Doyel: Jim Irsay's daughters sound ready not just to own the Colts franchise

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

This was the realization of a decades-old dream, a day wanted by everybody in the family, and nobody.
Because it means Jim Irsay is gone.
News: Colts will stay in Indy, says new trio of owners, Jim Irsay's daughters
Irsay died May 21 at age 65. He died too young, too soon, but he did not die unprepared. He worked hard in life to make sure his team, in death, would pass seamlessly to his daughters.
'As you know,' one of the daughters was saying Tuesday, 'a lot of family things get ripped apart.'
Not this one. Jim Irsay loved the Indianapolis Colts, and he passed this franchise – and that love – along to his girls.
'He ingrained that in all of us,' said Colts owner and executive vice president Casey Foyt. 'From such a young age – which was priceless, really.'
Said Colts owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon: 'Christmas, holidays, people can say, 'Oh, I don't get this day off.' We don't know it any different.'
Added Colts owner and chief brand manager Kalen Jackson: 'Our lives have always revolved around the football schedule.'
That was good. That's what everyone wanted. So this, too, was good – this day when the daughters took charge of the Indianapolis Colts. And yet…
'The hardest thing (was) he always knew he wouldn't be able to be here,' Kalen was saying. 'That makes today extremely bittersweet.'
Doyel's Irsay obituary: Jim Irsay died and we're less for it; Indianapolis, the Colts, all of us
Doyel from the funeral: This was a day to learn even more about Jim Irsay
The news conference wasn't exactly a Jim Irsay production. He was one of one, unique in a world where, yes, everyone is unique – but some people are just a little more unique than others. That was Jim. He was funny, he was bombastic, he was defiant.
And in his daughters, there were obvious traces of their old man.
There was humor. That was Carlie.
'In honor of my dad,' she said after sitting down at 3:29 p.m. to start the 3:30 news conference, 'we considered whether we should be 30 minutes late.'
There was a vow to pursue another Super Bowl. That was Casey.
'While we are mourning our dad,' she said, 'we feel energized and want to continue his legacy of bringing home another Super Bowl to the city of Indianapolis.'
And there was defiance. That was Kalen.
'Although maybe you guys didn't see some of the stuff we were doing behind he scenes,' she said when asked how she would 'reassure' Colts fans that the team was in good hands, 'we were part of the process. We might not have been the ones making the decisions, but we were exposed to every area. He never cut us out of any area.'
The daughters made it clear: They are in charge.
'We talk about not micromanaging,' Carlie said, 'but also we have a standard here – and it hasn't been good enough."
Carlie added: 'We know we have some things to fix.'
Jim Irsay's daughters sound ready not just to own the team, but to run it. Not as their dad ran it, no. Again, there was only one Jim Irsay, who grew up in the locker room of his dad's Baltimore Colts, washing uniforms and lifting weights with players and becoming the league's youngest general manager at age 24.
'For women, opportunities to work in places like the equipment room – it's different,' Carlie said. 'I had to take a different path.'
She interned in sales and marketing, worked in administration and football operations, and in 2004 began representing the team at NFL meetings.
Kalen and Casey have focused more on marketing and/or community efforts. It's Kalen who has spearheaded the Colts' groundbreaking Kicking the Stigma initiative, raising awareness for mental health issues. And it was Kalen who said their dad had prepared all three girls for this moment – and not just for marketing and/or community efforts.
Doyel in 2023: Scars of Irsay family's mental health issues run deep. They share to help others.
'There will be no decision we make that we will not hear (his) voice in the back of our head: 'When I'm not there, remember…'' Kalen said. 'I can't tell you how many conversations like that we had, and from such a young age. When I look back now I'm kind of surprised, but he trusted us. He knew the seriousness of the job, and we honored that.'
Carlie is the Irsay daughter you might have seen at training camp, walking the sidelines in a headset, taking notes. Asked Tuesday about wearing a headset all these years, Carlie said it allowed her to learn not just about the game, but about the people making decisions about the game.
'Is this person full of BS,' she said, 'or do they know what they're talking about?
'Being on the headset has helped me learn … how we operate, how things work. I would suggest for anyone else who has to pay a general manager and coaches millions and millions of dollars: It helps to (inform) decisions.'
Speaking of the Colts' GM and coach…
Insider: Carlie Irsay-Gordon on Ballard, Steichen: 'It hasn't been good enough'
Carlie did most of the talking about football. Yes, Casey was the one who brought up one of her dad's favorite topics – winning another Super Bowl – and Kalen was more than comfortable talking about leadership, and some of the lessons their dad taught them, like:
'You hire the right people, you get out of the way and trust them, and you don't micromanage,' Kalen said.
But it was Carlie who fielded most questions about matters of football.
For example: Are GM Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen 'tied at the hip?' That was one question. Here was Carlie's answer.
'I can't answer that right now,' she said. 'I know that relationship is very important … and they have a great relationship. We've had scenarios where that wasn't always the case.'
And she added:
'Chris and Shane know they have things they need to fix,' Carlie said. 'Winning has been great, but I'd take it a step further and say we're committing to being the best. And I think Chris and Shane are capable of doing that.'
Irsay-Gordon said she also believes in quarterback Anthony Richardson, who is sitting out minicamp to rehab a shoulder injury, but couldn't say he's the solution to the Colts' ongoing quarterback problem. She also acknowledged Richardson eventually will be competing – with Daniel Jones – for the starting job.
'We drafted Anthony for a reason – we believe in him. He's incredibly talented,' Carlie said. 'It's way too early to tell. I know Chris and Shane will let us know as we go along. I think he has all the potential in the world, and if he wants to prove it, he can. And he wants to.
'Competition is good. Nothing makes a team raise the water line more than having other people who are really good to keep them accountable. I can't wait for training camp. I'm really excited about it.'
Finally, Carlie Irsay-Gordon showed some of the defiance of her dad, echoing something earlier in the news conference by her youngest sister, Kalen.
'We come from a family that didn't start a hedge fund or some other business,' she said. 'For the generation we're in, (football) is our business and we take it very seriously.'
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar. Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.