Bill Polian: Jim Irsay Preferred Andrew Luck To Robert Griffin III

Former Colts president Bill Polian is now an analyst for ESPN while also doing work for SIRIUS Radio. Recently, PFT's Evan Silva quoted Polian talking about Colts owner Jim Irsay and his preference for Andrew Luck over Robert Griffin III. The assumption here in these quotes is Polian is talking about his conversations about both players with Irsay while Polian was still an employee of the Colts.

Bill Polian on #Colts owner Jim Irsay's thinking at No. 1: "He preferred Andrew because he thought RG3 was a little more of a running QB."

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) April 19, 2012

More Polian on Irsay: "I think that's a bit of a misnomer. ... (But) I think Jim had his heart set on Andrew. And that's fine. Great pick."

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) April 19, 2012

Silva also stated that it is clear Jim Irsay is the brains behind the Colts taking Andrew Luck No. 1 overall, not G.M. Ryan Grigson. Personally, I agree with this.

There's a reason Grigson's title is "general manager" and not "president" or "vice chairman." Even if it was, at the end of the day, Irsay is going to have final say. History tells us that was the case in 1998 with Peyton Manning. Irsay was in love with him, as was then-head coach Jim Mora Sr. Rumors have always swirled that Polian was more in enamored with Ryan Leaf, but those have never been confirmed.

For Grigson, he's charged with building the team around Luck. No easy feat. However, anyone thinking that Grigson was going to make this call with the No. 1 pick is a fool. This is all Irsay.