Indianapolis Colts
- Longtime owner cites “white billionaire” status for 2014 arrest
- Irsay, 64, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while impaired
Wednesday, November 22, 2023, 3:54 p.m. GMT
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said his March 2014 arrest for driving under the influence was the result of prejudice against him because he was white and wealthy.
The longtime NFL owner discussed the circumstances surrounding his arrest in an interview with HBO’s Real Sports that aired Tuesday. Irsay later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while impaired after initially being convicted of four additional counts of possession of a controlled substance.
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“I’m prejudiced because I’m a rich, white billionaire,” Irsay told HBO’s Andrea Kremer. “If I’m just the average guy at the end of the block, of course they’re not going to pull me in.”
When asked how he thinks it sounds when a white billionaire claims he is a victim of prejudice, Irsay stood by his comments.
“I don’t care how it sounds,” Irsay said. “It’s the truth… I don’t give a fuck what people think something sounds like or sounds like. The truth is the truth and I know the truth.”
Police in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel stopped Irsay after observing a man in a Toyota Highlander driving slowly, stopping in the roadway and not using his turn signal. In Irsay’s vehicle, authorities discovered various prescription medications and more than $29,000 in cash.
A toxicology report showed that Irsay had the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone, as well as alprazolam, used to treat anxiety, in his system at the time of his arrest. Officers at the scene said he had difficulty reciting the alphabet and also failed other sobriety tests.
The NFL suspended Irsay for his team’s first six games the following season and fined him $500,000.
Irsay claimed that when he was asked to take a field sobriety test and appeared unsteady while walking, it was because he had just undergone hip replacement surgery. When asked why he pleaded guilty despite being profiled, Irsay said he just wanted to get it over with.
The Carmel Police Department said in an emailed statement to the Indianapolis Star: “We are very sorry to hear this comment about our officers and our department. “We have a very professional agency made up of officers who strive are to protect our community with integrity and professionalism.”
The 64-year-old businessman also told Real Sports that he had gone to rehab 15 times for addiction and once almost died from an overdose, adding that “addiction and alcoholism are a deadly disease.”
Irsay’s father, Robert Irsay, built his fortune through a series of successful heating and air conditioning businesses before purchasing the Baltimore Colts in 1984 and controversially moving the team to Indiana.
Jim Irsay has owned the Colts since 1997, when he emerged victorious in a legal battle with his stepmother over ownership of the team following the death of his father.
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