.jpg) Irsay in 2022 | |
| Indianapolis Colts | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Owner & CEO |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | June 13, 1959 (1959-06-13) (age 65) Lincolnwood, Illinois, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Loyola Academy (Wilmette, IL) |
| College: | Southern Methodist |
| Career history | |
As a staff member / executive: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
James Irsay (born June 13, 1959) is an American businessman and the principal owner, chairman, and CEO of theIndianapolis Colts of theNational Football League (NFL).
The son of businessmanRobert Irsay (1923–1997), who acquired theBaltimore franchise in 1972 for $12 million and moved them toIndianapolis in 1984, Irsay wasgeneral manager of the Colts from 1984 to 1996.
Irsay was born inLincolnwood, Illinois, the son of Harriet (née Pogorzelski) andChicago businessmanRobert Irsay.[1] His father was from aHungarian Jewish[2] family and his mother was the daughter ofPolishCatholic immigrants. Irsay was raised Catholic, and did not know about his father's Jewish heritage until he was fourteen.[3][4] Jim's brother, Thomas Irsay, was born with a mental disability and died in 1999, and his sister, Roberta, died in a car accident in 1971.
Irsay's father, Robert Irsay, built a fortune estimated to be over $150 million as a successful heating and air-conditioning contractor.[5]
Irsay attended high school atLoyola Academy inWilmette, Illinois, a suburb just north ofChicago;[6] and atMercersburg Academy '78,Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. After high school, he attended, and graduated from,Southern Methodist University in 1982 with aBachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism.[6] Irsay played linebacker for theSMU Mustangs football team as a walk-on,[7] but an ankle injury ended his playing career.[8]
Irsayboxed, playedgolf, andlifted weights in his younger years.[8]
Irsay was 12 years old when his father,Robert Irsay, acquired theBaltimore Colts, after initially purchasing theLos Angeles Rams for $12 million and immediately swapping franchises with Colts ownerCarroll Rosenbloom. He spent time around the team as a youth, including serving as an on-field ball boy and working in the ticket office helping to answer the phones.[9]
After graduating from SMU in 1982, he joined the Colts' professional staff.[6] Irsay was initially given an orientation in all facets of the administrative and football operations of the Colts before being added to the personnel department ahead of the1983 season.[6] His initial duties included college scouting and breaking down of film in addition to administrative tasks.[6]
He was made part of the team's personnel department in 1983. He was named vice president and general manager in early 1984, immediately after theColts relocated from Baltimore to Indianapolis.[8] At age 24 he was the youngest to ever hold the title of general manager in the NFL.[10]
After his father suffered a stroke in 1995, Jim assumed day-to-day management of the club,[10] with the modified title of "senior executive vice president, general manager and chief operating officer". When his father died in 1997, Jim engaged in a legal battle with his stepmother over ownership of the team and later became the youngest NFL team owner at 37.
According to Pro Football Reference, the 258 wins are the fourth-most in the NFL over that time frame.[11] The team has won 10 division titles, made the playoffs 18 times, appeared in two Super Bowls and won Super Bowl XLI.[12][13] Indianapolis won 115 regular season games from 2000 to 2009, which is the second-most in a decade by any NFL team.[14][15]
Since joining the organization in 1984, Irsay has worked with numerousPro Football Hall of Fame coaches, players and executives, includingEric Dickerson (Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 1999),Marshall Faulk (2011),Bill Polian (2015),Tony Dungy (2016),Marvin Harrison (2016),Edgerrin James (2020) andPeyton Manning (2021).[16]
In 2009, Irsay was vocal about preventing a group that included talk-show hostRush Limbaugh from purchasing theSt. Louis Rams. "I, myself, couldn't even consider voting for him," Irsay said at an NFL owners meeting. "When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive... our words do damage, and it's something we don't need",[17] referring to comments Limbaugh made aboutDonovan McNabb in 2003, condemned asracist, when he was an NFL commentator forESPN. Irsay has made political contributions toJohn Edwards andHarry Reid.
In October 2022 at a National Football League owner's meeting, Irsay said he believed "that there's merit to removeDaniel Snyder as the owner of theWashington Commanders" amid calls for Snyder to sell the franchise.[18]
Irsay came under scrutiny in November 2022 when he fired Colts head coachFrank Reich after a 3–5–1 start to the season and replaced him with former Colts playerJeff Saturday as interim head coach. Saturday previously had no coaching experience beyond the high school football level, and was employed as an NFL analyst for ESPN at the time of his hiring.[19][20]
Irsay and his family have donated to various projects and programs across Indiana, including the Irsay Family YMCA,[21][22] the downtown Indianapolis Colts Canal Playspace,[23] Riley Hospital for Children,[24][25] Wheeler Mission Center for Women & Children,[26] Indiana University's Irsay Research Institute[27] and many others.
On November 20, 2022, Irsay donated $1 million to theIndianapolis Zoo. The zoo is currently undergoing a renovation and the gift will assist with the building of a new Indianapolis Colts Welcome Center Plaza.[28] The project is set to be complete by Memorial Day 2023.[29][30][31][32]
In late 2020, the Irsay family launched Kicking The Stigma, which is dedicated to "raise awareness about mental health disorders and to remove the shame and stigma too often associated with these illnesses."[33] The foundation has numerous partner organizations, including Mental Health America of Indiana,[34] National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Indianapolis,[35] Project Healthy Minds[36] and Bring Change to Mind.[37] As of late 2022, Kicking The Stigma had committed more than $17 million (through action grants and personal donations by the Irsay family) towards its initiatives. In 2022, a total of $1.4 million in action grants were distributed to 23 nonprofits and organizations in the mental health sector.[38] In 2021, the action grants totaled $2.7 million and were gifted to 16 groups.[39]
In December 2021, the Irsay family donated $3 million toIndiana University to create a research institute dedicated to studying mental health and the stigma associated with it.[40] The donation was an extension of Kicking The Stigma. Named the Irsay Family Research Institute,[41] the center will be located on IU's Bloomington campus in Morrison Hall. Some of the focuses of the center will be providing support for research, analyzing sociomedical sciences, advancing more graduates trained in the mental health field and promoting mental health more locally and nationally.[42]
Irsay has been a staunch supporter of former Colts head coachChuck Pagano, who beat acute promyelocytic leukemia after being diagnosed in September 2012. Pagano, who was head coach of the team from 2012 to 2017, hosts his Chuckstrong Tailgate Gala every year in Indianapolis. Since 2012, the galas have raised more than $12 million for research at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center,[43] where Pagano received treatment.[44] The gala has been hosted at the Colts' Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center[45] as well as Jim Irsay's house. In 2021, Irsay hosted the gala at his house and donated $2 million to the IU cancer research after Pagano made a free throw for $1 million and 10 layups for $100,000 apiece on Irsay's basketball court.[46]
On March 30, 2023, theMiami Seaquarium announced thatLolita, the park's sole captiveorca, would be returned to her natal waters in thePacific Northwest.[47][48] Irsay was involved in bankrolling the necessary funds to relocate and release Lolita and herpacific white-sided dolphin companions, Li'i and Loke. The process of moving the animals was expected to take between 18 and 24 months and cost an estimated $15–20 million, the majority of which would be bankrolled by Irsay.[49] Lolita died on August 18, 2023, before this could be accomplished.
Irsay married Meg Coyle in 1980, and the couple have three daughters,Carlie Irsay-Gordon (born c. 1981),Casey Foyt (born 1983), andKalen Jackson, as well as 10 grandchildren. After being separated since 2003, Meg filed for divorce on November 21, 2013.[50]
On March 16, 2014, Irsay was arrested under suspicion of Driving Under the Influence and drug possession inCarmel, Indiana.[51][52] Irsay had multiple bottles of prescription medication and more than $29,000 in cash in his car at the time of his arrest, with prosecutors claiming that Irsay tested positive foroxycodone andhydrocodone in his system.[53] Multiple felony charges were subsequently pleaded down to a pair of misdemeanors.[53]
Irsay's daughter, Carlie, took over the day-to-day operations of the Colts while he was in rehab.[54] On September 2, 2014, shortly after pleading guilty tooperating while intoxicated and being sentenced to one year of probation, Irsay was suspended by the NFL for six games and fined $500,000.[55] In a 2023 interview onReal Sports, Irsay claimed he had been arrested because "I am prejudiced against because I’m a rich, white billionaire."[56]
In a report released byTMZ in January 2024, and repeated and partially verified by other news outlets, Irsay was found unresponsive and struggling to breathe at home and was taken to the hospital on December 8, 2023. He received a dose ofNarcan, a medicine that reverses an opioid overdose.[57][58][59]
Outside football, Irsay has made significant investments in music and memorabilia with The Jim Irsay Collection.[60] In 2001 Irsay purchased the original manuscript ofOn the Road, or "the scroll": a continuous, one hundred twenty-foot scroll of tracing paper sheets thatJack Kerouac cut to size and taped together, for $2.43 million. On May 5, 2018, he purchased an original printing of the 1939 bookAlcoholics Anonymous with notes handwritten by the authorBill Wilson, cofounder ofAA, for $2.4 million at auction.[61]
In 2021,Guitar Magazine characterized Irsay as the owner of "the greatest guitar collection on Earth."[62]
Irsay has purchased guitars originally owned byElvis Presley,[63]George Harrison,John Lennon,Paul McCartney,Jerry Garcia ("Tiger"),[63]Prince,Les Paul's 1954 Black Beauty[64] and other notable performers.[65] His purchases have set records: in 2014 he bought the electric guitar thatBob Dylan played at Newport for just under US$1 million[66] and in 2017 he paid US$2.2 million for a Ludwig drum set belonging toRingo Starr.[67] On June 20, 2019, Irsay paid a record $3.975 million for a guitar, known asThe Black Strat, formerly owned by Pink Floyd guitaristDavid Gilmour.[68] On May 23, 2022, Irsay paid a record $4.6 million for the 1969Fender Mustang played byNirvana'sKurt Cobain in the music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit."[69] In 2023, Irsay acquired the saddle used bySecretariat when he won the American Triple Crown in 1973.[70][71]
Irsay performs with his own all-star band, The Jim Irsay Band, and has hosted free concerts across the country in Nashville, Tenn.,[72][73] Washington, D.C.,[74][75] Austin, Tex.,[76][77] Los Angeles,[78][79] New York City,[80][81][82][83] Chicago,[84][85] Indianapolis,[86][87][88] San Francisco[89][90][91] and eventually Las Vegas.[92][93] Among the artists that have performed with the band are singer-songwriterJohn Mellencamp, guitarist/singerBuddy Guy, singer-songwriterJohn Hiatt, guitarist Mike Wanchic, bassistMike Mills, guitaristTom Bukovac, guitaristKenny Wayne Shepherd, drummerKenny Aronoff, keyboardist Michael Ramos andRock and Roll Hall of Fame singerAnn Wilson among others.[84] Pieces from The Jim Irsay Collection travel with the band and are on display.
reuniting Beatles' legendary instruments
