Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, pictured in 2018, died “peacefully in his sleep” on Wednesday, according to the team.
AJ Mast/AP
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AJ Mast/AP
Jim Irsay — the longtime owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts and a prolific rock-and-roll collector — has died at age 65.
He “passed away peacefully in his sleep” on Wednesday afternoon, the Colts said in a statement, extending their sympathies to his three daughters and his entire family.
“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,” the team wrote.
The team did not specify a cause of death, but Irsay had faced health issues and largely retreated from the public eye in recent years. His last social media post, on Wednesday, wished the Indiana Pacers luck in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Irsay “spent his life and career in the National Football League,” as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell put it in a tribute.
Irsay started working for the then-Baltimore Colts as a ballboy when he was a teenager after his father, Robert, took over the team in 1972.
“Some of Jim’s fondest memories came from his youth working training camps in Baltimore and growing relationships with players, coaches and staff whom he considered his extended family,” the Colts said. “He worked in every department before he was named the youngest general manager in team history in 1984 when the Colts arrived in Indianapolis.”
An escalating stadium dispute with the city of Baltimore prompted Robert Irsay to take the Colts out of Maryland — in a surprise, overnight move — in March 1984. Shortly after, he made his 24-year-old son the youngest NFL general manager in history.
Jim Irsay took over ownership of the Colts in 1997, after his father’s death and a legal battle with his stepmother. The following year, the team — which had first pick in the draft — selected Peyton Manning, who became a cornerstone of the Colts franchise and is widely considered one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
Manning mourned Irsay in an Instagram post, writing that “his love for the Colts and the city of Indy was unmatched.”
“He was an incredibly generous and passionate owner and I will always be indebted to him for giving me my start in the NFL,” wrote Manning, who spent 13 seasons with the Colts. “His impact on the players who played for him will not be forgotten.”
Under Irsay’s nearly three-decade tenure, the Colts won 10 division titles, two AFC championships and — thanks in large part to Manning — the 2007 Super Bowl.
