“Having the NFL run your life since you were born, it’s a weird feeling to not have him there, not to see him pulling up in his golf cart at training camp,” Jackson said. “The hardest was realizing his biggest dream of having his daughters take over was a dream he would never see. It will feel bittersweet with every first. Those will feel extremely different this season, but I have this joy in my heart because I know how much he loved this.”
Jackson also acknowledged that the Colts’ results have not been good enough, and that there might be a little added pressure to get back on top to honor her dad. During a June press conference, Irsay-Gordon said she and her sisters were very confident in the direction of the team under general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen. But she said, as her dad had said before he died, Ballard and Steichen also know there are things that need to be fixed. That effort will include a quarterback competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.
When the Colts won the Super Bowl to finish the 2006 season in the pouring rain in Miami, Irsay, soaked and with tears in his eyes, told his daughters he wanted to talk to them. He told them he wanted them to remember what they were feeling at that moment, because it was one of the hardest things to do and they might never experience it again. The goal now is to get that feeling back.
Irsay died on May 21, a week after the NFL’s 2025 schedule was released. Jackson’s last voicemail from her dad was a response to her asking what he thought of the schedule.
“Ah, the schedule is what it is,” Irsay replied. “You gotta f—— win.”