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The University of Houston‘s season-opening throwback uniforms that evoked memories of the old Houston Oilers were wildly popular among players and fans. Not so much with the NFL.

The NFL’s merchandising and licensing division sent a cease-and-desist letter to the school demanding it halt any further use of the uniforms, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday.

On Sept. 2, the Cougars wore Columbia blue uniforms with a white Houston script across the front outlined in red — similar to the jerseys worn by the Houston Oilers during their “Luv Ya Blue” era. The university was careful to say their uniforms were a tribute to “H-Town Pride” in a nod to the city’s fondness for the Oilers, who decamped for Tennessee after the 1996 season.

After the move, the NFL team was dubbed the Tennessee Oilers for two seasons before becoming the Tennessee Titans. The team, however, retained the rights to the Oilers’ trademarks.

The Titans wore their own Oilers throwbacks Sunday, which was a source of bitterness for football fans in Houston. The Titans are planning to again wear the throwbacks against the Houston Texans on Dec. 17 in Nashville.

The cease-and-desist letter sent from the NFL to the University of Houston was first reported by the Houston Chronicle, which obtained the letter via an open records request from an attorney for the NFL.

According to the Chronicle, the letter said UH’s “blatant copying” of the Oilers’ jerseys was grounds for legal action and it demanded that the university discontinue any sales of merchandise and remove any promotional or social media posts that feature the imagery.

The university did not attempt to market the uniforms, which were revealed in a video narrated by Carl Lewis.

“The Houston Cougars’ attempt to free ride on the popularity of the NFL and the club violates the intellectual property rights of the NFL and the (Tennessee) Titans,” attorney Bonnie L. Jarrett wrote in the Oct. 13 letter, according to the Chronicle, which reported the letter said the Oilers design is “among the most famous and valuable NFL marks.”

Rice wore similar Columbia blue uniforms on Sept. 30 against East Carolina. The Chronicle cited a university source saying the school had not heard from the NFL.

Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk is the daughter of former Oilers owner Bud Adams and is from Houston. Former Texans player JJ Watt often espoused a desire to wear Oilers throwbacks, but Strunk has long rebuffed any overtures from the uniforms to be used in Houston.

The letter, according to the Chronicle, said the NFL and the Titans were “disappointed to learn that the Houston Cougars made unauthorized use of the Oilers Trade Dress in a manner that is likely to cause consumers to believe that the Houston Cougars are associated with, or are an authorized licensee of, the NFL and the Titans.”

The issue won’t go away anytime soon.

“I lived and played in Houston,” Watt told “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday. “I wanted to wear those uniforms very badly. They have such a massive history and tradition of ‘Luv Ya Blue’ with Bum Phillips and everything that went on there. I understand the end with Bud Adams and everything that happened. I don’t even want to get into all of that.

“I just know, having lived and played there for 10 years, and the people there and the connection they have to Earl Campbell, Warren Moon, to Billy White Shoes, to the guys that wore those uniforms and what that meant when they played in that Astrodome, it hurts to not be able to wear those in Houston and it hurts to see them being worn somewhere else.”

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Cal Raleigh Home Run Watch: After hitting No. 58 on Sunday, will the Big Dumper reach 60?

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Cal Raleigh Home Run Watch: After hitting No. 58 on Sunday, will the Big Dumper reach 60?

The Big Dumper just left the yard again!

In what has become a regular occurrence during Cal Raleigh‘s incredible 2025 season, the Seattle Mariners catcher added another home run to his 2025 total on Saturday — passing another MLB legend in the process — followed by one more on Sunday night.

Raleigh has already surpassed the record for home runs by a catcher and by a switch-hitter and set a Mariners franchise record, and who could forget his Home Run Derby triumph earlier this summer?

What record could Raleigh set next, how many home runs will he finish with and just how impressive is his season? We’ve got it all covered.

Raleigh must-reads: Raleigh’s road to homer history | Surprising 50-HR seasons | Best power half-seasons in MLB history


Raleigh’s current pace

Raleigh is now at 58 home runs and on pace for 60 with seven games left.

The American League record is 62, set by Aaron Judge in 2022, and there have been only nine 60-home run seasons in MLB history.


Who Raleigh passed with his latest home run

With his 58th home run on Sunday night, Raleigh moved past Luis Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez on the all-time single-season home run list. With No. 57 the night before, Raleigh surpassed Ken Griffey Jr.’s Mariners franchise record of 56 — a number Griffey reached twice — in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Raleigh has joined Griffey as the only Mariners with 50 home runs (or even 45) in a season. Raleigh is also the first Seattle slugger with 40 homers in a season since Nelson Cruz in 2016.


Who Raleigh can catch with his next home run

After passing Mickey Mantle, Griffey and A-Rod with his most recent blasts, the next big question for Raleigh is if he can get to No. 60. But he is already in rare company as No. 59 would move him past Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg on the all-time single-season home run list.


Raleigh’s 5 most impressive feats of 2025

Most home runs in a season by a switch-hitter

With his 55th home run, Raleigh knocked Mickey Mantle, who hit 54 in 1961, from the top spot. Breaking Salvador Perez‘s record of 48 home runs by a primary catcher understandably got a lot of attention, but beating Mantle’s mark is arguably more impressive given how long the record stood and the Hall of Famer’s stature.

One of the best months ever for a catcher

In May, Raleigh hit .304/.430/.739 with 12 home runs and 26 RBIs. Only four catchers have hit more home runs in a calendar month and only eight with at least 100 plate appearances produced a higher slugging percentage. Raleigh was almost as good in June, hitting .300/.398/.690 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs, giving him two-month totals of .302/.414/.714 with 23 home runs and 53 RBIs. In one blazing 24-game stretch from May 12 to June 7, Raleigh hit .319 with 14 home runs.

Reaching 100 runs and 100 RBIs

Raleigh is sitting on 107 runs scored while leading the American League with 121 RBIs. Only eight other primary catchers have reached 100 in both categories in the same season — Mike Piazza did it twice, in 1997 and 1999, and he and Ivan Rodriguez were the last catchers to do it in ’99. Of the other catchers, seven are in the Hall of Fame (Piazza, Rodriguez, Mickey Cochrane, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk). The lone exception is Darrell Porter, who reached the milestone with the Royals in 1979.

Tying Ken Griffey Jr.’s club record for home runs

Griffey hit 56 home runs for the Mariners in 1997 and 1998, leading the AL both seasons and winning the MVP Award in 1997 (he and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 are Seattle’s two MVP winners). Griffey had the advantage of playing in the cozy confines of the Kingdome in those years, although his home/road splits were fairly even. Raleigh, however, has had to play in a tough park to hit in, with 30 of his 56 home runs coming on the road, where his OPS is about 100 points higher. That marks only the 19th time a player has reached 30 road homers (by contrast, 30 homers at home has been accomplished 37 times).

An outside shot at most total bases by a catcher

With 337 total bases, Raleigh’s 2025 campaign is already one of only 20 catcher seasons with 300 total bases (yes, time at DH has helped him here). The record is 355, shared by Piazza in 1997 and Bench in 1970 (both played 150-plus games in those seasons). Raleigh would need a strong finish to get there but could at least move into third place ahead of Perez’s 337 total bases in 2021. Not counted in Raleigh’s total bases: his 14 stolen bases!

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Raleigh’s 58th HR fuels Mariners’ sweep of Astros

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Raleigh's 58th HR fuels Mariners' sweep of Astros

HOUSTON — Seattle Mariners star Cal Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 58th home run on Sunday night, a two-run shot in the second inning against the Houston Astros.

The Mariners were up 5-0 after a grand slam by J.P. Crawford in the second when Raleigh, who was batting left-handed, connected off Jason Alexander for his home run to right field to extend the lead.

The shot came a night after Raleigh passed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise’s single-season home run record with his 57th. Griffey hit 56 in 1997 and in 1998.

Raleigh also has surpassed Mickey Mantle‘s MLB record of 54 home runs by a switch-hitter that had stood since 1961. And Raleigh has set the MLB record for homers by a catcher this season, eclipsing the 48 hit by Salvador Perez in 2021.

Raleigh is five home runs ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, who are tied for second place with 53 apiece.

The Mariners won 7-3 to complete a three-game sweep that gave them a three-game lead in the American League West over the Astros with six remaining.

Seattle, which has won four straight and 14 of 15, holds the second AL playoff seed by two games over AL Central-leading Detroit, which has dropped six in a row. The Mariners, looking to win the AL West for the first time since 2001, finished 8-5 against the Astros this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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First AL ticket punched as Jays earn playoff spot

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First AL ticket punched as Jays earn playoff spot

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Toronto Blue Jays became the first American League team to secure a spot in the postseason on Sunday with an 8-5 victory against the Kansas City Royals.

The AL-best and AL East-leading Blue Jays locked up a playoff spot with a week remaining in the regular season after a less-than-stellar start of 16-20 in early May and trailing by as many as eight games in the division in late May.

“I remember back when we were in Tampa in May, we weren’t playing very well and we got swept there,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think these guys did a great job of rallying around each other, but the turning point was really when we came out of Tampa and went into the Texas series.”

This is Toronto’s third playoff berth in four years and fourth in six seasons. They missed the postseason in 2021 and 2024. Playoff success has been elusive for the Blue Jays, who haven’t won a postseason game since 2016. And, unlike the past three trips, they hope this year they won’t have to play in the AL wild-card round as they try to win their first division title since 2015 as they close out the regular season with a six-game homestand against Boston and Tampa Bay.

“You could feel it with this group in spring training,” Schneider said. “I know that sounds really cliché, but when you get a group of men that are committed to the same goal, you can do things like this.”

The Blue Jays’ 90-66 record is tops in the AL and they lead their division by 2½ games over the New York Yankees. If Toronto wins the AL East and has one of the two best records in the league, it will advance to the AL Divisional Series, which starts Oct. 4.

The last time Toronto made it that far was nine years ago.

“I’m just so happy for them,” Schneider said. “It’s hard at this level for everyone to put their egos aside and to play for one another. It’s so cool to see these guys completely happy for one another when they get the job done no matter who it is. This is the most fulfilling team I’ve ever been a part of with different characters, different skill sets, guys coming together for one common goal which is what’s important now. This is something you always celebrate.”

The Blue Jays are trying to win their first World Series since 1993.

“Today we go back to the postseason, but the journey is not over yet,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said. “We still want to win the division over the next six games. Since spring training, everyone has been together and when you see a team like that you start believing.”

Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak with Sunday’s win, and after the game popped champagne in the visitors clubhouse in Kansas City.

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