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The Colts announced Wednesday that team owner Jim Irsay has died at 65 years old.
Irsay became the Colts’ VP and GM in 1984 and took over ownership of the team when his father, Robert Irsay, died in 1997.
Under his stewardship, the Colts beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI in 2007, and they lost to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.
“Some of Jim’s fondest memories came from his youth working training camps in Baltimore and growing relationships with the players, coaches, and staff whom he considered his extended family,” the Colts said in a statement. “He worked in every department before he was named the youngest general manager in team history in 1984 when the Colts arrived in Indianapolis.”
The statement continued, “Jim’s generosity can be felt all over Indianapolis, the state of Indiana and the country. He made philanthropy a daily endeavor. He never hesitated to help countless organizations and individuals live better lives. Music was one of Jim’s passions and the ability to share his band and collection with millions of people across the world brought him tremendous joy. Simply put, he wanted to make the world a better place and that philosophy never wavered. Jim will be deeply missed by his family, the Colts organization, and fans everywhere, but we remain inspired by his caring and unique spirit.”
A cause of death was not immediately revealed.
Irsay’s collection included a dizzying array of artifacts from sports, entertainment, and American history. It ranged from letters written by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to John Wilkes Booth’s wanted poster to Ringo Starr’s drum set from the Beatles’ fabled Ed Sullivan Show appearance and guitars played by Kurt Cobain, Paul McCartney, and Jerry Garcia.
Irsay struggled with addiction in his life and noted that one of his prized possessions in his collection was the manuscript for the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
“It changed and saved hundreds of millions of lives,” Irsay said in 2022. “Historians and philosophers that have looked at the 20th century said that … the 12 steps, which has been used in many ways to fight mental health issues, that’s really something that [without it] realistically, half the people in this place wouldn’t be here — and believe me, you’d see a ghost from me up here. I wouldn’t be here right now without that.”
Irsay had previously said he planned to pass the team on to his children. One of his three daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, ran the team in his stead when he was in rehab in 2014. Irsay-Gordon and her sisters, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson, are listed on the team’s website as “the next generation of Colts ownership.”
