Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay faces four felony counts after being arrested Sunday night by Carmel police on preliminary charges of driving under the influence and possession of a controlled substance, police said. Irsay drove at a slow rate of speed, stopped in the roadway and failed to signal a turn before police stopped him, Lt. Joe Bickel of the Carmel Police Department said in a release. "During the course of the investigation, Irsay subsequently failed several roadside field sobriety tests," Bickel said. In an inventory of Irsay's vehicle, "multiple prescription drugs were discovered in pill bottles," police said. "These Schedule IV prescription drugs were not associated with any prescription bottles found in the vehicle." Irsay faces four counts of felony possession of controlled substances. In a tweet on Oct. 21, 2013, Irsay said he has not had a drink in 15 years. The bond for Irsay was set at $22,500, said Deputy Bryant Orem of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department. Irsay should be able to post bond and be released this afternoon, Orem said. Irsay, 54, was booked into the Hamilton County Jail at Noblesville at 3:07 a.m. He was stopped at 11:41 p.m. in the 13000 block of Horseferry Road, said Lt. Joe Bickel of the Carmel Police Department. "We are gathering information at this time regarding last night's incident involving Jim Irsay," read a statement released by the Colts. "The team will issue additional statements when the facts are sorted and we are aware of the next steps to this process. Many fans have reached out to express their concern and we appreciate their support." In 2002, Irsay admitted he had an addiction to pain killers. "After several years of orthopedic operations and procedures, accompanied by long bouts of chronic pain, I became dependent on prescription pain medications," Irsay said in a 2002 statement. "This summer I sought professional help at a nationally recognized facility located outside Indiana. I have successfully dealt with my dependence and my chronic pain issues." League spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail to USA TODAY Sports that Irsay, if found guilty, would be subject to league discipline: "The league's Personal Conduct Policy applies to all NFL personnel,'' Aiello said via e-mail Monday. According to the league's policies, "(a)ll persons associated with the NFL are required to avoid 'conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League.' This requirement applies to players, coaches, other team employees, owners, game officials, and all others privileged to work in the National Football League." The league's policies further state: "Apart from any disciplinary action, persons arrested, charged, or otherwise appearing to have engaged in conduct prohibited under this policy generally will be required to undergo a formal clinical evaluation. Based on the results of that evaluation, the person may be encouraged or required to participate in an education program, counseling, or other treatment deemed appropriate by health professionals." The NFL commissioner decides specific disciplinary actions, according to leaugue rules. Policies state: "Discipline may take the form of fines, suspension, or banishment from the League and may include a probationary period and conditions that must be satisfied prior to or following reinstatement. The specifics of the disciplinary response will be based on the nature of the incident, the actual or threatened risk to the participant and others, any prior or additional misconduct (whether or not criminal charges were filed), and other relevant factors." Further, policies state: "Unless the available facts clearly indicate egregious circumstances, significant bodily harm or risk to third parties, or an immediate and substantial risk to the integrity and reputation of the NFL, a first offense generally will not result in discipline until there has been a disposition of the proceeding." In 2010, Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand was suspended for 30 days and fined $100,000 after pleading guilty to driving while impaired, which league officials called a violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy. Lewand also performed community service. Meg Irsay filed to divorce Jim Irsay last November. They had been married 33 years. The Indianapolis Star obtained a copy of the three-page petition at the Hamilton County courthouse and it said, in part: "There has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage of the parties, and the Petitioner requests that the parties' marriage be dissolved." The Colts were valued at $1.6 billion by Forbes magazine, 11th in the NFL. The Colts said the divorce would not affect Jim Irsay's 100% ownership of the team. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
So dumb. Have yourself a private chauffeur or call a cab. How dumb can one be? I wonder how this guy made his billions. Son of a rich guy or something?
The NFL could definitely take a draft pick away from the Colts for this. Bad look for the league that this guy can't even handle himself, and was willing to risk the lives of innocents getting behind the wheel. They are already out of their first rounder this draft
Police first suspected he was under the influence after he traded a first round pick for Trent Richardson.
I'm also personally against this sort of thing. The problem is athletes, owners, etc. don't pay the appropriate penalties for the crimes they commit generally, so I suppose the league has decided they need their own justice system. Still, I don't like to see "justice" privatized or the privileged classes get away with more (or less) than anyone else. All should be equal before the law. If I were caught DWI I wouldn't be "forfeiting a draft pick" and neither should he. OTOH, I would likely end up in jail, getting parole, doing community service, etc. same should apply to a billionaire.
Some jobs you risk losing employment if arrested for DUI, since being in the NFL employment involves contractual obligations with other parties they needed to have other things at their disposal as punishment since they could exactly tell a team to fire a player. Of course with an owner this bring up a whole other set of problems. My point being, everyone faces criminal penalties, some in the NFL may get less severe penalties but I think this has more to do with high priced attorneys than who they are. The NFL chose to add these other penalties because it hurts the brand and in effect can hurt many others financially.
LOL at the media heads saying that Goodell should ban him or have him come to NY for a meeting. You realize who pays Goodells salary? the NFL cant do shit, he is a part-owner of the NFL. He is the NFL.
then how did the league suspend 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo for one year and fine him $1 million dollars if owners were beyond punishment from the commissioner because he works for them?
sure, they could, but they won't. there simply is no precedent to punish the team for a non-football related incident by the owner. what there is precedent for is to punish the owner.
That wasn't recently...but ive never heard of an owner getting punished by his own employee unless it was voluntary. If you have information, bring it up, I'll admit, I don't have as much knowledge on this as others may have.
there hasn't been a scenario where the league has had to punish an owner until recently. when it occurred isn't relevant to your position that the commissioner does not have the authority to punish an owner because he works for the owner. I provided you the relevant example that shows that is a false assertion. clearly the commissioner has the authority to punish his boss, the owners, not just in the NFL but all sports leagues. how about Marge Schott? repeatedly banned by MLB and fined. If a sports league had no authority to punish owners because an employee cannot punish an owner involuntarily, than MLB would never have been able to punish her. what about Mark Cuban consistently fined by the NBA for criticizing officiating. Did Mark Cuban volunteer to be fined? of course not. you're wrong.
You know actually I've always thought this guy looked like he was on something. He's typically sweating, red faced, glazed eyes look, etc. Plus he is kind of irratic with Twitter stuff. Turns out I was onto something hehe.
If a player gets pulled over for a DWI, they'll probably get something like a 4 game suspension. So, maybe they will just "suspend" him for 4 games or something like that. (Meaning he wouldn't be allowed to attend those games live.)
I just heard about this yesterday, surprised I hadn't heard about it sooner. Well, maybe "surprised" is the wrong word... http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...ied-of-overdose-found-in-home-bought-by-irsay
