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Titans Founder a Hall of Fame Finalist
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Titans founder K.S. “Bud” Adams is one of 10 finalists in the contributor category for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His merits will be debated at a meeting in January.
Adams made the cut from among more than 300 players, coaches and contributors considered for the “centennial slate,” which will make up three-quarters of the expanded Class of 2020. The centennial slate will consist of 10 senior players, three contributors and two coaches who will be inducted along with five modern-era selections.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the centennial slate finalists Thursday.
Adams founded the franchise in 1960 as the Houston Oilers, one of the original American Football League franchises. He scored an early victory against the National Football League when he signed 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, who helped the Oilers to the first two AFL championships.
Adams owned and remained in charge of the team until his death in October 2013. One of his two daughters, Amy Adams Strunk, has served as controlling owner since March 2015.
"When my father Lamar set out to start a new league to rival the NFL in 1959, the first person he went to visit was Bud Adams,” Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said at the time of Adams’ passing. “Lamar, Bud and the other visionary owners of the American Football League believed that fans across the country would embrace pro football if given the chance, and they were right.”
Lamar Hunt already is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as is another of the AFL’s original owners, Ralph Wilson, who founded the Buffalo Bills.
The committee that ultimately will choose the centennial slate inductees includes members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, current Hall of Famers, coaches, football executives and historians.
The coaches and contributors chosen will be inducted Aug. 8, 2020 as part of Hall of Fame weekend. The 10 senior players will be added during a Centennial Celebration, Sept. 16-19, 2020.
