Peyton Manning Reacts to Tragic Death of Colts Owner Jim Irsay

Irsay was just 65 years old and while it’s not an unusual age to pass away, it just felt like he still had so much left to offer the world. 

He was part of the Colts organization for the last 41 years and his tenure as owner, which began in 1997, ushered the team into the most fruitful era of their franchise’s history

To have as successful of a 30-year period as Indianapolis has had you need to make a ton of great decisions. 

Perhaps the best one that Irsay ever made was the decision to draft Peyton Manning.

The Hall of Famer was selected with the first overall pick in the 1998 draft and he struggled mightily his first few seasons, but eventually carved out one of the greatest NFL careers of all time. 

He’s spoken glowingly about Irsay in the past, so it’s understandable that he had an emotional reaction to the news of his death.

In an Instagram post, Manning wrote a heartfelt message to his former owner, saying, “He was an incredibly generous and passionate owner and I will always be indebted to him for giving me my start in the NFL.”

The fact that so many of Irsay’s former players had him introduce them at their Hall of Fame inductions just shows how compassionate and personable he was. 

Manning played there for 15 years and got to see just how down to Earth and clearly impactful Irsay was.

There is no doubt that the Colts will be playing in his honor this upcoming season.