Colts owner Jim Irsay was recently the subject of a feature on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
In the segment, Irsay spoke with correspondent Andrea Kremer about his struggle with addiction and alcoholism, the difficulties of his early life, including the death of his sister in a car crash, and his infamous arrest in 2014 for suspicion of driving a car while intoxicated.
It was a comment that Irsay made on this last point that got the most media attention Wednesday, as he blamed his arrest in part on the fact that he was “prejudiced against” for being a “rich, white billionaire.”
Irsay’s comment became a talking point in the sports world, and thus the focus of a segment on ESPN’s First Take, in which Stephen A. Smith, Kimberley A. Martin, and Molly Qerim sharply criticized the Colts owner.
“His comments exemplify exactly what people think NFL owners are—detached,” said Martin. “Just a total lack of awareness of their privilege. And the flippancy of how they discuss their privilege.”
“He just thinks about himself because he’s an entitled, old brat. That’s really what it comes down to,” Smith said of Irsay. “In the end, he’s lucky that he’s a National Football League owner. Because they print money for crying out loud. You’ve got to be the stupidest person in the world to not make money as an NFL owner in this day and age. If he were an NBA owner, I assure you it would be a problem. Because you would have an abundance of players that would just look at him with utter disgust.”
On Wednesday night, after the First Take segment aired, Irsay responded on social media. After first expressing frustration with HBO, he turned his sights to ESPN and First Take, going as far as threatening to sue the show and personally attacking Martin.
1st take,your gonna get your ass Sued,because there was NO Alcohol,No illegal Drugs/ $29,000 dollars is low for me to be carrying in ,2014 arrest/I give away $2000-$10,000 dollars to the homeless and needed on the street,All the time and pass it on,making the world better❤️
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) November 22, 2023
And on 1st Take,the Woman that preceded Stephen A… how dare you pretend to know me; I don’t know your name and I don’t care to😡. If my Black Mother Dorthy was still alive..you’d be in some big Hot Water! You are mean and ugly🙃 Your a Nothing Burger😕
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) November 22, 2023
The Colts are 5–5 on the season thus far, and host the Buccaneers on Sunday where they will go for their third straight win.
