Tom Brady was ready to throw down in 2021 at Peyton Manning’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. He was invited to the Colts’ after-party, giving Brady a chance to confront many of his old rivals.
“This was like taking one gang member to another gang,” said Clyde Christensen, Brady’s quarterback coach in Tampa Bay and Manning’s long-time coach in Indianapolis. “I would tease him and say, ‘Hey now, we don’t need any violence.’ And he’d go, ‘Well, just show me who turned me in on Deflategate!’ ”
But when Colts owner Jim Irsay showed up, all bad vibes subsided.
“I kept getting a note from Mr. Irsay, ‘Do not let Tom leave the party, I want to see him,’ ” Christensen recalled Thursday. “Sure enough he pulls up right at the end, was razzing Tom, and they were razzing each other and we just had a good, special moment. He had a great respect for Tom, and it was cool to see.”
Irsay, who died Wednesday at 65, was one of the NFL’s great characters. He was an owner who began his career in the equipment room and scouting. He inherited the team at age 37. He was a former powerlifter who worked out with the players. He never shied from a microphone and wasn’t afraid to needle his rivals, most notably the Patriots.
Irsay was also principled and outspoken when necessary, like in 2022, when he was the first owner to speak out against disgraced former Washington owner Dan Snyder.
“He brought a unique spirit and energy into the room and had an unmistakable presence,” Robert Kraft said in a statement. “Jim’s boldness defined his legacy, not just as the steward of the Colts, but as someone who never shied away from being unapologetically himself.”
Irsay had his demons, of course. He was pulled over in 2014 and arrested with a large amount of pills and cash in his car. That same year a woman was found dead of an overdose in a house given to her by Irsay. In 2023, Irsay was found unresponsive and needed to be revived.
But Irsay reveled in being a positive force. His players loved him, to the point that Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, and Dwight Freeney each asked Irsay to be their presenter at the Hall of Fame.
“The only place I’d ever been where ownership gave out a Christmas gift to everyone on the team, and it wasn’t just some generic present,” said former 15-year quarterback Brian Hoyer, who played for nine NFL teams including the Colts.
Christensen, who coached receivers, QBs, and offensive coordinator for the Colts from 2002-15, said there are “hundreds” of stories of Irsay’s generosity. Irsay flew the entire Colts organization to the funeral of Tony Dungy’s son. He’d send his personal errand guys on all-expenses paid trips to Las Vegas on his private jet. Agent Erik Burkhardt shared a story of how Irsay offered to pay for the funeral of a player’s family member under the condition that word of it didn’t go public.
Christensen recalls many great golf outings, in which Irsay would form two-man teams and give the winners $25,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Irsay also handed everyone an envelope stuffed with $100s to give out as tips around the course, “to make sure they know the Horseshoe appreciates everything they do for us.”
Irsay had a wide array of friends, from major rock celebrity Steven Tyler to people he met in rehab.
“Some of the people that I got to know through him were people that had a similar story, that met him and became friends with him while in rehab themselves,” said former 18-year NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who played for the Colts from 2013-15. “There’s just a realness that he was a very human person just like all of us. I think that was maybe another reason guys in the locker room resonated with him and his openness with that stuff.”
Locally, Irsay and the Colts were the Patriots’ biggest rival during the early part of the Brady/Bill Belichick dynasty. Though Irsay went 5-15 vs. the Patriots in the Brady era (2001-19), the teams faced each other in three AFC Championship games and several important regular season clashes. Irsay’s lone Super Bowl win in February 2007 came after defeating the Patriots, 38-34, in the conference title game.
“The Colts would probably have a few more Super Bowls if it weren’t for the Patriots,” Hoyer said.
The Colts were also the Patriots’ biggest agitator. They accused the Patriots of faking injuries to slow down the game; of sifting through the Colts’ garbage cans for discarded game plans and providing their locker room with warm Gatorade; and of course of intentionally underinflating footballs, leading to Deflategate and a four-game suspension for Brady.
“Our rivalry with The Pats is something we treasure in the depths of our competitive soul, where the fire burns hot,” Irsay posted in 2015.
Yet true to form, Irsay made amends with Boston in 2023, bringing his rock show and memorabilia showcase to TD Garden for a night of music, laughs, and stories from the good old days with former players from the Colts and Patriots. The event benefitted Irsay’s charity, Kicking The Stigma.
“I have such a great relationship with the Krafts, and so many memories there, starting with the championship game in 2003 and everything that transpired after that, which was a lot of stuff,” Irsay said then. “It’s an era that we miss, so we’ll probably get a little nostalgic.”
The NFL will miss the Irsay era, too. The NFL has lost a unique character.
“I loved him — one of the biggest-hearted guys I’ve ever been around,” Christensen said. “It was more than wins. He always said, ‘We care about our city, our players, we take care of people, we win games. That’s what the Horseshoe does.’ ”
ABANDONING DIVERSITY?
Accelerator delay can’t be brushed off
This past week’s owners meetings in Minnesota were notable for what didn’t take place. The Tush Push wasn’t banned. The playoff seeding format wasn’t changed. The potential 18-game schedule wasn’t discussed, nor was the status of commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension. And the league’s diversity coaching accelerator didn’t take place.
The accelerator program was designed in 2022 to help NFL owners meet a more diverse group of candidates. At the GM accelerator in December and coaching accelerator in May, minority and female candidates get career advice from a wide range of experts — GMs, league executives, coaches, agents — and have cocktail hour events with the NFL owners.
The NFL surprisingly canceled the accelerator a week before last week’s meeting. Goodell said the accelerator program hasn’t been meeting the needs of the stakeholders and will be reimagined for 2026.
Goodell was a little sensitive to the notion that the NFL canceled the diversity event.
“It’s not a cancellation — we’re doing this in 2026,” Goodell said. “We obviously look at each one of those programs and modify them from time to time. We think it’s time to make a couple of changes, but also bring it back next year when it’s an appropriate time to do so. We feel very good about the accelerator program, very positive about it, and you’ll see it in May of 2026. I know you’ll see it.”
But postponing (or whatever word Goodell prefers) the event raises an eyebrow. The NFL spent years tinkering with and reimagining the Pro Bowl, but still held it every year.
The decision to call off the accelerator program came about a week after Goodell and Commanders owner Josh Harris were in the White House capitulating to President Donald Trump, who has gone to war against diversity-based hiring initiatives since taking office. The NFL, via Robert Kraft, also set up the meeting in which the White House strong-armed the law firm Paul Weiss into abandoning diversity efforts and agreeing to pro bono legal work.
Goodell may not like the perception that the NFL is bowing down to Trump in canceling a diversity event, but the optics are what they are.
“Obviously we make sure all of the policies and all of the procedures we go through are within the law,” Goodell said. “We are very focused on continuing our efforts in this area. Believe it’s been helpful in identifying talent. That’s what our focus has been and that’s what our focus will continue to be.”
ETC.
League flying its flag high
The NFL has embraced flag football as its grass-roots marketing platform, using it to introduce the sport of football to kids, women, and international fans. Getting flag football into the 2028 Olympics was a big victory for marketing purposes, and last week’s agreement by the NFL owners and NFL Players Association to allow active players to participate is the cherry on top.
“It’s truly the next step in making football a global sport for men and women of all ages and all opportunities across the globe,” commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We think it’s the right thing to do and this is a big step in accomplishing that.”
Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson is a flag football ambassador for the NFL and said it would be a “dream” to play in the Olympics. But while excitement is high now, reality may set in closer to 2028.
Playing flag football is still a major risk for pulled muscles and torn ligaments. Patriots fans remember the worst-case scenario, when former running back Robert Edwards suffered a devastating knee injury playing beach football at the 1999 Pro Bowl.
The NFL, NFLPA, and Olympics still need to finalize the details on the medical side — what type of medical coverage will be on hand for athletes, what types of surfaces will be played on, and so forth. Jefferson, who will be 29 when the Olympics happen, said he probably will think harder about participating when the time comes.
Most likely, the Olympic participants will be older players who are nearing the end of their careers and have less to lose. In that sense, Jefferson could be an ideal candidate.
“That’s a decision I definitely have to wait on a little bit,” Jefferson said. “Of course, getting older, body is going to be different, but that’s definitely always been a dream.”
Big-time recognition
The NFL has plenty of awards that go to the glamor positions of quarterback, wide receiver, running back, and pass rusher. Now, they have an award for the big guys, with the NFL introducing the Protector of the Year Award for the top offensive lineman.
Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins and retired left tackle Andrew Whitworth were instrumental in developing the idea and the criteria for the award, which will include skills, metrics, impact, leadership, ability, and strength of the opponents. A panel of former offensive linemen, including LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Sean O’Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields, and Whitworth will be making the grades.
Unwelcome trip
Joe Burrow didn’t need to see the Bengals’ 2025 schedule to know what would be on it. For the fourth straight year, the Bengals will be playing a night game in Baltimore.
In 2022, the Ravens beat the Bengals at home on Sunday Night Football. The last two years, they have beaten the Bengals at home on Thursday night. This year, the two teams will meet on Thanksgiving.
The last time the Bengals won in Baltimore was the last time they played a day game there, a 41-17 victory in 2021. The Bengals haven’t hosted the Ravens in prime time in Cincinnati since 2018.
“Playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight year in prime time isn’t ideal,” Burrow said, via the Bengals’ website. “Maybe we can get one of those in Cincinnati. Please.”
Turnover is costly
Raiders owner Mark Davis raised nearly $1 billion over the winter selling off about 15 percent of his team to two investment groups. Apparently, Davis needed the money just to pay off all his fired coaches.
Davis is believed to be paying four different regimes in 2025. He’s paying current head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Spytek. He’s paying last year’s leaders, head coach Antonio Pierce and GM Tom Telesco, who were fired after just one year. Davis is still paying Josh McDaniels and former GM Dave Ziegler, who were fired after 1½ years. And he’s still likely paying off Jon Gruden, who had $40 million in guaranteed money when he was fired in 2021.
Davis also reportedly made Chip Kelly the highest-paid coordinator this year at $6 million per year.
Extra points
The 49ers had protracted holdouts with star players Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk last year that lasted throughout training camp and set a bad vibe for the season. So it’s noteworthy they have already locked up George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Brock Purdy with contract extensions before the offseason program is over. “This year, having the guys done and being able to get back to work, and build our culture and standard from the ground up, it’s been pretty cool,” Purdy said … The NFL is playing seven international games this year, and it’s probably not long before it holds 16, with each team playing one per year. “I do think that will happen in the very near future, within five years probably,” Goodell told CNBC … A Cowboys official said the team knew it was getting an athletic marvel in backup QB Joe Milton, but they have been even more impressed with Milton’s attitude and demeanor since arriving last month in a trade with the Patriots. The Cowboys didn’t know Milton was available until the Patriots reached out and offered him after the Cowboys lost Cooper Rush to the Ravens … The NFL is betting that 1 yard is all it will take to revive a dead play. With the new onside kick rules, kicking team players can now line up with their front foot on the 35 instead of their back foot on the 34. The recovery rate was traditionally between 15-20 percent, but has been at 5-6 percent the last three years … The Eagles should thank the NFL for trying to ban the Tush Push, because it has provided all of the motivation and culture-building they’ll need this year. They are already selling T-shirts with the phrase, “Push On,” and the sentiment surely will be a galvanizing force in the locker room, like Deflategate was for the Patriots in 2016 … Not only would North Carolina owe Bill Belichick $30 million if it fires him this summer, but athletic director Bubba Cunningham recently said that UNC sold out its allotment of 20,000 season tickets, even with a 25 percent increase in ticket price. UNC didn’t sell out last year. So, no, don’t count on Belichick going anywhere.
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.