Learned from the best Through it all, Jim watched and listened. He asked questions incessantly and of everyone. He pestered general manager Joe Thomas. He watched film with Marchibroda. He studied Rooney and Mara and Cooke and their management models and styles with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and Washington Redskins, respectively. "I knew the day would come when I would be the owner and I could do it my way," Irsay said. That day came in 1997, when Robert died and Jim took over. By then, said Tony Dungy, Colts coach from 2002-08, Jim Irsay had evolved into a quirky but old-fashioned owner in the Rooney and Mara mold. As a Pittsburgh rookie in 1977, Dungy recalls Rooney telling newcomers they were Steelers now, that they owed the team, its fans and its community their best effort and behavior. "When we talked about me coming to the Colts in 2002, Jim talked at length about building community with the fans and the feeling that we were an Indianapolis team," recalled Dungy, who spent 10 years as player and coach with Rooney's Steelers and a training camp with Mara's Giants. "We didn't have the history of the Steelers or Giants, the two or three generations of fans. We had to connect, and that was very important to him. I think he's very much a throwback to those guys." NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue recognized that commitment and developing potential as early as 1992. He appointed Irsay to the four-man committee that conceived the league's salary cap, a structure that has produced an era of unprecedented popularity and prosperity. Irsay implemented Rooney's and Mara's management model. He hired Bill Polian as club president after the 1997 season and gave him relative autonomy. The Colts went 3-13 in Jim's first year as owner and repeated with Polian aboard in 1998. Then began a 12- year run that produced the NFL's best regular-season record, 138-54, an unprecedented seven consecutive 12-victory seasons, 11 playoff appearances, two Super Bowls and the 2006 championship. "He took the Colts from the bottom to the top," Ward said, "and in a very short time span." Bump in the road The string broke this season. Franchise quarterback Peyton Manning is out indefinitely after Sept. 8 neck surgery. The Colts are 0-6 and struggling. Irsay is undismayed. "The way I look at it, everything is based around us having a chance to win it again, so you look forward to getting that first win, but at the same time, the future is bright," he said. "It's a real possibility to see Peyton come back and have three or four more great years like John Elway (who won Super Bowls the final two years of his career with the Denver Broncos). "We just have to keep surrounding Peyton with the right type of players." Irsay has fought his own demons, including a prescription pain medication addiction he said is well behind him. He chairs the NFL's legislative committee and sits on its finance and Super Bowl advisory committees. Unlike his father, he invests heavily in the team; the Colts' player payroll has ranked among the NFL's top 10 every year since 1998 despite the team's small-market status. Still, Irsay has no illusions. Billionaire owners with $720 million stadiums built almost exclusively with
public money are eyed with skepticism regardless of how they operate or how much they win. "It's like Art Rooney Sr.," he reasoned. "He was despised because he didn't win for so long. By the end of his life, he was the chief and he was beloved in that town. "As an owner, you get booed sometimes by instinct. It's a tradition. You take it in stride." Irsay gets tradition. He has spent the past 40 years working to build one.
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS WEEKLY PRESS REL
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THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT: THE TENNESS
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COLTS NOTES IN A RUSH MATHIS EARNS
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COLTS NOTES TWO FOR A THOUSAND Seve
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COLTS NOTES VINATIERI KEEPING PACE
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WIDE RECEIVER REGGIE WAYNE LEADING
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RUNNING BACK JOSEPH ADDAI Colts All
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DEFENSIVE END ROBERT MATHIS THE SCO
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KICKER ADAM VINATIERI ADAM VINATIER
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2011 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS UNOFFICIAL
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2011 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS PARTICIPATI
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2011 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS ALPHABETICA
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2011 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS TRANSACTION
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS / WEEK 7 / THROU
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TENNESSEE TITANS / WEEK 7 / THROUGH
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OFFENSE WR LT LG C RG RT TE WR QB H
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS SCORING DRIVES O
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4167389:8;9;8?A=>B? EF:;9:GBH:=I9A=
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GOAL TO GO COLTS Score Pts/ Pos TD
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2011 INDIVIDUAL HIGHS TOP PERFORMAN
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS BIG PLAYS COLTS
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS RECEIVING STATS
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS INDIVIDUAL DEFEN
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS INDIVIDUAL DEFEN
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 2011 GAME-BY-GAM
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1 Pat McAfee INDIANAPOLIS COLTS IND
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS TEAM STATS FIRST
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Joseph Addai #29 Running Back 5-11,
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Gary Brackett #58 Linebacker 5-11,
- Page 59 and 60: David Caldwell #30 Defensive Back 5
- Page 61 and 62: Kerry Collins #5 Quarterback 6-5, 2
- Page 63 and 64: Darren Evans #32 Running Back 6-0,
- Page 65 and 66: Anthony Gonzalez #11 Wide Receiver
- Page 67 and 68: Jacob Lacey #27 Defensive Back 5-10
- Page 69 and 70: Robert Mathis #98 Defensive End 6-2
- Page 71 and 72: Dan Muir #97 Defensive Tackle 6-2,
- Page 73 and 74: Curtis Painter #7 Quarterback 6-4,
- Page 75 and 76: Chris Rucker #36 Defensive Back 6-1
- Page 77 and 78: Mike Tepper #67 Offensive Tackle 6-
- Page 79 and 80: Adam Vinatieri #4 Kicker 6-0, 202 p
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- Page 107 and 108: 40 years of Irsays By Phil Richards
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- Page 115 and 116: More than a spin cycle Mike Chappel
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