We're in the midst of a pretty crazy first round in the NFL Draft, but for the Colts, the war room has been pretty quiet, as the team doesn't have a first round pick. It seems an important member of the organization is back, according to owner Jim Irsay's tweet tonight:
Just wanna thank ColtsNation for all the love n support! Humbling! Quiet night in DraftRoom/ back at it 2morrow(but I never know with Grigs)
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) May 9, 2014
Irsay was arrested on March 17 on charges of driving under the influence and possession of a controlled substance. He entered rehab and we hadn't heard much at all from or about him for a while. Yesterday, Colts COO Pete Ward revealed that Irsay will be traveling to Atlanta later this month to pitch Indianapolis as the Super Bowl host city in 2018 to the other NFL owners, which was great news. Said Ward:
"Jim's planning on being at the meeting... Every owner of the franchises whose city is bidding has a chance to talk for five minutes, so he plans on talking to the ownership. He's very excited about the bid. . . He has become increasingly more active in terms of lobbying and just keeping tabs on how things are going."
That was the first indication that perhaps Irsay was out of rehab, though Ward wouldn't reveal where Irsay was, and it was also a good indication that Irsay was beginning to get involved with running his team again. His daughters, namely Carlie Irsay-Gordon, ran the team in his absence and attended the annual league meetings for him. Jim Irsay's tweet tonight is just another strong indication that he is out of rehab and getting involved with running the Colts again.
Of course, the fact that Irsay seems to be back means that a meeting with Roger Goodell is likely coming, and it means that discipline from the NFL commissioner is likely coming too. Irsay's discipline is expected to be a suspension as well as a fine, but Goodell has said publicly that the first priority was Irsay getting help. I sincerely hope that he did and I sincerely hope that he is doing well now. He's got my support, and as a Colts fan I'm very happy to see him back.
[UPDATE:] Another tweet from the owner tonight (after tweeting about a twitter contest, of course!):
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Really missed you guys! Your kindness will never be forgotten! Doing everything I can to make 2014-15 season special for all of us! Go Colts</p>— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimIrsay/statuses/464608782094716930">May 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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