Fact-checking an NFL owner’s claims that his ‘rich, white billionaire’ status was reason for DUI arrest

Before Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay’s rant during an interview from HBO’s Real Sports, when was the last time you thought about his 2014 impaired driving arrest, and the subsequent plea bargain?

Unless you’re Irsay’s lawyer, or a close friend used to hearing him gripe about the case in private, the answer to that question is likely, “never.” If you ever were aware that Irsay was pulled over for erratic driving, failed a field sobriety test, then found to have several strong prescription drugs in his system, you’d could be forgiven, all these years later, for not remembering.

But the internet seldom forgets.

So when Irsay used that interview to accuse police of profiling him over his race (white) and wealth (immense), the online backlash came fast, with a long-list of commentators highlighting Irsay’s stunning lack of self-awareness. Nine-year-old dash cam footage of the traffic stop and arrest followed quickly, and the video has rocketed back to the top of search results. The tall tale Irsay told about his legal case was quickly chopped down to size, and now, if he Googles his name, he’ll have to relive what was likely one of the lowest moments of his life.

Not fun.

The lesson in this media misstep for the gambling-addled NFL community is that we should all, when possible, quit while we’re ahead. Nobody cared about Irsay’s run-in with the legal system until Irsay himself brought it up, thinking he could relitigate the case, and win this time. Now it’s all we’re talking about, and he’s still not winning.

It also reminds us why entry drafts are abhorrent. If you were a college star with All-Pro potential, why, if you had other options, would you choose to work for somebody who acted that erratically? Wouldn’t you at least want to force him to bid against some other rich guys, and secure a bad-boss bonus for yourself on the front end?

Of course you would.

But under the current setup, you’d be stuck with Irsay, who really thought his comments on HBO would vindicate him, and change public opinion about a legal case few of us even cared to recall.

“I’m prejudiced against because I’m a rich, white billionaire,” Irsay said during the interview. “If I’m just the average guy down the block, they’re not pulling me in. Of course not.”

Maybe that explanation is palatable to Irsay’s friends and underlings, and anyone else used to stroking his ego. It might also sound great to fellow NFL owners, who, like Irsay routinely swallow the indignities American life imposes upon people worth 10 and 11 figures. Pity the poor Chicago Bears, for example, slapped with a tax bill for a tract of suburban land they had bought for $192 million US. The assessment valued the land at the sale price, but why would local government expect a pro sports team to pay property tax in line with the land’s most recent, most reliable valuation? Why not allow the payee to set a lower value and pay tax on that?

Discrimination against the rich, that’s why.

It stings.

Ask Irsay.

Or maybe the culprit in this controversy is Irsay himself, and his gross misunderstanding of our current information ecosystem. Facts are everywhere, and easier than ever to find. Cross referencing any claims made in the media is a matter of a few well-directed online searches.

So of course, the arrest video is rippling through the internet again. In it, we see Irsay’s vehicle, which appears to be an Infiniti SUV. A nice ride, for sure, but an attainable one. Several tiers above Mark Davis’ Dodge minivan, but, unlike a gold-plated Bugatti, it doesn’t scream “billionaire.” The officer who made the stop wouldn’t have known how rich Irsay was until he saw the name on the driver’s license, or unearthed the $29,000 in cash Irsay carried in his car.

With wealth off the table as a basis for profiling, we’re left with race.

Is Irsay telling us that local police in Carmel, Ind., which, according to the most recent census, is 80.5 percent white, have a habitual bias against white people? If so, they’re the farthest-flung outliers in the U.S. legal system, where studies indicate that white people arrested for impaired driving are less likely to face conviction than non-white motorists.

As an excuse, white-on-white racial profiling ranks alongside Shelby Houlihan’s turbocharged burrito, and Conor Benn’s steroid eggs for the lengths to which it stretches our credulity. It’s a Hail Mary worthy of Anthony Richardson, the rocket-armed quarterback the Colts drafted in the first round last spring, then ran straight into a season-ending injury this fall. 

But, for the owner of an NFL team making himself the public face of his franchise, it’s still a problem.

In the arrest video, we see a man utterly incapable of piloting a car. He struggles to recite the alphabet, and staggers when asked to walk in a straight line. In the HBO interview, Irsay chose to revisit the incident, applying a spin that defies common sense, and prompting reactions that ranged from criticism to ridicule.

And in failing to anticipate how the public would receive his message, Irsay, in this case, has revealed himself as unequipped to navigate the modern media environment. Former sideline reporter and current Thursday Night Football host Charissa Thompson might fabricate facts without suffering repercussions, but everyone else – wealthy NFL team owners included – has to recognize that fact-checkers are everywhere, and always ready.

Before the Irsay interview aired, the biggest Indianapolis Colts news of the week was the club’s surprise decision to release veteran linebacker Shaquille Leonard. He had spent his whole pro career with the Colts, earning Defensive Rookie of The Year honours in 2018, and making three all-pro teams. Injuries had slowed him this season but at 28, Leonard still figured to have some productive years in front of him.

And the Colts dropped him – a pro-bowler, a locker room leader, and an anchor of the team’s defense.

Now that his career is no-longer linked to Irsay’s, we should consider another descriptor for Leonard.

Fortunate.