Bill Simmons calls Blue Jackets the ‘most irrelevant franchise’ in pro sports

The Columbus Blue Jackets haven’t had many opportunities to raise a banner over their 25-year history, but they’ll probably want to pass on raising the “most irrelevant franchise in professional sports according to Bill Simmons” banner to the rafters of Nationwide Arena.

That’s right, on Tuesday’s episode of the The Bill Simmons Podcast, the former ESPN.com writer made one of his typically overconfident takes when he proclaimed the Blue Jackets to be “the most irrelevant franchise in professional sports” while answering questions from his listeners during the return of his old “mailbag” format.

In the episode, Simmons read a question from a listener named Jesse, who asked about which team in pro sports is the most irrelevant. Jesse offered the Blue Jackets, his favorite team, as a candidate, and Simmons agreed.

“So they come in the league in 2000. They haven’t made round two of the playoffs ever,” Simmons said, although the Blue Jackets swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019. “They haven’t made the playoffs since 2020. They’ve missed the playoffs 20 of 25 times. The best Blue Jacket ever is Rick Nash. They’ve had 17 captains.”

It sure felt like bringing up Rick Nash as the best Blue Jacket ever was meant to be a dig. But let the record show, Rick Nash was awesome.

The founder of The Ringer continued his case against the Jackets.

“I’ve never heard a single conversation about the Blue Jackets. Now granted, I don’t have a ton of hockey fans in my life, but I have never heard a single convo about them. I am not sure who their rival is. I looked this up on Google, and Google called their biggest rival the Pittsburgh Penguins. And then I asked Google what the Pittsburgh Penguins’ biggest rival was and they suggested Philly, Washington, the Rangers, and the Devils. So Columbus’ biggest rival isn’t even one of that team’s four biggest rivals.”

Honestly, some fair points made by Simmons. But for any offended Columbus fans out there, remember that any hockey take made by the basketball-obsessed Simmons should be taken with a hunk of salt.

Plus, are the Blue Jackets really less relevant than the Sacramento Kings, the New Orleans Pelicans, or the Tennessee Titans? It’s certainly a debatable point, and it probably comes down to your own fandom and biases.