Brown Bag it, Baby
Jim Irsay has been known to go on random Twitter rants from time to time, and the Indianapolis Colts owner had an episode on Tuesday where he expressed concern about his team, which got hammered 40-11 by the Arizona Cardinals and is now 7-4.
Here’s what Irsay wrote on Twitter in a series of tweets where he said the team needs to get their head out of their butts:
The Houston Texans released Ed Reed on Tuesday and we have still yet to hear any indication as to where the veteran safety may end up. Reed is 35 and battled injuries during the offseason, but there are plenty of teams who are in need of assistance in their defensive backfield. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay may have even bigger plans for the future Hall of Famer.
On Wednesday morning, Irsay took to Twitter to ask Colts fans their opinion on potentially bringing Reed to Indy. The eccentric boss seems to have confused Reed with someone like Tavon Austin or Percy Harvin.
ColtsFans…Ed Reed signs,goes to WR,with limited special packages for WR plays; backs up safety n plays some role n return game/Yes-no?
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) November 13, 2013
We’d love to just chalk this up to a lousy joke, but we know better with Irsay. He’s probably serious. This isn’t the guy you’re going to use to replace Reggie Wayne, Jim.
Hey, at least he wasn’t blasting someone on Twitter this time around. He’s been known to do that, too.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay’s infamous remarks about Peyton Manning last week may not have come off the way he wanted them to. That does not mean there was no truth behind them.
Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history and probably the best in Colts franchise history. Irsay created a buzz by essentially admitting he was disappointed the team only won one championship with Manning, which many interpreted as a shot at Peyton. After Indy’s huge win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Showtime’s Inside the NFL had their cameras rolling while Irsay addressed the team.
“That other guy next door (Peyton Manning), is one of the greats and I have nothing but gratitude towards what he’s done for this team,” Irsay said, via Eye on Football. “But today is today. And we all know that we want to go and get this (Irsay holds up his right hand with the Super Bowl ring on it). Anyone who doesn’t want more than one of these shouldn’t wear a horseshoe because that’s what it’s about.”
Winning a championship should be the ultimate goal on every player’s mind, but Inside the NFL hosts Cris Collinsworth, Phil Simms and Dan Marino felt that Irsay would have been better off keeping that to himself.
“There is no reason for that. I mean, they won the ballgame,” Marino said. “As an owner, you have to feel pretty darn lucky to have Peyton Manning for 14 years and win a ring. There are a lot of guys who have played in the NFL and have been great players including me, I feel like I was a good player, and I don’t have a ring. So I don’t think you go there at all.”
Manning has had his struggles in the postseason, but he brought the Colts a championship and over a decade of winning football teams. That’s much more than most franchises can say about their quarterback. Irsay can go off on the media all he wants in an attempt to prove his point. In reality, it wasn’t one that needed proving to begin with.
Any talk of the Denver Broncos potentially running the table and going 16-0 this season ended on Sunday night when they lost to the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns against his former team, but it was not enough as Denver’s defense and special teams made some costly mistakes. As you might expect, the win made Jim Irsay very, very happy.
Irsay was so thrilled after his team’s 39-33 victory that he went on one of his infamous incoherent tweeting sprees. A lot was made of Irsay’s recent comments about Manning only winning one Super Bowl during his time in Indy. The Colts owner thanked the fans on Twitter, though most of his rant was clearly directed at the media and his critics.
So much credit 2 BEST FANS,COLTSFANS N to Peyton,MATHIS,Marvin,Reggie,Jeff Sat n now #12Luck,#13 T Y and T Dungy,Chuck P and so MANY others!
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 21, 2013
Thanks 2 many ignorant n mean spirited media types,only some,certaInly not all;Man you helped FIRE UP our team..you were AWESOME! Thank YOU!
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 21, 2013
I do pray for you unhappy,shit-slingers…who wants to live on a planet with those who don't like themselves..we want happy,kind people:)
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 21, 2013
Denver Broncos head coach John Fox responded to Jim Irsay seemingly slighting Peyton Manning by calling the comments of the Indianapolis Colts owner a “cheap shot.”
The Broncos are visiting the Colts on Sunday for what will be Manning’s first game back at Lucas Oil Stadium since the team cut him following multiple neck surgeries and replaced him with No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Luck.
In an interview with USA Today, Irsay expressed disappointment that the Colts only won one Super Bowl during the Peyton Manning era. He also took a shot at Manning’s tendency to put up huge numbers and fizzle out in the playoffs.
[Related: Jim Irsay on Peyton Manning: We chose Super Bowls over stats]
On Tuesday, Fox responded to Irsay and defended his quarterback during an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio’s “Movin’ the Chains” hosted by Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan.
“I saw the comments. And to be honest with you, I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot,” Fox told the hosts. “To me, in my opinion, they were disappointing and inappropriate.
“Peyton would never say anything. He’s too classy to do that. They sounded a little ungrateful and unappreciative to me. For a guy who has set a standard, won a Super Bowl, won division titles, won four MVP awards. I’d be thankful for that one Super Bowl ring, because a lot of people don’t have one.”
Many insiders believe that Fox calling Irsay’s comments “inappropriate” and a “cheap shot” is also a representation of how Manning feels. Like Fox said, Manning is above responding publicly to avoid joining the circus leading up to the game, so Fox is saying it for him.
Below you can hear Fox’s comments.
When Peyton Manning retires, he will have only Johnny Unitas to contend with for the honor of greatest quarterback in Indianapolis (or Baltimore) Colts history. The numbers speak for themselves. Manning is probably the best regular season quarterback in NFL history, and he has a Super Bowl ring to go along with his incredible statistics. However, he has never been known as a phenomenal clutch performer.
Given the way Manning has played during the regular season, you would think he would have won multiple championships by now. Instead, he has a 9-11 career record in the postseason. His teams have had eight one-and-done performances in the playoffs and Manning has thrown more than one game-ending interception, including a pick-six in the Super Bowl against the New Orleans Saints. Is that why the Colts let him go?
“We’ve changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these,” Colts owner Jim Irsay told Jarrett Bell of USA Today Sports, flashing his Super Bowl XLI championship ring.” (Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these. Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated.
“You make the playoffs 11 times, and you’re out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the ‘Star Wars’ numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this.”
That says a lot. Irsay loves Peyton Manning, and he also pointed out in the same interview how pleased he is that Manning got to go to another team where he has a chance to win a Super Bowl. In fact, he said Peyton told him that the Colts had to draft Andrew Luck last year.
“He said, ‘You’ve got to take Andrew,’” Irsay recalled Manning saying to him. “‘You have to. You’re crazy if you don’t.’”
Without Manning, the Colts would likely have zero Super Bowls in the past decade. Chances are Irsay was trying to explain how it made more sense for Indy to not commit a massive chunk of its salary cap to Manning and instead draft a rookie stud, which is exactly what they did. However, he made it seem obvious he expected more than one championship from the Peyton Manning era. As our own LB pointed out a few weeks ago, Denver Broncos fans need to be wary about the fact that Super Bowls are not won in September and October.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is at it again. In many ways, Irsay is hands down the coolest owner in all of sports. The guy once gave away thousands of dollars to a Twitter follower who guessed the score of an NFL game correctly. Not many owners would do something like that. In other ways, Irsay has the ability to scare the s— out of people with his craziness.
On Thursday night, Irsay tweeted that he is planning to give away more stuff on Sunday. He also included the photo you see above, which we probably could have lived without.
FIRE UP Colts Nation 4 Sunday! Loud n Proud! Stay tuned for 10 winners-2 free tics,$100,Colts Hat! http://t.co/o6KTH6iWGN
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 4, 2013
Who am I kidding — that picture is awesome. I criticized Irsay for dressing like a d-bag in a designer T-shirt last year to get pumped for the playoffs, but I guess this is just who he is. I don’t know if he’s hammered when he does this crap or what. What I do know is I ain’t mad at him for it anymore.
