Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay Was Cut From A Different Cloth (w/ Zak Keefer)
Episode Date: May 22, 2025Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay passed away Wednesday afternoon at the age of 65. The sports world and Central Indiana came together to share their memories and thoughts of one of the most unique o...wners in pro sports.Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) of The Athletic joins the show to share what Irsay meant to him. Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15-inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Today, we remember the life and legacy of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Ursay.
Let's get to it.
You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast
Network, your team every day.
All right, everybody.
Thanks for tuning in and making us your first All right, everybody. Tha
and making us your first
is your daily podcast cov
Colts part of the locked
team every day. What is u
is Jake Arthur of horsesh
as I mentioned from the t
today, honoring the life owner Jim Ursay.
He of course passed away in his sleep Wednesday afternoon. A little bit unexpected. He had
began suffering some health issues, some more serious ones around December 2023. And since then
his public appearances had become less and less, but certainly not the news
that we really expected to hear Wednesday afternoon.
Kind of a gut punch, to say the least.
After it was announced, the NFL community, the Central Indiana community, the sports
world, just remembrances and condolences came pouring in.
You could see from former Colts players and personnel, it was just palpable
what emotions they were feeling as they really kind of agonized over the news that they were hearing.
And so, yeah, this just goes to show there was a couple images of Ursa, you know, nationally.
He was a very outspoken owner. Certainly someone out in the spotlight a little more than others, but kind of a unique cat,
all of his own.
Kind of the hippie, rock and roll type of owner that was just kind of cut from a different
cloth.
But here locally, we knew him as something that, of course, but a much more generous
person, even beyond that.
Um, and I think what's even more endearing is, you know, we've all seen
the Twitter contests, how generous he was with that.
Uh, we've seen, you know, he passed him passing out straight catch
during training camp to fans.
Uh, we've seen that that's all very out in the open.
Uh, but just how many things I have seen and heard,
not only in the last 24 hours,
but over the last several years,
just little stories and anecdotes of things
he kind of did behind the scenes in the dark
without wanting other people to see it.
This was definitely a rich billionaire guy
who I think lived the way a lot of us would
perhaps want to do that.
I think Kyle Brandt from Good Morning Football said that very well.
He liked cool stuff and he wanted to pay it forward.
He is definitely not the kind of guy who is just going to hold on to all of his own money.
He wanted to make the world a better place and share what he could. And, you know,
he became the owner of the Colts in 1997. He took this franchise from kind of a laughing stock
and an erratic, chaotic leadership under his father, Bob Orsay, that ultimately, you know,
moved the Colts out of Baltimore and here to Indianapolis, took them from an awful team, again, a laughing stock to a team that, you know,
sat near the top of the mountain in the NFL landscape for a while.
He went and traded for Bill Polian, who is one of the greatest roster architects in
NFL history. They then used the first round pick in 98 on Peyton Manning after getting
Edwin James the year before and then Marvin Harrison shortly before that. Edwin James is
actually year after, of course. But no, they turned this team around in a hurry. They literally were
three and 13 Peyton's rookier and then 13 and three the year after. And then from that, just after
solid roster building and investing in the right players,
they really turned this thing around and as a result,
turn the city of Indianapolis around.
There are so many things that are different now, obviously,
than when you look 20 or so years ago,
but just the money that this team and Ursay himself has generated into the city is just,
it's really hard to put into words. Personally, I was with the Colts from 2018 to 2020,
writing for their website. And I just, I heard of so many things about him behind the scenes.
I just, I heard of so many things about him behind the scenes. I work with Andrew Walker who shared on Twitter last night,
every team employee on their birthday would get like a crisp $100 bill and
a birthday card for their birthday from a billionaire who doesn't even have to show
his face let alone acknowledge that his employees exist.
I think that's very different to see in a lot of aspects when
with people who are super rich, there's a pretty big disconnect between them and the
common man. But I think or say, of course, was just a guy who again, a unique cat come
from a different cloth, and he certainly will be missed. So here in a moment guys, I'll shut up.
I'll bring you the conversation I had with Zach Kiefer
from the athletic.
Again, he was on the beat for the Colts
with the Indy star and with the athletic.
He was with that, covered the Colts for over a decade.
He's still with the athletic now
covering the NFL nationally.
But had a good relationship with Jim Ursay.
I think he can share a lot of unique things
about that relationship.
And then really what's also to expect next,
because I do think that's naturally a question we all have
is, you know, this is very sad,
but the Indianapolis Colts franchise
will still exist beyond this, so what comes next?
So with that, we're gonna hear from Zach Kiefer
in just a moment.
As a small business owner, your work doesn't end
when the clock hits five.
Your business is always on your mind,
which means when it's time to hire,
you need a partner that works just as hard as you do.
And that's where LinkedIn jobs comes in.
When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in.
LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your
network and get qualified candidates all in one place.
LinkedIn's new feature can help write job descriptions and then
quickly get that job out in front of the right people with
deep candidate insights. And here's a pro tip, just add the
hashtag hiring frame to your profile picture to double your
reach to qualified candidates. It's no wonder 72% of small businesses
say that LinkedIn has helped them find the right high
quality hires. So again, post your job for free at
linkedin.com locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com locked on
NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply.
Alright, so I had to go out and get
one of the absolute best people to speak on this topic today
and that is Zach Kiefer of The Athletic.
He covers the NFL nationally now,
but he was here on the beat with the Colts for a decade.
And I've got to imagine, you know,
a guy like Jim Orsay certainly made your life
very interesting.
I mean, I read a piece that
you wrote this morning, and it was a nice little kind of look behind the curtain at
kind of access the special access that a guy like like that would would give to us in our position.
Yeah, Jake, interesting is a good word, but it probably doesn't do full justice, right? So
after I left the Colts beat
to sort of move to a national beat,
I travel around the country and I'm at every NFL training camp,
games all over the place.
And the one question I get more than any other
from beat writers, from agents, from assistant coaches,
from executives is what is Jim Ursay really like?
And I always tell them like, how much time do you have?
Cause this could be a 10 minute answer,
this could be a three hour answer.
And that's what a relationship with Jim Ursay was like.
You know, you get into sports cause you love sports,
but also I got into sports coverage
because I was fascinated by the people in the game
and around the game.
And I don't think I'll ever meet anyone as interesting,
as unique as Jim Mercer. You know this, anyone who's been around the Indianapolis media market
knows this. I always thought that his perception nationally was one thing. And it was almost a
polar opposite in Indianapolis. And I'll remember Jim Mercer, not for the rambling press conferences
and the bold statements, three Lombardies and all that. I will remember the man and
sometimes these very private intimate moments he would call me late at night.
And we would talk football for hours and it was really cool. And I know my
beat writing friends across the NFL were very jealous that I had that kind of
relationship with the owner. But you know, it took time, it took trust and
that we didn't always get along, but
he was one of one in so many ways, and I will be forever grateful that I got to cover the team that he owned. Yeah, I always thought it was interesting where, you know, those of us who have spoken to
him and everything, it always seemed to be after a piece where, you know, maybe it didn't necessarily
go in the most positive light his way, but he was always willing to talk it out. I would try. I think is is very incredibly
rare. So for you, obviously it's very again, unique for an owner to be that
way. But what I guess how has this helped? You know, what have you taken
away from this in your career? Just those those moments to get that
perspective from an owner.
I mean, a lot of us, we kind of have to put pieces together ourselves.
But you actually had the owner of a team kind of gleaming how they see things a little bit.
I have a friend who covers the commanders and he would ask me how often I got to chat
with Jim Ursay, and this was when Dan Snyder owned the Washington football team.
And I said, I talked to him all the time, calls, texts, et cetera.
And he said, I've been in a room with Dan Snyder one time in 10 years.
So that's, that's the other side of the spectrum.
And Ursay was certainly not normal and certainly not predictable.
And he was authentic in his own way. But two parts to answer your question.
One, he was a unique NFL character.
Forget the media side of it.
He was 12 years old when he sat down in a spot in a lunch room in Baltimore
and was having lunch and Johnny United said, move your ass, kid.
Like that was his welcome to the NFL moment.
Yeah.
And yeah, he was the son of the owner, but that wasn't easy.
That didn't make his life easy.
His dad was a horrendous owner,
maybe the worst in league history.
And Jimmy had to get on the bus and apologize to coaches
and teammates after his dad had fired the coaching staff
after a pre-season game.
Like think about that statement.
Life was wartime back then.
That's what Jim Mercer told me once
of working under his father,
who fired him more times than he could count.
So on one end, he had this unbelievably unique NFL existence.
I mean, he grew up idolizing the Roonies
and the Hunts and the Hallis's,
and he considered them his big brothers,
his idols in the game, and he cherished those big brothers, his idols in the game and he cherished
those relationships. You know on the media side all we want to do as reporters is tell the fans
what they don't know, right? So whether you agree with the Colts and I certainly didn't agree with
their say all the time but if I could tell the readers and the audience and the listeners what the team thought when
they made this decision, that then I'm doing my job. And he let me do that. He would call me and he would tell me what
the team was thinking. And I would push back and say, Well, this doesn't make sense to me, Jim, or why are you
gonna do that? I mean, remember, they've churned through like 58 quarterbacks in the last five years. So I lived that in a way with Jim Ursay because they were trying to find this quarterback
and they still haven't found him.
We'll see this year.
But if you can, you know, if you can let the reader and the fans know what the team is
thinking, I feel like we've done our job.
Doesn't mean they got it right.
Doesn't mean they're going to win games, but he didn't keep us in the dark.
And the other thing I loved about Jim Mercer is the man didn't believe in cliches. He did not sit
at the podium and give us BS. He said what he thought. Now he would go over here and over here
and over here and we would have jokes about how many different topics we could get into one press
conference and it wore me out. And I don't want to speak for everybody, but Mike Chappell has years on
me on the beat. And the amount of transcriptions he's done for Jim Mercy press conferences trumps
everybody. But you get into football, and the great thing about the NFL is it's so fascinating,
and it's so entertaining, and it's so different week to week. But you get into it for the characters.
And he was one of one, like I said earlier.
And he kept it real with us.
He never BS'd us.
And it was, no two days were the same on the Cold Speak,
that's for sure.
Yeah, and you mentioned kind of the national perception
versus the local one.
And despite how much he did like, you know,
being out there in front and speaking on things,
he did a lot of, you know, he's very philanthropic guy.
He did a lot of that like charity and just generous things
just in the dark without people knowing.
And I think that's again, super unique.
Cause again, there were the things, there was a Twitter contest that everyone can see there's walking around at Grand Park handing out money.
But the guy just wanted to be generous and kind of pay it forward at all times no matter
who was looking. So I think that's that's certainly something endearing for him.
And then one more thing I wanted to kind of tackle with you real quick.
I think a lot of people, you know,
are kind of wondering what's next, obviously.
There is a little bit of precedence with this
with Carly and Kaylyn being in the building,
you know, as much as they are.
We've seen back in 2014,
they kind of had to take the reins a little bit.
So can you explain the dynamic a little bit?
Like for me, generally, I can say, you know, Carly has been really, really involved with like football operations. I think she took Vice President role in 2008. And then Kaylyn is kind of out in front with a lot of those philanthropic efforts. So for people who are wondering like, what's next, can you kind of explain a little bit the dynamic there?
like what's next? Can you kind of explain a little bit the dynamic there?
Yeah, as far as I understand it, and these are Jim Merse's words, these are conversations I've had with him in the last couple of years. Carly Ursaid Gordon, the oldest of the three sisters,
will be the primary owner of this team. Now, the language and how it is presented might be
all three of them, right? Casey Floyd is not as involved as the other two, but that doesn't mean
her name isn't on the title as one of the three vice owners.
But look, I mean, everyone around the team knows that Carly has been
an increasing presence in the building, in the draft room, on the
sideline during games with a headset.
She has essentially been taking a crash course
on how to become an NFL owner.
Not unlike her father took 30 years ago
when his dad, Bob Ursay, said,
"'I want you to learn this organization from the ground up.'"
Jim started as a ball boy, worked in the equipment room,
worked in ticketing and sales,
and eventually became a GM at 24.
Now, Carly Ursay GordonGordon will be the primary owner
of this team, as far as I understand, moving forward.
I don't expect anything to change in terms of Pete Ward's
role as the COO.
For fans who don't know Pete Ward well,
this guy runs the thing.
I mean, he absolutely runs everything that's the
non-football side of the Indianapolis Colts.
He's been with the team since he was hiding out
in Jim Ursa's van when they were leaving Baltimore under the snow in 1984. So
he's a lifer as well. Chris Fallon will remain in charge of the football
operations that side of the building. But this is Carly's show. This has been
well in the works for several years. Now, Jim, this was really important to him.
The Colts are not leaving Indianapolis, I got that
question. And the Colts are not being sold. And that is very
important to him. And I can almost guarantee you that that
is something he passed on to his daughters. The Colts were not a
job to him. They were not a passion to him. They were his
life. And he intended it to stay in the family. So this has been in the works for several years. They have been preparing for this. But I expect Carly to be the more front and focal person moving forward.
Yeah, yeah, that's, that's certainly, that certainly seems to be, you know, they haven't made any formal announcements yet. But like you mentioned, that's kind of been in the works for quite some time. So I know if there's someone more qualified than Carly, I really don't know.
Cuz like you said, you've seen her on the sidelines,
you see her at practice throughout training camp with the tablet,
with the headset and everything.
So she's been very, very engaged for a long time.
So certainly, I don't think they're prepared for any sort of blips with this.
I think they're very prepared.
So thanks again, Zach, for joining us.
Obviously not the easiest last 24 hours for for people in Indianapolis.
But I appreciate you coming on and sharing some of your thoughts.
For sure. Thanks for having me, Jake.
All right. Thanks, man.
All right. Thanks again, Zach, for joining us.
I think that was a really important chat to hear from someone who did actually
have a personal relationship with her say.
So I feel like I learned even more than I did before. I hope you guys did as well. Thanks again for joining us today and making locked on culture first listen of the day.
Now if you're next listen please check out locked on NFL scouting the NFL draft is over but the roster moves and news never stop. Host Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season.
Find Locked On NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you want to become a Locked On Colts insider, chat with Zach and I directly,
have us answer your questions, get the inside scoop of what's going on behind the scenes,
follow the link in our show notes.
If you don't already,
please follow at locked on Colts at Jake Arthur NFL and at Zach Hicks too on Twitter. We're also
on Tik TOK and Instagram as well. Also, please be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you
listen to podcasts, we would love those ratings interviews as well. And with that, you guys have
a great night and we will see you tomorrow.