INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jim Irsay started his football career as a ball boy. He finished it as a team owner.
Along the way, the NFL’s music man created his own, unique brand.
Irsay worked his way up through the organization, learning how to run a football team, restoring the Colts’ once-proud tradition to glory and created what some have dubbed the greatest guitar collection on Earth — all while battling health issues and addictions to alcohol and painkillers.
On Wednesday, Irsay’s remarkable journey ended at age 65. Pete Ward, Irsay’s longtime right-hand man,
made the announcement
in a statement, saying Irsay died peacefully in his sleep.
“Jim’s dedication and passion for the Indianapolis Colts in addition to his generosity, commitment to the community and, most importantly, his love for his family were unsurpassed,” Ward said. “Our deepest sympathies go to his daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, Kalen Jackson and his entire family as we grieve with them.”
Irsay had a profound impact on the franchise.
With the help of Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy and Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, Irsay turned the Colts from a longtime laughingstock into a perennial title contender, even winning a Super Bowl title.
Leveraging that success—and Manning’s reputation—he persuaded local officials to construct a domed stadium with a retractable roof, which was completed in 2008. This facility later enabled Indianapolis to secure a hosting position for the Super Bowl.
I’m deeply saddened to learn about Jim Irsay’s passing,” Manning stated on social media. “He was remarkably kind-hearted and fervent as our team owner, and I owe him so much for launching my career with the NFL. The affection he held for the Colts and Indianapolis was unparalleled. His influence on all the athletes under his guidance will remain unforgettable.
Recently, however, Irsay has been dealing with health problems and has become much more low-profile since falling at his home on December 8, 2023.
Police officers from Carmel, an upper-northern suburb of Indianapolis, attended to a 911 emergency at Irsay’s residence after receiving a distress call.
As stated in the police document,
The officers discovered Irsay was breathing but unresponsive, with his skin appearing blue-tinged.
A month afterward, Irsay was found to have a respiratory ailment.
During his
yearly training camp press conference
Last summer, Irsay informed journalists he was still recovering from two additional operations.
It’s fantastic to see all of you, the fans, and to be back out here,” he stated then. “I’m doing well, you know, just working on strengthening my left leg, which will definitely improve.
During the recent NFL draft, Irsay chose not to speak, unlike what he typically does.
But his story is one of a kind.
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’s most important owners — Al Davis, Lamar Hunt, Wellington Mara and Art Rooney — as they worked through the 1982 players’ strike and the implementation of a salary cap.
And he presided over the greatest quarter-century of Colts football thanks to Manning and quarterback Andrew Luck.
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.
After assuming ownership upon his father’s passing in 1997, circumstances changed significantly for him. The addition of Peyton Manning contributed to both Irsay and the Colts fostering a devoted local fan base that had not been present before but continues to be robust even now.
It wasn’t always a walk in the park, either.
When a 55% inheritance tax jeopardized his control over the team, the younger Irsay managed to secure sufficient funds to maintain the family enterprise.
— When his star players were set to leave through free agency, Irsay frequently provided substantial amounts of money to retain them.
— 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.
“The man hates to lose more than he likes to win,” current general manager Chris Ballard often said.
However, things didn’t always proceed effortlessly.
Robert Irsay faced severe criticism in Baltimore after the relocation. Many years passed, even with another local team winning a Super Bowl, and despite Jim Irsay frequently stating that the move was due to the city’s efforts to seize the franchise via eminent domain; Baltimore persisted in referring to the team solely as the Indianapolis football club.
Twenty-five years after those events, when the team had a disappointing 2-14 record in 2011, Irsay challenged the fans’ loyalty by letting go of the 34-year-old Manning, who sat out the whole year due to a neck injury. This marked the start of rebuilding efforts centered around new quarterback Andrew Luck—paralleling actions taken by his father back in 1973, when he traded Unitas and then drafted Jones.
The upcoming choice regarding Manning turned into a widely discussed issue during the 2011-12 off-season and once more in 2013 when he made his return to Indianapolis as part of his new squad, the Denver Broncos.
It was the correct decision to take. Peyton and I discussed this matter thoroughly. As he aptly put it during the press conference: neither of us made the choice; instead, the football deities presented the scenario, and we recognized that it would benefit both himself and our team,” stated Irsay afterward. “On an emotional level, it was the toughest action I’ve ever needed to undertake. Within professional football, success revolves around making choices that prioritize the well-being of the organization.
But football was only part of Irsay’s story.
He invested millions acquiring the initial manuscripts of Jack Kerouac’s epoch-making novel “On The Road” and Alcoholics Anonymous’ “Big Book,” often making these accessible to the public.
His continually growing music collection featured instruments and memorabilia from artists like The Beatles, James Brown, Prince, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Garcia. It also included autographed presidential papers, an authentic “Wanted” poster for John Wilkes Booth, a 1953 Jackie Robinson baseball bat, Muhammad Ali’s championship belt from the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle,” and even the saddle used during Secretariat’s Triple Crown victories.
Irsay became friends with musicians like Stephen Stills and John Mellencamp, drew inspiration from the poetry of Bob Dylan, and held in high regard the works of Hunter S. Thompson, who famously called himself a “Gonzo journalist.”
It’s incredibly enjoyable to own these items, particularly the guitars, which are often the most fascinating in certain respects,” Irsay stated in the summer of 2016. “Unlike a book, manuscript, or painting, you can interact with them; thus, they transform into something four-dimensional.
However, Irsay has faced his share of challenges as well.
He was a recovering alcoholic and his professional successes couldn’t 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.
The nadir might have been reached in March 2014 when he was detained close to his residence in Carmel due to erratic driving. Upon searching the vehicle, law enforcement discovered approximately $30,000 in cash along with several containers of prescribed medication. Approximately five and a half months afterward, he admitted guilt to a lesser charge of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, leading NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Irsay for six matches and impose a fine of $500,000.
Irsay expressed that the absence was heart-wrenching.
I could barely fathom how difficult that must have been,” former Colts punter and current talk-show host Pat McAfee remarked following the conclusion of the suspension. “We’re discussing someone who has spent their whole career with the Colts and truly embodies the spirit of the horseshoe emblem.
Nevertheless, he was perceptive enough to grant Polian nearly complete freedom to build a squad that secured an unprecedented 115 regular-season victories over ten years.
And he leaves behind a legacy that will not fade away like the breeze.
Apart from the pictures of Irsay sporting a necktie as a headband on a magazine cover, throwing footballs in a suit, or his tweets, he was a savvy entrepreneur with a generous spirit.
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.
“The guy grew up with this team,” then-coach Chuck Pagano said in January 2015. “He’s got so much insight and so much knowledge. He’s a football man through and through. It runs through his veins and he’s got so much wisdom to share with all of us. He makes a huge impact.”
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Michael Marot, The Associated Press
