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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was found unresponsive by police last month in his Carmel home, celebrity news organization TMZ reported Wednesday.
Citing documents from the Carmel Police Department, TMZ said Irsay was found in his bed, unresponsive, cold to the touch and gasping for air around 4:30 a.m. Dec. 8 from a suspected overdose. The report said someone found Irsay “unconscious on a bathroom floor with a blue skin tone” and moved him to the bed.
Police administered Narcan, a drug used to revive people who have overdosed on opiates, before paramedics arrived and “took over lifesaving efforts,” TMZ reported.
The Colts said on Jan. 9 that Irsay was “being treated for a severe respiratory illness” and would be unable to perform with his band on Jan. 11 in Los Angeles.
“Mr. Irsay continues to recover from his respiratory illness,” the team said in a statement issued Wednesday morning. “We will have no further comment on his personal health, and we continue to ask that Jim and his family’s privacy be respected.”
Irsay, 64, has publicly admitted to struggling with substance abuse. Last year, he told Andrea Kremer with HBO’s “Real Sports” that he had been to rehab at least 15 times and had overdosed in the past. He was arrested in 2014 on charges of driving under the influence and four counts of possession of a controlled substance. The drug possession charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Irsay began running the Colts’ day-to-day operations in 1995 after his father, Robert, suffered a stroke. When his father died in 1997, he won a legal battle with his stepmother to keep the franchise.
Irsay has been a fixture around team headquarters since his father bought the Los Angeles Rams and swapped franchises with the late Carroll Rosenbloom to acquire the Colts, starting his career as a ballboy when Hall of Fame quarterback John Unitas was still playing in Baltimore.
Following the Colts’ move from Baltimore to Indy in 1984, Irsay became the league’s youngest general manager at age 25.
The Colts have won one Super Bowl and two AFC titles during Irsay’s tenure. According to Forbes, Irsay had a net worth of $4.3 billion as of Tuesday, ranking him as 668th richest person in the world.
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I wish the NFL would just suspend him for life. He has no business being part of it anymore with all of his ongoing issues. The organization has to be tired of lying for him and covering up all of his problems.
Seriously, do you have no compassion??????
Show some compassion for the man. He has a chronic, complicated disease. He’s done a lot for the city and is a great owner. Get better soon, Mr. Irsay.
The City/State have done more for him – he’s become a billionaire because of the Stadium paid for thru various taxes.
Compassion is what perpetuates further addictive behavior. Tough love with consequences is what can end addictive behavior prior to the addict hitting their own personal “rock bottom” (the usual trigger for life-altering behavior). Irsay continues to do things that are bad for the team, the NFL, and Indianapolis. I am not going to cry for a person who can be a billionaire by selling to someone competent. If he wants to be selfish, he can continue to do that after selling the team–and without the repercussions to everyone around him.
Why doesn’t he just sell to a new owner in Portland or Orlando or San Antonio and watch Indy’s team go bye bye. And we’d never get another.
What’s wrong with you Patrick O? And Joe A? You both are typical of what’s wrong with this country.
You on it know nothing about substance use disorder.
Get well soon Mr Irsay. Best wishes to the Irsay family. Go Colts
He and his kids have been and will still be the owners. LOL, I’m not suggesting the NFL should make him sell the team… Carli is the Vice-Chair and has lead the team for many years now while Jim continues to struggle because people continue to enable him. I never said I didn’t want him to be in a better place but he will never “get better” as you suggest… he will continue to struggle for the rest of his life and like it or not because of that he shouldn’t be allowed to still have an active role with the NFL. The Colt’s annual revenue is over $500 million meanwhile the tax payers are still on the hook for over $600 million for his stadium so yeah, he shouldn’t be the public face of the franchise anymore!
His last few appearances at the stadium for player inductions into the Ring of Honor and other events have been embarrassing to be present for.
But it’s clear that the NFL has one standard for owners and another for players. See, for instance, gambling addict Art Schlichter.
It sounds like the Carmel police may have saved his life. Kind of surprising since they are out to get white billionaires.
Prayers for him and his family.
It would be a fun thought exercise if we could run the exact same story, but replace the name Irsay with Pence. I wonder if the Compassion! hawks would still be compassionate? Guessing no…
I guess money doesn’t buy happiness!