As we start to get a little bit older, boy, keep your house in order. That's the key thing. It's not about the thrills anymore. It's about contentment, about having some serenity.
Jim Irsay
I have successfully dealt with my dependence and my chronic pain issues. I ask that my privacy and that of my family be respected on this health issue.
There's this myth that there's no loyalty in football. Well, there's tremendous loyalty and emotion and respect that go into the coaches and players you've gone into battle with. But as an owner, you have to make the decisions that are the right ones for the organization, that are the right ones that will help you win.
I've always thought it's a great privilege to be a part of the NFL. Every day, you just treasure it.
Part of me goes back to being 8 years old and going on the train 45 minutes to wait at a bank to get Ernie Banks' autograph. Or when I was a ball boy, becoming best buddies with some of the undrafted or late-drafted guys, them becoming like our big brothers, and then the pain of cut day and watching them get cut.
In a perfect world, you make a seamless transition from one great era to the next, but that rarely happens. I've studied these things: how do you go from the Aikman-Irvin-Smith Cowboys to the next era? I'm all for continuity. I wish we could have done it that way with Bill Polian, Jim Caldwell, Peyton.
Never once was it said I was disappointed Peyton didn't win us more than one championship.
You don't tell a player you can't monitor your investments for a month. There's no way you're going to have a billion-dollar investment and never fail to monitor it for a period of time.
My philosophy on quarterbacks is, first and foremost, you've got to keep them healthy and on the field.
That may be one of the qualities a lot of owners have. They thrive on times that are challenging and changing because you have to grasp the big picture.
You'd like to transition with continuity, have people in your own organization rise up and continue forward, whether in coaching or personnel or players.
It's all been a blessing, just being able to focus on my health and redouble the efforts on recovery. It's been a long path. I still have chronic pain.
In the '60s, I sat with my dad in frozen Wrigley Field at Bears games.
These diseases, both alcoholism and addiction, much like bipolar or depression and different illnesses, are still not seen as real diseases. People shy away from seeking help because it's viewed as being somewhat morally off the path, that they've lost their way.
This perception that I'm negative toward Peyton and I don't appreciate the things he did is so far from the truth.
We wanted Peyton to have a chance to win another Super Bowl. We have a chance to honor him like we did other players that came back. He's one of the greatest players. In the end. you look for a great football game, and that's what you hope for.
I leave a $100 bill and a note to the housekeeper at every hotel I've ever been in. It's important to write that they're recognized and appreciated.
If you can improve your franchise, even if you're doing well, you're going to make that move. You just are - at least I am. It's about winning and winning the right way and trying to sustain success over a large period of time.
Continuity is a great thing; staying the course and being patient, those are important virtues. But also there is virtue in being realistic enough to know you have to make serious changes sometimes.
I hold myself to the highest of standards.
I have a photographic memory for numbers.
Football is so popular, people know they can sell their story in a newspaper form or a rating on TV, so they use football because what they are more about is the business of, you know, selling newspapers or seeing commercial time on TV.
I really think the disease aspect gets lost when you're talking about alcoholism and addiction; it's not like you're battling leukemia or a heart problem; it is that.
I've always felt like I had a personal relationship with fans. I'm not afraid to be emotional or vulnerable or humble.
There's great affection, tremendous loyalty, but anytime you open up the season, when you walk in the locker room, there is a circle, and my obligation to everyone in that locker room is the circle has to be as strong as possible to give us a chance to win.
I was 11 years old when the Beatles broke up. I was a Lennon fanatic - I mean, I loved Paul too, but Lennon was the guy - and there was always this dream of the Beatles getting back together; there was always this hope.
I'm just trying to avoid any future surgery. I'm just trying to stand up straighter. And the hip and back are better.
I'd say my focus is on the season, my focus is on making the Colts the best team in the NFL. I'm completely engaged and have always been engaged, even when I was in rehab.
Honestly, at the end of every season, we sit down and review where we're at.
