Tennessee Titans

. See also AZON.
. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Numerous key players were cut or traded by the Titans front office during the off season, including Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle, Kevin Carter, and others. This was done most likely to "clean house", or free up money to put the team farther under the salary cap to make further player acquisitions. At about the same time a new release of the film finally gave them proper screen credit. Their 5-11 record turned out to be their worst in a decade. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson retrospectively (and posthumously in both cases, although Foreman did live long enough to know that it was going to happen).

The 2004 season was disappointing for the Titans, who suffered an unusual number of injuries to key players. Pierre Boulle, who did not speak English, was given screen credit for adapting his own novel, and the Oscar was awarded to him. The Titans made the 2003 playoffs, winning their first-round game over the Baltimore Ravens and losing in the AFC semifinals to the New England Patriots.
The screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the Hollywood blacklist and could only work secretly. In 2003, quarterback Steve McNair won the MVP award, sharing it with Peyton Manning.
Award nominations:. Louis Rams when Kevin Dyson was tackled one yard short of the endzone as regulation time expired.
Award wins:.

The Titans' Cinderella season led to a trip to Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost a heartbreaker to the St. One memorable feature of the movie is the tune that is whistled by the POW's—the "Colonel Bogey March"—and is now widely associated with the movie, and even sometimes referred to as the "River Kwai March." Besides serving as an example of British fortitude and dignity in the face of privation, it suggested (whether or not intended by the screenwriters) a specific symbol of defiance to many movie-goers of the period: WW II veterans (and many of their baby-boom sons) thought of the tune as that of a mockery of Japan's principal ally. This game qualifies as one of the greatest games in NFL history and became known as the "Music City Miracle". (Buster Keaton's The General includes an almost identical scene.). The 1999 first round win was due to a lateral from tight end Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson on a late 4th quarter kickoff return; Dyson returned the pass 75 yards for a touchdown to win the game. The destruction of the bridge in the film was accomplished by blowing up a full-sized bridge as a real train drove over it. This may have been the first time such a scene had been attempted without model shots since the silent film era. The Titans made the playoffs in their inaugural year in the "Music City", which was capped off by their unbelievable first round playoff victory over the Buffalo Bills and a third win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The steel bridge has been repaired and is still in use.

In 1999, Adelphia Coliseum, now known simply as The Coliseum, was completed and the newly christened Tennessee Titans were well received by their new fans in Tennessee's state capital. In reality, a parallel steel bridge was added a few months after the wooden bridge was completed, and both were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing, the steel bridge first. The team relented and played the 1998 home schedule at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.
The plot of the film is built around a fictional destruction of the wooden bridge by prisoner sabotage. The 1997 season is often recalled as having consisted of 16 road games.
. Weary of babysitting Nashville's team, Memphis largely ignored the Oilers, who played before crowds ranging from sparse and indifferent to outright hostile (as in the case of a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers). About a hundred thousand conscripted Asian labourers and 16,000 prisoners of war died on the whole project, which was nicknamed the Death Railway.

The Oilers rejected Vanderbilt Stadium and played their home games at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium while waiting for their new stadium to be finished in their permanent home city, Nashville. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. The soon-to-be Tennessee Titans spent 1997 in Memphis as the short-lived Tennessee Oilers. The story is based on a real event, the building in 1942 of a railway bridge over the Mae Klong (not the Kwai) in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. Even before the Oilers relocated, they established the future cornerstone of their offense by drafting Steve McNair in 1995. It was filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and England. Unlike his support of an old-line NFL city (Cleveland) in holding on to its tradition, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue did not intervene when Adams declared that no other Houston football team could ever use the name "Oilers". An Anglo-American film in English based on the book appeared in 1957 and the name was changed slightly, to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The film portrays a group of British captives in a Japanese POW camp forced to build a railway bridge spanning the River Kwai in Thailand.

Although the city of Cleveland kept the franchise's name "Browns", and the team's history when it left, Houston's status as the home of the first two American Football League championships did not save the city's AFL heritage.
Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai (The Bridge over the River Kwai) is a novel by Pierre Boulle, published in 1954, that won France's "Prix Ste Beuve." It dramatizes the plight of Allied prisoners of war during World War II forced to build the 258-mile Death Railway by Japanese forces. The mid-1990s signaled the decline of the Houston Oilers and the ill-fated "run and shoot" offense and by 1997, owner Bud Adams moved the team out of Houston. Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, Dramatic Picture Score or Original Cast (Malcolm Arnold). From 1987 through 1993, the Oilers were one of the most successful teams in the AFC, making the playoffs each year but failing to reach the Super Bowl. Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Sessue Hayakawa). In 1984, the Oilers won a bidding war for CFL legend Warren Moon but didn't return to the playoffs until 1987, where the Oilers nearly went to the Super Bowl. Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Sessue Hayakawa).

From 1978 through 1980, the "Luv Ya Blue" Oilers would make the playoffs each year but three postseason losses prompted owner Bud Adams to fire head coach Bum Phillips and signaled the decline of the Oilers for a few years (the 1981 Oilers won their first two games, both on the road - but then the team lost 23 consecutive away games, an all-time NFL record which remained intact until the Detroit Lions lost their 24th straight road game on December 21, 2003). Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay - Pierre Boulle - Carl Foreman - Michael Wilson. In 1978, the Oilers' fortunes changed when they drafted University of Texas football star Earl Campbell, who was both Rookie of the Year and MVP that year and led the Oilers to their first NFL playoff appearance. Academy Award for Original Music Score - Malcolm Arnold. They then fell from the AFL elite, and the years immediately following the 1970 AFL-NFL merger proved to not be much brighter. Academy Award for Film Editing - Peter Taylor. The Oilers won the AFL Eastern Division title again in 1967, then became the first professional football team to play in a domed stadium, when they moved into Houston's Astrodome for the 1968 season. Academy Award for Best Cinematography - Jack Hildyard.

Dewveall that year caught the longest pass reception for a touchdown in professional football history, 99 yards, from Jacky Lee, against the San Diego Chargers. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor (Alec Guinness). In 1962, the Oilers were the first AFL team to sign an active NFL player away from the other league, when wide receiver Willard Dewveall left the Bears to join the champion Oilers. Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Alec Guinness). They lost to the Dallas Texans in the classic 1962 double-overtime AFL championship game, at the time the longest, and still one of the best professional football championship games ever played. Academy Award for Best Actor (Alec Guinness). After winning the first-ever AFL championship over the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960, they repeated over the same team (then in San Diego) in 1961. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director (David Lean).

Cannon joined other Oiler offensive stars such as quarterback George Blanda, flanker Charlie Hennigan, running back Charlie Tolar, and guard Bob Talamini. Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (David Lean). They scored an important victory over the NFL when they signed LSU's Heisman Trophy winner, All-America running back Billy Cannon. Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (David Lean, Assistants: Gus Agosti & Ted Sturgis). The Oilers appeared in the first three AFL championships. Academy Award for Directing (David Lean). The Tennessee Titans began in 1960 as the Houston Oilers, charter members of the American Football League. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Film.

The Tennessee Titans are a National Football League team based in Nashville, Tennessee. Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama. Frank Wycheck. BAFTA Award for Best Picture. George Webster. Academy Award for Best Picture. Webster Slaughter. M.R.B. Chakrabandhu  : Yai.

Charlie Tolar (1937-2003 ("the human bowling ball")). Miura. Bob Talamini (born 1939, won two AFL titles with the Oilers, AFL and World Championship with the Jets). Keiichiro Katsumoto  : Lt. Mike Rozier. Kanematsu. Samari Rolle. Heihachiro Okawa  : Capt.

Allen Pinkett. Ann Sears  : Nurse at Ceylon hospital. Warren Moon. Baker. Ron McDole. Harold Goodwin  : Pvt. Wahoo McDaniel. Percy Herbert  : Pvt. Grogan.

Bruce Matthews. John Boxer  : Maj. Hughes. Derrick Mason. Green. Jacky Lee. André Morell  : Col. Ernie Ladd. Reeves.

Jevon Kearse. Peter Williams  : Capt. Sean Jones. Geoffrey Horne  : Lt. Joyce. Charlie Joiner. Clipton. Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. James Donald  : Maj.

Haywood Jeffries. Warden. Bobby Jancik. Jack Hawkins  : Maj. Drew Hill. William Holden  : Shears. Charlie Hennigan (born 1935, first professional football player to catch more than 100 passes in a season (Oilers, 1964)). Saito.

Eddie George. Sessue Hayakawa  : Col. Miller Farr. Alec Guinness  : Colonel Nicholson. Ray Childress. Kevin Carter.

Billy Cannon (born 1937, made All-League as a halfback in 1961 and as a tight end in 1969). 74 Bruce Matthews. 65 Elvin Bethea. 63 Mike Munchak.

43 Jim Norton (born 1938, all-time American Football League interception leader). 34 Earl Campbell. Steve McNair. Brad Hopkins.

Andre Dyson. Keith Bulluck. Chris Brown. Drew Bennett.

Gary Anderson. Mike Munchak. Ken Houston. Earl Campbell.

George Blanda (born 1927, first player to pass for 36 touchdowns (Oilers, 1961)). Elvin Bethea.