Jim Irsay
Encyclopedia
James Irsay is the owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.

Biography

Irsay is the son of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 businessman Robert Irsay
Robert Irsay
Robert Irsay , was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise and, briefly, the former Los Angeles Rams.-Biography:...

 and Harriet Irsay. His brother Thomas was born with a mental disability and his sister, Roberta, died in a car accident in 1971. Irsay attended high school at Loyola Academy
Loyola Academy
Loyola Academy is a private, co-educational college preparatory high school, located in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, it is one of 47 Jesuit high schools in the United States and is a member of the Jesuit Secondary Education...

 in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...

, a suburb just north of Chicago, Illinois. After high school he attended and graduated from Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 in 1982 with a degree in broadcast journalism. Irsay played linebacker for the SMU Mustangs football as a walk-on but an ankle injury ended his playing career.

Jim Irsay was 12 years old when his father Robert Irsay
Robert Irsay
Robert Irsay , was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise and, briefly, the former Los Angeles Rams.-Biography:...

 purchased the Baltimore Colts. After graduating in 1982 he joined the Colts' professional staff. He was named Vice President and General Manager in 1984, one month after the Colts made their controversial move to Indianapolis. After his father suffered a stroke in 1995, Jim assumed day-to-day management with the role of Senior Executive Vice President, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer in April of 1996. When his father died in 1997, Jim had a legal battle with his stepmother but later became the youngest NFL team owner at that time. He was 37. He controls 100% of the franchise.

Personal life

Irsay married Meg Coyle in 1980. The couple have three daughters, Carlie , Casey and Kalen. Irsay has indicated that when current Colts starting quarterback Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League . Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards with four. He was drafted by the Colts as the first overall pick in 1998 after a standout college football career with the...

 retires that Irsay himself will retire, with daughter Casey, who is currently a Vice President of the Indianapolis Colts and the wife of A. J. Foyt IV
A. J. Foyt IV
Anthony Joseph "A.J." Foyt IV is an American race car driver. He competed in the IndyCar Series and briefly in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, then called the Busch Series. He is the grandson of A. J. Foyt....

, succeeding him as Colts owner and CEO.

Irsay has a habit of quoting rock music. It is rumored that he brings his guitar on Colts road trips and will play until 2 or 3 in the morning.
In 2001, Irsay purchased the original manuscript of On The Road
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...

, or "the scroll": a continuous, one hundred twenty-foot scroll of tracing paper sheets that Jack Kerouac cut to size and taped together, for $2.43 million. Irsay is a big fan of British rock band The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

. Irsay has also acquired guitars originally owned by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

, and Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK