(Indianapolis) — The Indianapolis Colts released a statement Wednesday night that team owner and CEO Jim Irsay died in his sleep at the age of 65.

“We are devastated to announce our beloved Owner & CEO, Jim Irsay, passed away peacefully in his sleep this afternoon,” Colts chief operating officer Pete Ward said in a statement released by the team. “Jim’s dedication and passion for the Indianapolis Colts in addition to his generosity, commitment to the community, and most importantly, his love for his family were unsurpassed.”

Moving forward, ownership of the Colts is expected to be transferred to Irsay’s daughters. Each was given an ownership title in 2012 and has had active roles in the organization for years.

Jim Irsay’s father, Robert, moved the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984,  and named Jim the team’s vice president and general manager at 24. Irsay handled that role for a decade, engineering the team’s trade for Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, a move that brought the Colts their first playoff berth in Indianapolis in 1987.

Irsay assumed principal ownership in 1997 at 37 years old after the death of his father, Bob, and following the conclusion of a legal battle with his stepmother. He became the NFL’s youngest owner at the time but would grow into one of its most influential during his stewardship of the club.

A year later, Irsay found his quarterback, choosing Tennessee’s Peyton Manning over Washington State’s Ryan Leaf in one of the most famous draft debates of all-time. In the 2006 season; the Manning, with head coach Tony Dungy and general manager Bill Polian, guided the Colts all the way to a Super Bowl XLI win over the Chicago Bears and the city’s only Lombardi Trophy.

At roughly the same time, Irsay made a long-term commitment to Indianapolis, negotiating with the state and city to build Lucas Oil Stadium for $720 million, with $100 million chipped in by Irsay and the Colts; a deal that was seen as tipped heavily in the Colts’ favor. Known as the House that Manning Built, the stadium in fact was built to keep the Colts relevant in Indianapolis long past the end of Manning’s career.

From strumming his guitar and belting out a tune with the Jim Irsay Band to his unpredictable posts on social media, Irsay was unquestionably his own man. He would routinely hand out wads of $100 bills to fans at Colts training camp practices and was known to stage trivia contests for fans on Twitter, the winners receiving Colts tickets or even all-expense paid trips to road games or Super Bowls.

Off the field, Irsay battled alcoholism and addiction to prescription pain killers, addictions that stemmed from surgeries to fix injuries suffered as a powerlifter as a younger man. Irsay spent most of the late 90’s and the early 2000s trying to beat the addiction, eventually going to a rehabilitation center in 2002.

Relatedly, the Irsay family spearheaded an effort in recent years to address mental health and addiction challenges through their “Kicking the Stigma” fundraising campaign that Irsay consistently promoted. His past struggles with addiction fueled his passion for the cause, and his standing in the league helped open doors with donors.

Since 2020, the Irsays have awarded more than $25 million in grants to organizations in the mental health space and related arenas through Kicking the Stigma.

Irsay was also a tremendous advocate for high school programs in the state, opening the doors of his stadium to the IHSAA State Finals since 1984.  Last November, the Colts and Irsay announced an initiative to invest one million dollars to support the development of girls high school flag football as a fully sanctioned Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sport.