Jim Irsay's Cause of Death Unclear, But Health Issues Were Well-Known

Yahoo

22-05-2025

The cause of death for Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was not released, although the team said he died peacefully in his sleep at age 65. However, Irsay's past health issues are well-known, including a possible previous "suspected overdose."
That doesn't mean that those past issues had anything to do with his death, however. That's still unclear. On May 21, 2025, the Indianapolis Colts shared that the team's "beloved owner and ceo, Jim Irsay, passed away peacefully in his sleep this afternoon.' The team did not release further details of how Irsay died, and no official cause of death has been released.
He dealt with some serious health problems in recent years that received a lot of media attention. According to ESPN, Irsay was open about his "decades-long struggles with addiction." Irsay and his family championed and gave money to causes that championed addiction recovery and mental health, ESPN reported.
He sparked fan concern in January 2025 when he was wheeled out in a chair at a game. According to DailyMail, he was using a StairSteady, which is "a device typically used in hospitals for patients without power in their legs."
In 2023, Real Sports posted a video clip with Irsay, writing that he was "grateful to be alive after years of addiction nearly destroyed him
He said in that interview that he overdosed "one time" and had gone to rehab "at least 15 times." In the overdose situation, Irsay said he had "mixed multiple drugs that I didn't know anything about," and he went "code blue" and stopped breathing that time,
He was told by the doctor that he was "one lucky man" because the doctor had practically "signed the death certificate."
In January 2024, emergency responders found the Indianapolis Colts owner "unresponsive and laboring to breathe when called to his home in Carmel...in what a police report logged as a suspected 'overdose,'" Fox59 reported, saying the incident had occurred the month before the January 2024 report.
The television station reported then that police were called to 'assist fire with a male that was unresponsive, breathing, but turning blue," identifying that male as Irsay, then 64.
'Irsay was unconscious with abnormal breathing (agonal breathing), a weak pulse, and he was cold to the touch,' the report obtained by Fox59 said, but Irsay recovered. The team said at the time that Irsay was "being treated for a severe respiratory illness," according to Fox59.
According to ESPN, after that situation, Irsay "had made a few public appearances in the year since those incidents, but he had not been seen much lately." It's believed he skipped the NFL draft last month, ESPN reported.
Irsay had several surgeries that affected his mobility.
"Irsay still is in rehab mode following a pair of recent surgeries," Fox59 reported in July 2024. "The first addressed a left leg/quadriceps/back issue that resulted from a fall in his bathroom, impacted the nerves, caused lingering numbness with the leg and weakened the quad. The second in mid-May was to deal with a subsequent, serious hematoma."
According to ESPN, Irsay's dad was an alcoholic. He spoke about Alcoholics Anonymous's 12-step program.
"Those 12 steps have literally saved hundreds of thousands or millions of lives," Irsay told ESPN. "My grandfather died in 1927, eight years before AA was founded. And there was no hope for him. They would just stick people in sanitariums back then."
"Because of those 12 steps, I've been able to bridge the dam of generations and say, 'Stop! No more!' These families won't be broken apart and destroyed by all the strife that goes on," he added to ESPN.
The Colts' statement focused on Irsay's passion for the Colts and the city.
'Jim's dedication and passion for the Indianapolis Colts in addition to his generosity, commitment to the community, and most importantly his love for his family were unsurpassed," the Colts wrote in the statement posted to X. "Our deepest sympathies go to his daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, Kalen Jackson, and his entire family as we grieve with them.'
The team said that "some of Jim's fondest memories came from his youth working training camps in Baltimore and growing relationships with players, coaches, and staff whom he considered his extended family. He worked in every department before he was named the youngest general manager in team history in 1984 when the Colts arrived in Indianapolis. After he took sole ownership in 1997, he led the Colts to a long series of division titles and brought the city its first Super Bowl championship.'
The team praised Irsay's 'generosity,' saying it can 'be felt all over Indianapolis.'