The long -standing owner of the Indianapolis colts, Jim Irsay, died on Wednesday, the franchise announced.
He was 65 years old.
The details of his death are not yet known, althoughrus have dealt with various health problems in recent years. The colts said thatrs “died peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday afternoon.
“Jim’s dedication and passion for Indianapolis colts in addition to his generosity, his commitment to the community, and above all, his love for his family was not on the way,” the team said in a statement, in part.
“Some of the most beautiful memories of Jim came from his youth work training camps in Baltimore and growing relationships with players, coaches and staff he considered his extended family … He simply put, he wanted to make the world a better place and that philosophy never hesitated. Jim will be deeply missed by his family, the organization of the colts and fans everywhere, but we are inspired by his careful mind and his fans his unique mind. “
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Irsay officially picked up the colts in 1997 when he inherited them from his father. He was 37 years old at the time, although he began as the franchise in 1984 when his father, Robert Irsay, still posed them. Robert acquired the team for the first time in 1972 for approximately $ 12 million in an agreement that has mainly exchanged his property in Los Angeles Rams. He moved the Baltimore team to Indianapolis the same year that Jim started working there.
The colts had several big races under the Irsay watch, notably during the 2006 campaign, when the quarter-back Peyton Manning and head coach Tony Dungy led them to a Super Bowl victory against the Bears in Chicago. It was the first victory of the Super Bowl team since 1970. The colts returned to the Super Bowl three seasons later, although they fell to the New Orleans in this competition.
Irsay also supervised the transition to the Lucas Oil Stadium, where the colts moved in 2008. This stadium became a basic food in the world of sport, organizing events like the Super Bowl, the Big Ten basketball championship match, Final Fours, the combination of NFL draft and more.
Irsay fought against drugs and alcohol throughout his life, and he was very open on this subject. He arrived in a rehabilitation center in 2014 after an arrest in conduct under the influence and accusations of possession, which was one of the 15 times of his life that he had been in a detoxification treatment, and he revealed in 2023 that a past overdose stopped his breathing and almost killed him. He was found insensitive to his home in December 2023 of an overdose also suspected.
The owner of the colts, Jim Irsay, died on Wednesday afternoon, the team announced. He was 65 (Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
(Justin Casterline via Getty Images)
Irsay’s public appearances decreased after that. The colts revealed in January 2024 that he was fighting against a “serious respiratory disease” after being seen publicly for weeks. Although he had his difficulties, the Irsay family has donated more than $ 25 million in recent years to organizations dedicated to mental health and drug addiction work.
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Irsay was also a passionate collector. He bought many rare items for the HSI collection, such as an Elton John piano with classic guitars on the Muhammad Ali championship belt, to name just a few. His collection of more than 500 articles even drawn an offer from a tenderer in the Middle East for more than a billion dollars, he said espn Last year, although he refused. Irsay also had his own group, the “Jim Irsay Band” and played frequently.
But even in the midst of his difficulties and his health problems, the love of Irsay for the colts and sports of Indianapolis as a whole has never hesitated. He even posted on the Indiana Pacers – which opened his series of finals of the Eastern Conference with the New York Knicks Wednesday evening – on social networks a few hours before his death.
Irsay is survived by his three daughters, his ex-wife and his mother of his children, Meg Coyle, and 10 grandchildren. Irsay previously said that he planned to spend the team to his children after his death, and all three had received a title deed in 2012. They also occupied active roles in the organization, although the specific succession plan of Irsay is not known.
“We are deeply saddened to learn the death of Jim Irsay today”, the commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell said in a press releasein part. “Jim was a friend and a man deeply engaged in his family, the game, the colts and the community of Indianapolis. He spent his life and his career in the National Football League … On behalf of the whole NFL, I put my sincere condolences to the girls of Jim and their families, and to his many friends of the NFL.”
Former colts are expressed after the death of Jim Irsay
Several former colt players – including Manning, Reggie Wayne and Ty Hilton – and others on the team’s orbit took the floor and paid tribute to Irsay after his death on social networks.
