In the late 1970s, Houston was booming, being country was cool and nobody was as country as the Oilers.
Coached by a man named Bum and powered by a running back named Earl, both every bit a one-name Texas icon like Willie or Waylon, the NFL team and the city were simpatico.
Bum Phillips grew up working cattle in Orange, Texas, about 120 miles from Houston, before he became a successful high school and college coach, while wearing cowboy boots and a Stetson hat on the sideline (just not in the Astrodome, because his mama taught him never to wear a hat indoors). Earl Campbell grew up in the rose fields of East Texas and had already become a legend as a high school senior in Tyler before winning a Heisman Trophy at the University of Texas. The two had an instant connection. They already had a mutual friend: Willie Nelson.