Battle Red Day is an annual tradition of the Houston Texans franchise of the National Football League that was started in 2003.
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History
In 2003, the Texans unveiled a red alternate jersey that the team could wear up to twice a year at home games, as per the NFL's rule on alternate uniform use. The team decided to designate these games where the team would wear the red jerseys as "battle red days" in order to drum up extra fan support and interest. The Texans Cheerleaders, Toro the mascot and the Bull Pen Pep Band all dress in red and fans are also strongly encouraged to come dressed in red as well.
There are usually two battle red days scheduled every year, although there have been years where there has been only one scheduled, as was the case in 2003 and 2006. Battle red days are usually scheduled towards the latter half of the season and are usually designated for games where they play divisional rivals. The Texans have experienced great success during battle red day games, having won the majority of the contests since the creation of the day.
On Thursday, December 13, 2007, they wore their red jersey with red pants for the first time in their franchise history.
On Sunday, October 30, 2011, they returned to the red jersey with white pants.
On Sunday, December 18, 2016, they wore their red jersey with blue pants for the first time in their franchise history.
Corporate sponsorship and Battle Red Run
Houston-based energy company Halliburton became the first corporate sponsor of Battle Red Day in 2006.
2006 also marked the first-annual Battle Red Run, which took place on Saturday, October 21 to benefit the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, one of the busiest and most experienced cardiac centers in the country. The event featured special appearances by Toro and the Texans Cheerleaders and encouraged participants to wear red and participate in either a 5K Race, 5K Run/Walk, or Toro’s Kids K.
Past Battle Red Day Results
All-time Battle Red Day record: 10–7