Robert Irsay

Robert Irsay (born March 5, 1923 — died January 14, 1997), was the longtime owner of the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise.

His path to the ownership of the Colts is unique. In 1972, Irsay owned the Los Angeles (now St. Louis) Rams. He traded the franchise to Carroll Rosenbloom in exchange for the Colts. Coincidentally, the person who is credited with brokering the franchise swap was Jacksonville, Florida attorney Hugh Culverhouse who, about two years later, would become an NFL owner himself when he bought the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the financially-ailing Tom McCloskey.

Robert Irsay controversially moved the Colts to Indianapolis, Indiana under cover of the snowy night of March 28, 1984. After Irsay's death in Indianapolis on January 14, 1997, the Colts were inherited by his son, Jim, who currently serves as CEO. Bill Polian handles day-to-day operations of the team as team president.

"The Move"

In January 1984, an unsteady and inebriated Robert Irsay appeared before the Baltimore media and exclaimed, "This is my God damn team!", and reiterated that, despite the problems, he had no intention of moving the team, which was rumored. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.irsay13jan13,0,6220377.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines] However with negotiations over improvements to Memorial Stadium at an impasse, the Maryland state legislature passed a law on March 28, 1984 allowing the city of Baltimore to seize the Baltimore Colts under eminent domain, which city and county officials had previously threatened to do. Irsay later claimed the city promised him a new football stadium, something they later denied, citing the team's poor attendance. The next day, Irsay, fearing a dawn raid on the team's Owings Mills headquarters, quickly accepted a deal offered by the city of Indianapolis and then contacted his good friend, John B. Smith, who was the CEO of the Mayflower Transit Company, and arranged for fifteen vans to hurriedly pack up the team's property and transport it to Indianapolis in the early hours of the morning.

Thus, Baltimore Colts fans awoke to the stunning news that they had lost their team. Robert Irsay, who had a reputation of being miserly and irascible, was further excoriated by Colts fans, former players, and the Baltimore press. However, Irsay's attorney, Michael Chernoff, defended his client and what became colloquially known as "The Move."

"They (the Maryland state legislature and the city of Baltimore) not only threw down the gauntlet, but they put a gun to his head and cocked it and asked, 'want to see if it's loaded?' They forced him to make a decision that day." [http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/i/irsay_jim/stories/1997_0115.html]

An ecstatic crowd in Indianapolis greeted the arrival of their new NFL team, and the team received 143,000 season ticket requests in just two weeks. However, the Colts' first game in the Hoosier Dome was a 21–14 loss to the New York Jets.

Baltimore was without an NFL football team until 1996, when Art Modell, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, moved the team to Maryland. They were then renamed the Baltimore Ravens. As part of the unique deal, the Cleveland Browns franchise was deactivated and the Modell organization gave up ownership of statistics, records, and trademarks. Those would be given to the new Browns owners. The Ravens, in essence, were an expansion team with no history. Indianapolis, meanwhile, still lays claim to the records and history of the Baltimore Colts.

The continuing resentment against Irsay for the move was illustrated in a 2003 episode of "The Wire", which showed a Baltimore stevedore using Irsay's photograph as a target on a dart board. [http://www.tv.com/the-wire/backwash/episode/253446/summary.html]

* [http://members.tripod.com/~bonesaw/records6.htm Article about the move from Baltimore]
* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1065650/index.htm Robert Irsay: Now You See Him, Now You Don't (Sports Illustrated)]
* [http://www.ynet.co.il/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3452329,00.html The Colts' Jewish roots]