From Tom Brady’s ageless pursuit of NFL dominance to the crisp, thrilling perfection of the showtime Lakers, professional sports can be a showcase for amazing talent, dedication, and human achievement. Or it can be a showcase for the New York Jets. Here is Onion Sports’ list of the worst professional sports teams of all time.
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The struggles of the inaugural Bucs led the NFL to give future expansion teams additional resources like footballs, rule books, and helmets.
1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers
This abysmal 9-73 season kicked off the complex 40-year “process” that finally allowed them to draft LSU power forward Ben Simmons in 2016.
2008 Detroit Lions
This Lions squad went winless, enraging fans but delighting a Detroit-area furniture store that promised free couches to everyone in the city if the team were to win even just one single game.
1992-1993 Ottawa Senators
The Senators finished this year by going a remarkably terrible 10-70-4, though when you factor in Canadian to American conversion rates, they actually went a perfect 52-30-2.
1970-2020 New York Jets
Go ahead, and pick a year and it’ll probably be right.
2005 New England Patriots
Atrocious 12-4 record that led to a half-empty stadium and Pats fans wearing bags over their heads during an embarrassing second-round playoff exit.
1998 Florida Marlins
Despite being World Series champions the season before, this team finished 54-108 after trading away outfielders Gary Sheffield and Moisés Alou, third baseman Bobby Bonilla, shortstop Édgar Rentería, manager Jim Leyland, hitting coach Milt May, radio broadcaster Joe Angel, equipment manager Dave Goldstein, scoreboard operator Kenny Crawley, and the entire Pro Player Stadium grounds-keeping staff.
1999 Cleveland Browns
Likely one of the five worst teams in NFL history and also a strong contender for one of the 25 worst Browns teams ever.
2132 Knicks
Finished an NBA record worst of 4-122 after a series of inexplicable and erratic decisions from owner James Dolan’s liquid-suspended brain.
1970 Cleveland Cavaliers
The team wasn’t able to recover from the brutal loss of being incorporated and playing in Cleveland.
1999 New York/New Jersey MetroStars
What are you going to do, fact-check us on an MLS team? Oh, you are? Well look at that, we were right anyway! That team was garbage!
2011 Charlotte Bobcats
Their abysmal record of 7-59 was put up during a season in which team owner Michael Jordan also mysteriously collected over $50 million in gambling winnings on unknown bets.
