RIP Jim Irsay

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

I went through the Jim Irsay archives on colts.com and found this pic that I found interesting.

Anyone wanna caption it and provide a year and game location? All I can say is that Jim looks rather skeptical of Bill's explanation.

o


My guess is that it was from the 2009 season finale, in Buffalo. I remember that snowy day in northwestern New York State, and for good reason ...... I'll explain.


2009 was the year that the Colts started 14-0, and decided to bench Peyton Manning and several other key Colts Colts starters in the 3rd quarter of their game against the Jets in Week 16. The Colts had a 5-point lead when Manning was taken out of the game. Curtis Painter came in, and the Colts immediately fumbled the ball and allowed the Jets to score a TD on a scoop-6 to take the lead, a lead which they never relinquished.

The Colts got a lot of crticism for not going all out in their quest to finish that season undefeated, and perhaps match the feat that the 1972 Miami Dolphins accomplished when they went 17-0 overall ...... if this pitcure was indeed from the following week in Buffalo, I'm guessing that Irsay and Polian were disagreeing on the decision to bench Manning and the other Colts starters when the Colts only had a small lead against the Jets the week before, ending their quest for an undefeated season ...... maybe Irsay was angry at Polian's decision to not keep Manning in and go for the undefeated season, and he was letting him know about it.

o