annual training camp news conference<\/a> last summer, Irsay told reporters he was continuing to rehab from two subsequent surgeries.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s great to see you guys, the fans and to be out here,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cI\u2019m feeling great, you know, just trying to get this left leg stronger, which it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irsay also did not speak during the recent NFL draft as he usually did.<\/p>\n
But his story is one of a kind.<\/p>\n
As a teenager, he tossed footballs with MVP quarterbacks Johnny Unitas and Bert Jones. He relied frequently on the lessons he learned from rubbing elbows with some of the game\u2019s most important owners \u2014 Al Davis, Lamar Hunt, Wellington Mara and Art Rooney \u2014 as they worked through the 1982 players\u2019 strike and the implementation of a salary cap.<\/p>\n
And he presided over the greatest quarter-century of Colts football thanks to Manning and quarterback Andrew Luck.<\/p>\n
Irsay handled everything from ticket sales to public relations as he rose through the organization even watching No. 1 overall pick John Elway force a trade to Denver in 1983. <\/p>\n
When he took over as owner following his father\u2019s death in 1997, things were different. The arrival of Manning helped Irsay \u2014 and the Colts \u2014 create a passionate local following that hadn\u2019t previously existed but still remains strong today.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t always easy, either.<\/p>\n
\u2014 When a 55% inheritance tax threatened his hold on the team, the younger Irsay found enough cash to keep the family business.<\/p>\n
\u2014 When his most prominent players were about to cash in during free agency, Irsay often ponied up top dollar to keep them.<\/p>\n
\u2014 And though some criticized him for focusing too much on offense and not enough on defense, the combination allowed the Colts to find their place in a small-market city that revered basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man hates to lose more than he likes to win,\u201d current general manager Chris Ballard often said.<\/p>\n
Things didn\u2019t always go smoothly, though.<\/p>\n
Robert Irsay was reviled in Baltimore following the move. Decades later, even after another Baltimore team won a Super Bowl, and after Jim Irsay repeatedly explained the move was precipitated by the city\u2019s attempt to take the franchise through eminent domain, Baltimore still referred to the team only as the Indianapolis football club.<\/p>\n
A quarter-century later, following a 2-14 record in 2011, Irsay tested the fans\u2019 loyalties by releasing a 34-year-old Manning, who missed the entire season with a neck injury. The rebuild began around rookie QB Andrew Luck \u2014 a move that drew comparisons to his father\u2019s trade of Unitas in 1973 and the subsequent selection of Jones in the draft.<\/p>\n
The impending decision about Manning also became a public spectacle throughout the 2011-12 offseason and again in 2013 when Manning returned to Indy for the first time with his new team, the Denver Broncos.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the right move to make. Peyton and I talked about it. He said it best in the press conference: I didn\u2019t decide, he didn\u2019t decide, the football gods had laid the cards out and we both knew it was best for him and us,\u201d Irsay said later. \u201cEmotionally, it was the hardest thing I\u2019ve ever had to do. In professional football, it\u2019s about winning and you have to be able to make the decisions that are best for the franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n
But football was only part of Irsay\u2019s story.<\/p>\n
He spent millions buying the original manuscripts to Jack Kerouac\u2019s generation-defining novel \u201cOn The Road\u201d and Alcoholics Anonymous\u2019 \u201cBig Book\u201d and routinely made them available to the public.<\/p>\n
His ever-expanding musical collection included instruments and items from The Beatles, James Brown, Prince, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Johnny Cash and Jerry Garcia; signed Presidential documents; an original \u201cwanted\u201d poster for John Wilkes Booth; a 1953 Jackie Robinson bat; Muhammad Ali\u2019s title belt from the 1974 \u201cRumble in the Jungle;\u201d even the saddle from Secretariat\u2019s triple crown wins.<\/p>\n
Irsay also befriended singers such as Stephen Stills and John Mellencamp, took inspiration from the lyrics of Bob Dylan and revered the writings of Hunter S. Thompson, the self-described \u201cGonzo journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun to have these pieces, and guitars are always kind of the most interesting, in some ways, because you can play them, unlike a book, a manuscript or a painting,\u201d Irsay said during the summer of 2016. \u201cYou can play them, and they can become four-dimensional.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Irsay also had his struggles.<\/p>\n
He was a recovering alcoholic and his professional successes couldn\u2019t insulate him from a constant battle with painkillers. In a November 2023 interview with HBO Sports, he acknowledged he had been to rehab at least 15 times and once accidentally overdosed.<\/p>\n
The low point may have come in March 2014 when he was arrested near his home in Carmel while driving erratically. When officers searched the car they found nearly $30,000 in cash and numerous bottles of prescription pills. Five and a half months later, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Irsay for six games and fined him $500,000.<\/p>\n
Irsay described the absence as heartbreaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t even imagine how hard that was,\u201d former Colts punter and now talk-show host Pat McAfee said after the suspension ended. \u201cYou\u2019re talking about a guy who\u2019s been around the Colts his entire life, who personifies the Horseshoe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he was wise enough to allow Polian almost free rein to construct a team that won a then-record number of regular-season games in a decade (115).<\/p>\n
And he leaves a legacy that won\u2019t be blowing in the wind.<\/p>\n
Aside from the images of Irsay wearing a tie wrapped around his forehead on a magazine cover, tossing footballs in a suit, or his utterances on Twitter, he was a shrewd businessman with a big heart.<\/p>\n
When the Colts won the Super Bowl, he even sent a ring to two-time rushing champ Edgerrin James, who had left in free agency before the championship season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy grew up with this team,\u201d then-coach Chuck Pagano said in January 2015. \u201cHe\u2019s got so much insight and so much knowledge. He\u2019s a football man through and through. It runs through his veins and he\u2019s got so much wisdom to share with all of us. He makes a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Jim Irsay started his football career as a ball boy. He finished it as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[6502,22769,22767,22773,21476,21477,5422,22771,2005,7,565,12224,2004,392,2381,22770,22766,6742,22772,22768,6,498,955,21480,8083,5907,21077,1902,9,22774,573],"class_list":{"0":"post-80130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-andrew-luck","9":"tag-bert-jones","10":"tag-bill-polian","11":"tag-bob-dylan","12":"tag-carlie-irsay-gordon","13":"tag-casey-foyt","14":"tag-chris-ballard","15":"tag-chuck-pagano","16":"tag-colts","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-in-state-wire","20":"tag-indianapolis","21":"tag-indianapolis-colts","22":"tag-indianapoliscolts","23":"tag-jack-kerouac","24":"tag-jim-robert-irsay","25":"tag-john-elway","26":"tag-john-mellencamp","27":"tag-lamar-hunt","28":"tag-nfl","29":"tag-nfl-football","30":"tag-pat-mcafee","31":"tag-pete-ward","32":"tag-peyton-manning","33":"tag-prince","34":"tag-robert-irsay","35":"tag-roger-goodell","36":"tag-sports","37":"tag-stephen-stills","38":"tag-u-s-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114574039687254664","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80130","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=80130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}