Colts’ Jim Irsay Created Legacy of Decency, Opposite Of His Father

There have been three heinous moves in the history of American sports. The first was the decision by Walter O’Malley to take the Dodgers out of Brooklyn and move them to Los Angeles. Never mind that the Dodgers have been a rip-roaring success on the Golden Coast and that O’Malley was forced into a corner by a New York City tyrant named Robert Moses. They had little choice left but to pack up the team and leave the grieving borough. It was a brutal and painful move.

The second was the unforgivable move by Bob Irsay in 1984 to take the beloved Colts out of Baltimore and move them to Indianapolis. Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell moved his team to Baltimore in 1996, but left the team name behind. Never mind that an expansion team in Cleveland by the name of the Browns followed. It was heart-wrenching.

The move of the Colts may have been even more emotional than Brooklyn’s loss of the Dodgers. Bob Irsay packed up the moving trucks and moved his team in the dead of a March, 1984 snowstorm to their new home. It was dastardly and cowardly. Baltimore fans never forgave him.

Bob Irsay died in 1997, and full control of the Indianapolis Colts went to his son Jim. The younger Irsay, who died last week at the age of 65, turned out to be the near opposite of his father. He was kind, generous, caring and loved his players, coaches and the team’s fans. While his father did anything he could to maximize his earnings and attempt to turn a profit, Jim Irsay was all about giving back to his community.

He also had a soft spot for the city his father had left in such a brutal and painful fashion. He got his start in the NFL as a ball boy for the Baltimore Colts and that allowed him to see the league from the ground up. He basically did every job possible in the NFL – with the exception of serving as an on-the-field coach – and understood the sacrifices that everyone on his payroll made to make the team successful.

He understood that when his father moved the team, it left behind many of the most loyal fans in the league. Jim Irsay was not responsible for taking one of the most emotionally connected and beloved teams in the history of the professional sports and moving it to a city that it was considered a “hick town.”

The hatred of Indianapolis from many of the old Baltimore Colts fans of a certain age lasted for many years. The arrival of the Ravens in 1996 did not assuage those feelings right away. It took several years for fans to back the Ravens the way they had done the Colts.

Jim Irsay went out of his way to return the Colts’ pre-Indianapolis history to the city of Baltimore and the Ravens. However, that never happened. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Colts history belongs to the Indianapolis Colts. A look at Pro Football Reference shows the Colts have always been a single entity.

What made it more painful for Baltimore Colts fans is that when the Browns moved out of Cleveland and became the Ravens, the team’s history was returned to Cleveland and the expansion franchise the city was given was renamed the Browns.

Older Baltimore Colts fans did not want the Browns’ legacy; they just wanted their own. It never happened, but it was not Jim Irsay’s fault.

The son treated everyone he made contact with a certain amount of decency and dignity. That was never Bob Irsay’s way. He was an angry and bitter man, and much of that was fueled by his addiction to alcohol.

The son also knew how to lead a franchise. When Bob Irsay died, the Colts were on their way to becoming the worst team in the NFL. They would go 3-13 for two seasons in a row. The drafting of Peyton Manning in 1998 paid huge dividends, as the Colts reversed their record in 1999 and would win double-digit games in 14 of the next 16 seasons.

They would win their only Super Bowl following the 2006 season as they gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown on the game’s opening play to Devin Hester and the Chicago Bears, but they would dominate the rest of the game and record a 29-17 triumph amidst the rain drops in Miami.

Jim Irsay went out of his way to build a solid and dependable franchise and he succeeded. Along the way, he treated players, coaches and fans with kindness and warmth. It was a lesson he learned by watching his father do the opposite.

It made Jim Irsay a great owner and an extraordinary human being.