Colts Owner Jim Irsay yesterday "broke his silence" following his six-game suspension from the team, saying that it was "challenging and that he's learned from his mistakes," according to Stephen Holder of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Irsay: "It was really tough not being around. Ever since I was a kid, I've been in the locker room. The kind of owner I am, it's very dear to me." Irsay said of watching Colts games from home instead of his owner's box, "Let's just say I wasn't sitting calmly ... I paced and I watched." Holder notes watching from home was "quite the departure from the norm for a man who has never missed a game, home or away, in the team's 30 years in Indianapolis." While away, he "poured himself into his outside business interests, allowing the time to pass a bit quicker." Irsay yesterday would "not address any legal issues, nor would he say if he felt the terms of his suspension were appropriate." Irsay multiple times said that he "feels good physically." Holder notes he "looked well, too, as opposed to previous occasions where it was fair to wonder whether prescription drug use was taking a physical toll." Irsay: "I've always said I've felt the role of a steward here, a la (former Chiefs owner) Lamar Hunt. He talked about stewardship versus ownership. I take that seriously. You learn from your mistakes and you move forward and I think you can be a better person and better at everything in life" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/16). ESPN.com's Mike Wells wrote yesterday saw "a different Jim Irsay," as he looked "physically fit and comfortable as he calmly talked to a handful of reporters for almost 25 minutes." He "controlled the interview, avoiding the long rambling answers or switching subjects in the middle of a sentence like he often did in the past" (ESPN.com, 10/15).
A CLOSER EXAMINATION: In Indianapolis, Evans & Alesia write of Irsay,"He will face questions from an NFL commissioner known for his hard line on the behavior of players off the field. But will Roger Goodell apply those same standards to an NFL owner -- essentially one of his bosses?" Some players are "closely watching to see whether that's the case." So, too, are "sports law and ethics experts who say language in the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy could open Irsay up to scrutiny that goes beyond his March 16 arrest in Carmel on preliminary charges of impaired driving and possession of controlled substances." The league's policy, which "explicitly states that the rules apply to owners, says employees should be held to a 'higher standard' than merely avoiding criminal conviction." A source said that the league "likely would want to look at anything that could shed further light on Irsay's drug use and associations: How long has he been abusing prescription drugs? Is he using other illegal drugs? Who was he getting the drugs from? Who was he using them with?" (
INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/16).
