Professional Football Team Owner. He owned the Houston Oilers from their inception in the American Football League in 1960, through its move to Memphis, Tennessee in 1997 and then Nashville, Tennessee, where they became the Tennessee Titans. In 1940, he graduated from Culver Military Academy and after a brief stint at Menlo College, he transferred to the University of Kansas where he completed an engineering degree. During World War II, Adams served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of operations, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. After the war, he founded a wildcatting firm, ADA Oil Company, that eventually grew into Adams Resources & Energy. He soon became interested in owning an NFL team and in 1959, Adams tried to buy the Chicago Cardinals and move them to Houston, however when that effort failed, he tried to get an expansion team, only to be turned down. He and fellow Texas oilman, Lamar Hunt, proposed an entirely new football league and later that year, on August 3, the two men held a press conference in Adams' boardroom to announce formation of the new league, which was formally named the American Football League. Adams, who is a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame, also co-owned the Houston Mavericks, a franchise in the American Basketball Association, from 1967 through 1969. Adams, who was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and had served on the executive committee of the Cherokee National Historical Society, died of natural causes.
Professional Football Team Owner. He owned the Houston Oilers from their inception in the American Football League in 1960, through its move to Memphis, Tennessee in 1997 and then Nashville, Tennessee, where they became the Tennessee Titans. In 1940, he graduated from Culver Military Academy and after a brief stint at Menlo College, he transferred to the University of Kansas where he completed an engineering degree. During World War II, Adams served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of operations, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. After the war, he founded a wildcatting firm, ADA Oil Company, that eventually grew into Adams Resources & Energy. He soon became interested in owning an NFL team and in 1959, Adams tried to buy the Chicago Cardinals and move them to Houston, however when that effort failed, he tried to get an expansion team, only to be turned down. He and fellow Texas oilman, Lamar Hunt, proposed an entirely new football league and later that year, on August 3, the two men held a press conference in Adams' boardroom to announce formation of the new league, which was formally named the American Football League. Adams, who is a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame, also co-owned the Houston Mavericks, a franchise in the American Basketball Association, from 1967 through 1969. Adams, who was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and had served on the executive committee of the Cherokee National Historical Society, died of natural causes.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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