Mr. Adams signs autographs prior to his induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in February, 2010. This year, he celebrates his 53rd season as Founder, Owner, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of the Titans/Oilers franchise.

Entering his 53rd year as Founder, Owner, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of the Titans/Oilers franchise, K.S. "Bud" Adams, Jr. is an enduring figure in the NFL. As one of the original team owners in the American Football League, he has guided his franchise to new heights since relocating to Nashville in 1997, posting six playoff appearances, including an AFC Championship (1999), AFC Central title (2000), two AFC South titles (2002 & 2008), AFC Championship appearance (2002) and Wild Card teams in 2003 and 2007. 

His success and longevity have led him to accumulate more wins than any other current NFL owner (400). He saw his 400th career win (regular season and playoffs) in the season finale last season at Houston as the Titans defeated the Texans. Consistently fielding winning teams, the franchise has earned 21 playoff appearances in 52 seasons, a total that ranks eighth among NFL teams since 1960.

A native of Bartlesville, Okla., Adams' interest in sports was first displayed while at Culver Military Academy, where he earned letters in football, basketball and baseball. Upon graduation from Culver in 1940, Adams attended Menlo College (California), lettering in both rugby and football. Adams then transferred to the engineering school at the University of Kansas where he also lettered in football for the Jayhawks. During his days at KU, Adams met his future wife Nancy Neville and began his loyal affiliation with Sigma Chi Fraternity.

In 1942, while still in school at KU, Adams joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. In July 1943, he was called to active duty in the Navy's V-12 college program, which allowed him to continue in school. In early 1944, he received orders to report to Midshipman Officer Specialty School at Notre Dame where he earned his Navy ensign commission in an accelerated 60-day program. He was sent overseas and was assigned to a PAC-Fleet carrier unit, where he served as an aviation engineering officer. He returned to the U.S. in December 1945. Lt. j.g. Adams served as an aide in the U.S. Navy's Congressional Liaison Office in Washington, D.C. prior to his discharge in 1946.

Adams parlayed a 1946 chance stop in Houston, resulting from fog that grounded his plane, into a highly successful and diversified business empire which ranks him among the most prominent businessmen in the country.

In 1946, Adams started ADA Oil Company, which was a forerunner of the publicly-held American Stock Exchange-listed Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. (AE), an energy company engaged in the business of marketing crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products; tank truck transportation of liquid chemicals; and oil and gas exploration and production. Adams' other business interests include extensive farming and ranching in California and Texas, cattle feeding, real estate, automobile dealerships and leasing. He has been a longtime collector of Western art and Native American artifacts.

During his early business career, Adams, a year-round sports fan, was an avid sponsor of amateur and AAU teams in basketball and softball. His ADA Oilers were a perennial power in the National Industrial Basketball League in the '50s, capturing third place in the national AAU tournament in 1956. His interest in sports was further evidenced by past ownership participation in professional baseball, basketball and boxing.

Football history was made in Adams' office in Houston on Aug. 3, 1959, where he and Lamar Hunt held a press conference to announce the formation of the new American Football League, which would begin playing in 1960. Hunt would have a team in Dallas, Adams would have a team in Houston, and other teams would be forthcoming.

In his sixth decade as founder, owner, chairman, president and CEO of the Tennessee Titans (formerly Houston Oilers and Tennessee Oilers), the hardworking and aggressive Adams has made professional football history numerous times. In 1968, Adams' Oilers became the first AFL/NFL team to play its home games indoors by moving into Houston's Astrodome. A team rich in tradition and pride, the Oilers were the dominant team in the American Football League during the 10-year era (1960-69), playing in the championship game four times (1960, 1961, 1962, 1967) - and winning twice consecutively (1960, 1961); earning four AFL Eastern Division Championships (1960, 1961, 1962, 1967); and making the playoffs five years out of 10 (1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969). In 1970, the AFL merged into the expanded NFL, and Adams' teams made the playoffs 16 times (1978, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008). In fact, the Oilers' streak of seven consecutive playoff appearances (1987-93) was the longest streak in the NFL during that time span. In 2008, the franchise posted the best record in the NFL (13-3), while capturing its fifth division title and second AFC South crown (2002) after winning the AFC Central division in 1991, 1993 and 2000.
 
The Houston Oilers played their final season in 1996 at the Houston Astrodome. In 1997, Adams led the National Football League into the Mid-South region, the last untapped area without a major professional sport. That feat allowed his team to be the first NFL franchise to call "the Volunteer State" home. During construction of the stadium in Nashville, the Tennessee Oilers played the 1997 season at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, and the 1998 season at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.

On July 29, 1998, Adams announced that the Oilers' name would be changed beginning with the 1999 season. The Oilers' name was retired by the NFL – a first in league history – allowing the Tennessee franchise to retain the team's winning tradition, and launching a new era in the Mid-South.
The Tennessee Titans made their debut in 1999. In Greek mythology, Titans were gods of strength and power. The Titan Prometheus brought fire to man, and the new Tennessee Titans brought fire to the football fans in the Mid-South during a very memorable inaugural season, unveiling a new name, stadium, training facility, logo, uniform and colors. Adams personally selected T-Rac as the team's new mascot.

In 13 seasons as the Titans, the franchise has won the American Football Conference Championship for the 1999 season (culminating in a trip to Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, where the Titans were defeated by the Rams in one of the most exciting games in Super Bowl history), captured the AFC Central Division Championship (2000) and AFC South Division Championships (2002, 2008), built an enormous home field advantage (65-39 record at home) and the loyalty of millions of fans across the nation and throughout the world. The popularity of the Titans has translated into 134 consecutive sell-outs at LP Field (through 2011).

During Adams' illustrious career, 67 of his players have been Pro Bowl selections, including one AFL Most Valuable Player, two NFL MVP’s and five offensive or defensive Rookies of the Year. Also, eight of Adams' players, including Bruce Matthews in 2007, have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In each of the past six seasons, Adams was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a special contributor. In recognition of the 40th season of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans organization, Adams created an official team Hall of Fame that features players and staff from the past, while creating a special place for Titans stars of the future to be recognized.

Adams is currently a working member on several prominent NFL committees, including the NFL's Finance, Hall of Fame, Legislative and Audit Committees; and he is a Trustee for the NFL Trust. Very active in national, state and local programs, Adams is on the Board of Directors of the Cherokee Indian National Historical Society; the Board of Trustees of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America - Sam Houston Area Council; and a Lifetime Director of The Hundred Club in Houston. He is a Governor Emeritus of the Sigma Chi Fraternity Foundation; an Emeritus Trustee of the Culver Educational Foundation; and a Lifetime Director of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. In Tennessee, he is on the Board of Directors of the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America; a member of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, and on the Board of Trust of the 100 Club of Nashville.

Adams has received numerous awards through the years. This past February, he was the recipient of the inaugural “Salute to Service” award by the NFL for his work with the military through the years. He also received an honorary Doctorate from Menlo College, where he started his college career.

In 2011, Adams was honored with the Lifetime Humanitarian Award by the T.J. Martell Foundation. In February 2010, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was awarded the inaugural Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football by the Committee of 101. The award honors those of visionary leadership who have helped the NFL reach preeminent status and was given jointly to the “Foolish Club,” the original founders of the AFL. Also in 2008, Adams and his wife, Nancy, were inducted into Baptist Hospital’s Seton Society for excellence in their profession and service to the hospital. In October 2006, he was inducted into the Menlo College Athletic Hall of Fame. In February 2006, he was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, becoming the first member of the organization to enter the state hall. In June 2005, he was given the Jack Smith Leadership Award recognizing his West Point Buick dealership in Houston as Dealer of the Year. Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen appointed him Colonel Aide de Camp for the State of Tennessee in October 2004. The Tennessee General Assembly honored him and the Titans at the State Capitol in March 2001. He was awarded the Community Spirit Award by the Nashville Sports Council at the Third Annual American General Dinner of Champions in February 2001; was honored by the Cherokee National Historical Society at a dinner at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Okla., in September 2000; was honored at Tennessee State University in August 2000; was the recipient of the Lamar Hunt Outstanding Pro Football Executive Award for the year 2000 from the All-American Football Foundation; and in March 2000, he received the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Silver Hope Chest Award in Nashville. In 1997, he was honored by Sigma Chi Fraternity with a formal portrait and bust on permanent display in the foyer and museum of their Evanston, Ill., headquarters. He was inducted into Culver Academy's Athletic Hall of Fame in the inaugural class in 1994. In 1991, he was given the Order of Constantine from Sigma Chi, which is the highest honor that fraternity can bestow. In 1990, he was given Sigma Chi Foundation's Semi-Centennial Award.

Other noteworthy honors bestowed upon Adams in the past have included the 1988 prestigious "Golden Buckle Award" from the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau; and the 1987 Distinguished American Award, presented jointly by the Houston Chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame and the Houston Athletic Committee (Chamber of Commerce). He was named 1983 "King Capon" by Bill Williams' Annual Capon Charity Dinner, Inc.; 1981 "Man of the Year" by Culver Military Academy; 1981 "Outstanding Chief Executive Officer" by Financial World Magazine; 1980 "Distinguished Alumnus" by California Community and Junior College Association; 1969 "Westerner of the Year" by the Houston Farm and Ranch Club; 1963 "Significant Sig" by Sigma Chi Fraternity; 1961 "Mr. Sportsman" by the Interfaith Charity Group; and 1960 "Houston Salesman of the Year" by the Houston Sales Association.

Adams and his wife Nancy were married for 62 years before her passing in February of 2009. They raised two daughters, Susie Smith and Amy Strunk, and a son, Kenneth S. Adams III, who is deceased. Adams has seven grandchildren.

ADAMS IN THE COMMUNITY

Football fans in the Mid-South applauded the relocation of the Titans to Tennessee in 1997, but local charities should raise a cheer as well. Since the Titans moved to Tennessee, local charities have seen more than $20 million flow into their organizations as a direct result of the Titans and the NFL. The great majority of the money and gifts have come from Mr. Adams and the Tennessee Titans Foundation.

In recognition of his many charitable endeavors, the Nashville Sports Council presented the "2000 Community Spirit Award" to Adams at their annual Dinner of Champions on Feb. 1, 2000. The award was given for Adams' "countless charitable contributions that helped so many in the Metro Nashville community during 1999."  
       
Mr. and Mrs. Adams established the Tennessee Titans Foundation in 1999 with an initial gift of $500,000. The Foundation offers financial support and other resources to non-profit organizations.

The Titans license plate has been a great success as fans can show support for the team on their vehicle. In eight years, the Titans specialty plate has generated over $2.2 million dollars for Tennessee charities through the Titans Foundation. In addition to the Tennessee Arts Commission, the following 10 organizations receive equal shares from the proceeds of the plate sales:

• Baptist Hospital Maternity/Birthing Center

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Tennessee

• Boy Scouts of Tennessee

• Camp Discovery

• Fisk University Scholarship Fund

• Girl Scouts of Tennessee

• Jason Foundation

• St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital

• Tenn. St. University Scholarship Fund

• Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital

Adams’ was an early responder to the historic flooding that struck the Middle Tennessee area in May of 2010. He teamed up with the NFL and NFLPA to donate $400,000 for disaster relief that was split between the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the American Red Cross.

The Titans annual Community Quarterback Award, which started in 2000, to honor volunteers and the impact they make in their communities around the state of Tennessee has distributed $250,000 over the 12 years of the program.

In 2009, he donated $500,000 to the Baptist Hospital Foundation (Nashville) which was designated for the hospital’s Obstetrics expansion project and resulted in the “Bud and Nancy Adams and Tennessee Titans Family Waiting Area,” and now brings the total to $675,000 given to Baptist Hospital.

The Titans contributed more than $5 million over the last 14 years (1999-2011) to the NFL’s Youth Football Fund, and over $1.7 million has been allocated within the Titans’ market. The fund improves youth football programs and facilities worldwide. Locally, the fund is responsible for improving 15 area fields, including 12 Metro Nashville schools and two in Dickson County, Tenn.

Youth football is also being addressed through the Titans sponsorship of the TSSAA’s Titans Mr. Football Awards, which honor the best high school players from the state each year.

Over the last 14 years (1999-2011), $7.0 million has been raised for approximately 155 charitable organizations through volunteers working in LP Field concession booths. The money volunteers would have been paid instead went to their favorite charities, all of which benefited from Titans home games being played.
At last year’s Super Bowl XLVI, Mr. Adams hosted 33 soldiers from Ft. Campbell with tickets to the game.

Adams initiated the “Titans Join the Team Scholarship Program” that ran from 2005-07. The program rewarded high school athletes throughout the state of Tennessee with scholarships for community service. The program generated over $500,000 in scholarship money and 30,000 service hours by students in communities throughout Tennessee.

The Titans also worked with AmSouth and Channel 5 in co-sponsoring "America’s Fund" which raised $664,000, including a $75,000 personal gift from Mr. and Mrs. Adams and $25,000 from the Titans organization, for victims of the Sept. 11 tragedies.

Adams' gifts have not been limited to cash donations. In January 2000, he gave the "trip of a lifetime" to Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta to 40 Nashville teenagers and 10 chaperones that were chosen from six local charities. "Bud's Kids" were treated to 50-yard-line seats and a three-night stay at the Titans' team hotel and a trip home on the team's 747-charter airplane.

Adams donated Super Bowl tickets to the Nashville Red Cross during a time when their available blood supply was at a critically low stage. Blood donors were eligible to win two Super Bowl tickets, and the "Super Bowl Blood Drive" resulted in 3,549 pints of blood, one of the most successful drives in the history of Nashville.

Adams donated a pair of Super Bowl tickets to be raffled off to help pay medical expenses for Kaia Jergenson, a member of the David Lipscomb University women's basketball team, who lost her legs due to bacterial meningitis.

The team's historic 1999 Super Bowl season saw Adams get heavily involved in area schools with three unique programs. He established a statewide art contest that spotlighted the importance of art in education and also added some Tennessee artistic flair to LP Field.

The art contest was open to high school students (grades 9-12) and resulted in 150 entries that hung in the suites at the stadium. One winner from each grade won $1,000 with runners-up in each grade winning $750 each. Adams rewarded area sixth, seventh and eighth grade students for their hard work by donating 3,500 pairs of tickets to the inaugural preseason game at LP Field versus the Atlanta Falcons.

Adams and his late wife Nancy have given generously to many charitable organizations over the years. After Tropical Storm Allison devastated the Houston area in June 2001 with more than 30 inches of rain, Adams contributed $100,000 to the "Spirit of Texas Fund" established by the Red Cross to aid flood victims. Houston Texans owner Bob McNair and NFL Charities also contributed $100,000 each for a combined gift of $300,000 to the fund.

In 1998, Mr. and Mrs. Adams teamed with NFL Charities to donate $200,000 to help families in East Nashville following a devastating tornado.

He purchased more than 500 copies of "Tennessee: A History" and presented them to seventh grade history classes at public schools across the state. Wilma Dykeman was the author of the book and was a member of the Titans Advisory Board of Directors that aided Adams in selecting the new name and logo for the franchise.
Adams spearheaded the drive for construction and operation of the original Ronald McDonald House in Houston. The team also hosted a biannual fundraising gala from 1978-94, which raised more than $3.5 million to support, operate and provide the permanent endowment of that Ronald McDonald House.

Since the Titans moved to Tennessee, local charities have seen approximately $20 million dollars flow into their organizations as a direct result of the Titans and the NFL.

• More than $2.2 million to statewide charities through Titans License Plate program

• $1.7 million spent for area youth football efforts within the Titans’ market, including upgrades to 14 youth football fields in both Nashville and Dickson County, Tenn.

• $760,000 in gifts to the various charities in the greater Memphis area (1997 and 1998)

• $675,000 to the Baptist Hospital Foundation

• $500,000 distributed for scholarships through the Titans “Join the Team” Scholarship program

• $445,000 in gifts distributed among United Way offices throughout Tennessee

• $400,000 (divided between the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and American Red Cross) for disaster relief following the 2010 Middle Tennessee flood

• $250,000 to Tennessee Governor’s residence restoration

• More than $240,000 in gifts to Tennessee State University

• $200,000 (divided between American Red Cross and Nashville's Public Schools) for disaster relief following Nashville's 1998 tornado damage

• More than $170,000 to both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Tennessee

• $138,000 to Tennessee high school football programs for the Coach of the Week program

• $128,000 in gifts to Habitat for Humanity

• More than $130,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Tennessee

• More than $130,000 to Camp Discovery

• More than $130,000 to Fisk University Scholarship Fund

• More than $130,000 to Jason Foundation

• More than $130,000 to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital

• More than $130,000 to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital

• $120,000 in gifts to the Salvation Army's Red Shield Family Initiative 

• $105,000 to Nashville’s Backfield in Motion Program

• $100,000 to Red Cross America’s Fund (Sept. 11th Funding)

• $100,000 worth of weight-training equipment to Nashville schools

• $90,000 to Iroquois Steeplechase which benefits Vanderbilt Children's Hospital

• $53,500 in gifts to the Junior League of Nashville

• $33,000 gift to American Cancer Society for the Hope Lodge

• $30,000 gift to Fannie Battle Day Home

• $25,000 gift to Susan Gray School for Children at Vanderbilt University

• $25,000 gift to Special Olympics

• $20,000 gift to Nashville Public Library Foundation

• $16,000 gift to Martha O'Bryan Center

• $15,000 in gifts to W.O. Smith/ Nashville Community Music School

• $11,000 gift to Auxiliary Probation Center of Memphis

• $11,000 gift to Nashville Family Shelter

• $11,000 gift to Kingsport “Meals on Wheels” program

• $10,000 gift to Nashville school district to underwrite teen violence video

• $10,000 gift to Boys & Girls Club of Middle Tennessee

• $10,000 gift to Taft Youth Development Center Football program

• $10,000 gift to Bethlehem Center of Nashville

• $10,000 gift to Hands-on Science Center in Tullahoma, Tenn.

• $10,000 gift to Franktown Open Hearts in Franklin, Tenn.

• $10,000 gift to “The Contributor” – Nashville’s Homeless Newspaper

• $10,000 gift to Hickman County Long Term Recovery Committee

• $10,000 gift to Catholic Charities of Tennessee