{"id":700090,"date":"2026-01-23T23:40:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T23:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/700090\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T23:40:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T23:40:25","slug":"colts-confirm-fbi-opens-investigation-into-death-of-late-team-owner-jim-irsay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/700090\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts confirm FBI opens investigation into death of late team owner Jim Irsay"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The FBI has opened an investigation into the death of former Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay,<\/a> team officials confirmed Friday.<\/p>\n

When Irsay died in May, the team issued a statement saying he died \u201cpeacefully in his sleep.\u201d But in late August, The Washington Post reported Irsay continued to battle a longtime addiction<\/a> to painkillers and that he had overdosed three times in the five years preceding his death. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of the investigation, but at this time, we\u2019ve not been contacted by the FBI or been served with any subpoenas,\u201d the Colts said in Friday\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league would not comment on the report.<\/p>\n

The Post reported Thursday that a federal grand jury subpoena it reviewed indicated the FBI is seeking records and information relating to Irsay\u2019s death, his \u201csubstance (illegal and prescription) use,\u201d and his \u201crelationship with Dr. Harry Haroutunian,\u201d an addiction specialist based in California. The subpoena was reportedly issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California earlier this month. <\/p>\n

The Associated Press left a message Friday seeking comment from Haroutunian, whom the Post reported had prescribed pain pills and ketamine to Irsay in the months before his May 2025 death.<\/p>\n

In August, the Post reported Irsay was prescribed ketamine, which is most commonly used as a general anesthetic, in his final months and that police were called to the hotel room in Beverly Hills, California, where Irsay died. The Post\u2019s earlier report said Haroutunian, was staying at the hotel and overseeing Irsay\u2019s treatment and that Haroutunian signed the death certificate.<\/p>\n

The Post wrote that Irsay\u2019s official cause of death was listed as \u201ccardiac arrest due to pneumonia and heart issues\u201d but no autopsy was performed, and Beverly Hills police closed their investigation into the death days later.<\/p>\n

When the first Post story was published in August, Irsay\u2019s three daughters who now run the Colts \u2014 Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson \u2014 issued a statement saying their father \u201cnever claimed to be perfect\u201d and acknowledging he used his voice \u201cto reduce the stigma\u201d of addiction and mental health issues to advocate for those who fought similar battles.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a> and here<\/a> (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-basketball<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The FBI has opened an investigation into the death of former Indianapolis Colts owner Jim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[50757,50726,1443,21476,21477,2005,7,565,101715,13604,12224,932,2004,392,2381,20989,2446,6,498,62875,101104,9],"class_list":["post-700090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indianapolis-colts","tag-addiction-and-treatment","tag-brian-mccarthy","tag-california","tag-carlie-irsay-gordon","tag-casey-foyt","tag-colts","tag-football","tag-general-news","tag-harry-haroutunian","tag-health","tag-in-state-wire","tag-indiana","tag-indianapolis","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-indianapoliscolts","tag-jim-irsay","tag-media","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-football","tag-pain-management","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115947059739926466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}