced fumble, and touchdown reception in a single game.