The Indianapolis Colts announced on Friday that longtime owner Jim Irsay will be inducted into the franchise’s Ring of Honor during the team’s season opener on Sept. 7.
Irsay died on May 21 at the age of 65. He had been the team’s principal owner and CEO since 1997, following the death of his father, Robert Irsay. At the time, he was the NFL’s youngest owner at 37 years old.
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During Jim Irsay’s 28 years as principal owner, the Colts won 10 division titles, reached the postseason 16 times and got to two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLI in 2006. Much of that success occurred with Peyton Manning at quarterback, who was selected No. 1 overall in the 1998 NFL Draft and played 13 seasons with the franchise. Manning is also in the team’s Ring of Honor.
The Colts made the announcement on June 13 to commemorate what would have been Irsay’s 66th birthday. Irsay will be the 20th member of the Colts’ Ring of Honor, joining his father who was the team’s first inductee in 1996.
“There was no bigger advocate for the Colts, the NFL, the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana than our dad, Jim Irsay,” Irsay’s daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson, said in an official statement.
“It’s only fitting that he now joins the other amazing Colts legends in our Ring of Honor who contributed so much to our franchise and our community over the past four decades.”
Earlier this week, the Colts announced that Irsay-Gordon, Foyt and Jackson will become the owners of the franchise. Irsay-Gordon will assume her father’s role of CEO (and principal owner), with Foyt becoming executive vice president and Jackson taking the team’s chief brand officer role, in addition to being the president of the Indianapolis Colts Foundation.
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Indianapolis will host the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.
The previous 19 inductees into the Colts’ Ring of Honor are as follows:
Robert Irsay (1996)
Bill Brooks (1996)
Ted Marchibroda (2000)
Chris Hinton (2001)
Jim Harbaugh (2005)
“Colts Nation” (2007)
Tony Dungy (2010)
Marvin Harrison Sr. (2011)
Edgerrin James (2012)
Eric Dickerson (2013)
Marshall Faulk (2013)
Jeff Saturday (2015)
Bill Polian (2016)
Peyton Manning (2017)
Reggie Wayne (2018)
Dwight Freeney (2019)
Robert Mathis (2021)
Tarik Glenn (2022)
Dallas Clark (2024)
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