'Mogul who had a creative artist's brain': Pat McAfee reacts to death of Colts owner Jim Irsay
Former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee called the death of team owner Jim Irsay "devastating" in a social media post Wednesday night, relating details of their relationship during and after his playing days.
McAfee said Irsay followed him on social media during a work stoppage and approached him afterward, asking about the possibilities of connecting with fans.
"... Jim followed me on Twitter throughout the CBA negotiations.. his first day at training camp, immediately after the lockout ended, he drove his golf cart over to where I was and started firing off questions about Twitter.. He enjoyed the thought of being able to connect with Colts fans all over the world.. he appreciated the opportunity to be able to share some of his thoughts in his own way.. and he absolutely LOVED the idea of being able to give money/experiences/tickets/etc. away to people on Twitter."
McAfee also related about his retirement and Irsay's attempts to change his mind. Irsay soon realized he couldn't talk McAfee out of it, and immediately offered to help McAfee in any way possible.
"When I decided to retire.. he and I had a 2.5 hour conversation in his office. He was sitting at his desk.. hitting the shit out of his vape .. and we talked about everything I was hoping to go do.
"He tried to stop me for a few minutes.. even offered to renegotiate my contract.. and then once he realized my decision was made.. the convo turned into him trying to give me as much game as possible about running a business and maintaining authenticity. He gave me quotes and words to live by.. told me stories of mistakes he and others had made and he promised he would do anything he could to help me in my venture.
"'If for some reason this doesn't work or you don't want to do it anymore, you'll always have a job here at the Colts. You are family.'"
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