Relive the night Houston Oilers jerseys returned to the turf as a trick-play touchdown and star-studded roster sparked Tennessee’s dominant victory over Buffalo in Canton.
Well, NFL fans, we finally got our first taste of a professional football game since the season ended with the Super Bowl in February.
Thursday night was the Hall of Fame Game that the NFL puts on each year. This time, it was between the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals.
The Panthers just made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 last season. It took head coach Dave Canales only two seasons to make the postseason.
The Cardinals are entering a new era under head coach Mike LaFleur. Mike is the brother of Green Bay Packers head coach and former Titans assistant coach Matt LaFleur. Mike was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Cardinals were ahead of the Titans in the 2026 NFL Draft order and picked Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. As we know, the Titans picked Carnell Tate afterward, which is looking like a great decision so far.
The Titans haven't played in a Hall of Fame Game since 2009, but when they did, they made the most of it.
The Titans played the Buffalo Bills, two teams with plenty of history dating back to the infamous "Music City Miracle" in the 1999 playoffs. Tennessee wore its alternate jerseys as a nod to the Houston Oilers' history.
Four different quarterbacks saw the field during the game for the Titans. Kerry Collins, Vince Young, Patrick Ramsey and Alex Mortensen all got in.
The backfield at the time featured players such as Chris Henry, Chris Johnson, Javon Ringer, and LenDale White.
On the defensive side of the ball were players like Kyle Van Den Bosch, Michael Griffin, Jason McCourty, Cortland Finnegan and Keith Bulluck.
The Bills had Ryan Fitzpatrick and Marshawn Lynch at the time. Future Hall of Famer Terrell Owens was also on the Bills for some reason.
The Titans got the scoring started early.
After getting stopped on three downs on their opening drive, the Titans whipped out one of the wildest trick plays. Griffin went in motion as it looked like he was going to receive a jet sweep of some sort, and punter A.J. Trapasso faked the handoff around his back and ran in for a 40-yard touchdown.
Griffin then intercepted a pass on the Bills' first drive and handed it off to Bulluck, who took it for 22 extra yards.
Tennessee eventually got inside the goal line and gave it to White to take a 14-0 lead. The Titans held the Bills to six points in the first half and added another touchdown to their tally to take a 21-6 lead into halftime.
Buffalo tried to mount a comeback in the second half, but the Titans held on for a 21-18 win. Trapasso's magic wasn't done after his rushing touchdown, as he ran 34 yards backward to run time off the clock, which eventually resulted in a safety.
While Trapasso was the preseason special teams hero for the Titans, he didn't make the team because of a punter named Craig Hentritch who was still around.
However, his legendary trick play will live on forever in Titans history.
