'He trusted us:' Colts will stay in Indy, says new trio of owners, Jim Irsay's daughters

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

INDIANAPOLIS -- The three daughters of late Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, meeting the press for the first time as the newest trio of NFL owners on Tuesday, were clear from the start: This team isn't going anywhere.
Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson say they have a legacy to carry on -- their father's legacy which he always made abundantly clear to them, even as tiny little girls. "Faith. Family. Football."
For Irsay-Gordon, who now is the Colts' principal owner, taking over her father's title as owner and CEO, she's been involved with the team for decades, which even she conceded seems odd to say at 44.
"Even as we've got new owners coming in, I think we're, we come from a family that we didn't, you know, start a hedge fund or some other business and do this, especially the generation we're in," she said. "This is our business and we take it very seriously."
A business they want to carry on. Irsay raised his girls in Indianapolis where they saw firsthand his commitment to the team and city.
"It's just as important as it was when he was there. We are going to take that seriously as a family. And we know we're going to have that and we're going to live on the legacy in the best way that he has taught us," said Foyt, owner and executive vice president. "And what the horseshoe represents is going to continue to be kind of what he taught us."
The day was bittersweet. Irsay would have conversations with his daughters about what would happen after he was gone, a day that came sooner than anyone expected, Foyt said. Irsay died at the age of 65 last month.
"And I know that even though he's not here to see this day ... he's literally engrained in our hearts and our minds, and there will be no decision that we make that we will not hear his voice in the back of our head, reminding us, 'When I'm not here, no, you remember this,'" said Jackson, owner and chief brand officer, as well as president of the Indianapolis Colts Foundation.
She calls those conversations through the years "a gift" her father gave to his daughters.
"I mean, that's not always common. He let us in on (conversations at) a very young age. And when I look back on it now, I'm kind of surprised, but he trusted us," said Jackson. "He knew that we understood the seriousness of this job and the responsibility that we had."
Irsay-Gordon said her dad "was so proud to see each of us find our own niche in the franchise our family loves so much. His greatest love beyond his family was having the blessing to be a steward for the Indianapolis Colts. It is our privilege and honor to share this same responsibility and opportunity."
"We're grieving the death of our father," said Foyt. "But as we process this transition, we feel energized and we want to continue his legacy."
This story will be updated.
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