The Insiders Podcast: Remembering Jim Irsay & Exclusive Interview with 49ers QB Brock Purdy

NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Judy Battista report from Minneapolis, the site of the 2025 Spring League Meeting. They break down the NFL owners’ decision to keep the controversial ‘Tush Push’ play legal and examine other potential rule changes on the horizon. Brian Baldinger and Steve Wyche join to offer insights from the meetings, while Cam Wolfe provides the latest on the Dolphins’ offseason moves. Plus, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy stops by for an exclusive conversation about his five-year contract extension and why he believes the 49ers are built to make another Super Bowl run. The Insiders pay tribute to Colts owner Jim Irsay, who tragically passed away at the age of 65. Former Colts wide receiver Brandon Stokley joins Tom, Judy, Brian, and Steve to reflect on Irsay’s enduring legacy and impact on the NFL.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The verdict is in push that tush. We'll tell you why.
NFL owners voted down a proposal to ban push plays
today after hearing a last minute pitch from the Eagles,
including a franchise legend, Brock Perdy officially has now signed
his two hundred and sixty five million dollar contract excentire

(00:28):
with the forty nine ers. Eddie is celebrating in style.
Perty joins us tonight on this show to talk about
getting paid, getting Christian McCaffrey back, and getting San Francisco
back on top I. Meanwhile, Ota is kicking off around
the league. Inst division champs from a year ago could
be vulnerable. Brian Bauldier and Steve Wisch will be here

(00:48):
to tell you who should be feeling uneasy, if not queasy.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
As they get back onto the field.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Welcome inside with the Insiders alongside Judy Batista.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
I am Top Pelasera. We are live at.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
The Spring League meeting in Egan, Minnesota, where, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Everybody left about five hours ago.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
These meetings are long since wrapped up, but we did
get a lot of business done during the course of
the past couple of days. Start out on Tuesday, with
NFL owners approved a resolution allowing NFL players to participate
in the twenty twenty eight Olympic Games. Today was all
about some of the football playing rules onside kicks. A

(01:28):
tweaked to that that passed. More on that in just
a little bit. A playoff receiving proposal from the lines
was withdrawn. That's going to gain further conversation down the line.
But all anybody wanted to talk about was the tush
push ban, which ended up being voted down. Everybody talking
about it, including one guy who sees it twice a year.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Any play that's out of the ordinary get some extra
scrutiny just because of the competition in there, and so
all of that, I think is now, that's the fun
part of having these meetings.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
And here we are.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
The world champion is the main focus of the tush push,
and here we are debating it and having to decide, well,
I'm well, I'm a really against the tush push or
just don't want Philadelphia to have an egg And I
sit there and fight that too, which smile, smile when
they're making presentation, which it for you.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
I don't know how flip flop.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
There's no question the Eagles are unbelievably effective at the
play that they have popularized. Within the NFL last seedon
thirty nine of fifty one on tush push plays over
three quarters conversion rate for an Eagles team that continued
pushing all the way to the super Bowl. But this
was not solely judy about NFL owners trying to take

(02:51):
away a play that the Eagles have made effective. This
was also about a couple of other factors. One, there
were people within the league who do not belie believe
that this looks like a football play. They think it's
more of a rugby style scrum. And number two, there
were concerns, even though there's not injury data in a
pretty small sample set, about the biomechanics of the play,
the posture of the players lower in the heads, the

(03:13):
additional force that is generated in a play like that.
It got all the way to the point that twenty
teams voted to ban the play, but they needed twenty
two teams wanted to ban the play, they needed twenty four.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
It fell a little bit short, lot well.

Speaker 5 (03:28):
It fell short among other reasons because Jeff Lury, the
owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, gave an impassioned plea and
he also brought in his ringer Jason kelcey future Hall
of Fame center, who knows this play better than anybody,
and he did a little film demonstration of why he
does not think the play is excessively dangerous. The doctors

(03:51):
the medical community in the NFL disagrees with Jason kelce
Doctor Allen Stills, the Chief Medical Officer, had talked to
owners and said, the concern here is the possibility of
a catastrophic that is the word he used, catastrophic injury
on the play again, because the players are going low
and the force that is being generated by the pushing.

(04:12):
There is no injury data. There's just not enough of
a sample size. Fortunately, there have not been any injuries yet.
But it's unusual that this fell short, even though it
fell short by just two votes, because it was unanimously
endorsed by the Competition Committee and unanimously endorsed by the
Health in Safety Committee and the Owner's Health and Safety Committee,

(04:32):
So all of the committees that generally get involved with
rules changers were behind banning the tush push. It fell
to votes short. I'm not sure that we have heard
the last of this effort. Roder Goodell, after the meeting
said you know, they're going to monitor this obviously and
see how it goes. But there is still concern about

(04:53):
the safety of this play, and I suspect that we
will hear more about the tush push, maybe not next season,
but in off seasons to come.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
And this was a modified proposal that was much broader.
It was any examples of pushing or pulling, including downfield,
something that was on the books from nineteen twenty to
two thousand and five. There are still some concerns about
those things happening down the field. Rich McKay said, one
thing that they're going to emphasize again this year to
the officials is when you get that rugby style scrum,
somebody's trying to move the pile from both sides, blow

(05:25):
the thing dead. As for the Eagles, well, fair to
say they were pleased, as Jeffrey Lourie put it as
he jumped into an elevator today, that this play was
not in fact banned, the team posting push on on
their ex account and posting twenty six minutes of highlights
of push plays on their YouTube page as well. Let's
bring in our Steve Whites and Brian Baldinger to the conversation, Baldy,

(05:49):
You're very familiar with this play. You know a lot
of people in the Eagles organization. It seemed like there's
been momentum, and certainly it had a lot of votes.
Why in your mind did this not get across the
goal line?

Speaker 6 (06:01):
You're right, Tom, and just low.

Speaker 7 (06:03):
On Sunday I talked to a prominent Eagles coach who
did not think that it would pass.

Speaker 6 (06:08):
They thought that the play would be canceled.

Speaker 7 (06:10):
As of Sunday, I think Jason Kelcey and talking to
players today really had a real impact in that room.
When he was pleading, he said if he had to
come back at a retirement and do eighty toush pushes,
he would come back and do it if he could.
I thought it was pretty interesting statistically that you put
up earlier. They were ten for ten on fourth down

(06:31):
to the Eagles. Tom, this is not a gimmick play.
This is not a rugby scrum. This is a real
play that they spend an awful lot of time working
on and game planning for it. Because I'm sure Steve
is going to show some plays of teams that have
stopped it and how they try to do it. They
study all of that. It is a lot of physics
are involved. They studied the physics of it. It does

(06:53):
help that they've got some enormous powerful offensive alignment up
run that know how to play with leverage and are
very strong with the point of attack.

Speaker 6 (07:01):
The quarterback can dead lift six hundred pounds. That helps.

Speaker 7 (07:05):
But this was very, very close. I was interested to
know that ten teams that would not, you know, vote
against it are heavy run teams including Baltimore, Detroit, Kellimore,
and New Orleans did not vote against it. You can
bet that Kelli Moore, Doug newsfire down in the New
Orleans will probably employ the play, or at least try
to employ it this year with the New Orleans Saints.

Speaker 8 (07:27):
We all in some of the arguments you know against Banny,
where people like, just because one team does something better
than the other team, we shouldn't bet it, we should
just try to stop it.

Speaker 6 (07:36):
So I'm gonna put a lot ball.

Speaker 9 (07:38):
These breakdown cap guys, and let's break out some field.
First off, let's go to the NFC Championship game last year,
and we all remember Frankie Louvu right going over the
top getting all the penalties here where they actually threatened
to let Philadelphia score because of the infraction. But let's
go before that and let me show you how Washington
actually made it play. Dallas Goddard, he's a touch put, sure,

(08:00):
but you're saying Cleveland Parrell come off the edge and
actually bear body, hug bear hug, got it and deny
the play to come in again Washington, And speaking of
coaches there, they actually employed this get the tush pusher
to the ground. So let's see if other teams can
successfully be as creative or come up with other ways
to try to either tackle the tush pusher come over

(08:22):
the top because as.

Speaker 8 (08:23):
You know this ball to you talk talked about the physics,
there often is a stalemate on the initial collision at
the line of scrimmage.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
But it's the push usually.

Speaker 8 (08:33):
From titan Dallas Goddard, who's super strong, that gets Jalen
Hurts into the end zone or across the first down marker.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
And that is my White's breakdown.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
Okay, great stuff, Steve and Baldy. More for both of
you in just a little bit a contrary to what
it might seem if you turned on I don't know
any sports network, even the nightly news right now, there
were other things on the agenda, that includes the Lions
withdrawing their proposal on playoff receiving. However, is and I
report earlier today there was extended discussion in the room

(09:03):
about the idea. There is support for potentially doing some receding,
and the NFL is going to look into possible receding scenarios,
whether that's in the first round, the second round, or
even potentially the third round for potential changes as soon
as twenty twenty six. We also had a change with
regard to the on side kick, but Roger Goodell, one

(09:24):
of his focuses was on exactly what the playoff receiving
might look like.

Speaker 10 (09:28):
On the receding, that was something that had got a
lot of discussion in March. There are different forms of receding,
as you can imagine, what I wanted to look at
and what we eventually got. The discussion on, where is
the ownership's position on what they want us and the
committees to evaluate. Is it no receding at all, some

(09:50):
forms of receding after the second after the first week,
after the second week, what is it that would be
of interest to them? And I think we got some
direction on that Judy.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
There were some things that had been misreported about what
exact the Lion's proposal was. This was not a second
round receiving. This was everything from go receid only by
record here, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven in
each conference. However, as they continue to analyze this year,
there are scenarios where maybe the division winners still get
the home games in round one and then you do

(10:22):
reced in round two, or even as Gadell reference today,
round three, although that we're talking about the conference championship games,
that would be a pretty narrow receiving process.

Speaker 5 (10:30):
I think where we're headed is they withdrew this because
there was nowhere near enough support for this change right now.
And frankly, this change is really intended to get the
NFL to a place in the eighteen game regular season,
which is still a few years away. The concern for
the NFL is the games we often see in the

(10:52):
last week of the season, maybe the last two weeks
of the regular season, teams that have already clinched their
playoff position, their seed, and then they rest their starters.
The NFL. That's a bad look for the NFL. Those
are non competitive games. They don't like the competitive imbalance
that that creates, and obviously, if you're going to an
even longer regular season, you have the potential for even

(11:12):
more weeks where those games could be taking place. They're
basically going to go to the workshop, right. This was
the sort of soft launch of this idea. There was
a I would say a surprising amount of interest, even
from owners who I would not have expected to embrace
this idea. But they've basically told everybody, all right, put
your thinking caps on and start coming up with scenarios

(11:34):
how we could do this again. Would it be a
straight receding, you know, in week one, or would they
again reward the division winners like we see now where
they would host a playoff game in week one and
then maybe you would recede in week two. I think
they're going to come up with a bunch of ideas
and talk about them again. There's not really a rush
to do this because this is all about getting something

(11:56):
ready for when they get to the eighteen game regular season.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
This was a proposal too by the Lions, which means
the Lions controlled the language of the proposal, the revisions
to the proposal.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
You would think by having that discussion in the room today.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
That means the Competition Committee, which historically has a higher
rate of passage, is probably going to sink their teeth
into this in the months to come. The Competition Committee
did raise the on side kick changes, which was actually
further followed from the broader kickoff changes that we saw
back in March. The changes to the on side kick
are relatively narrow. It may not make a huge difference here,

(12:28):
but essentially it's number one. You now can declare to
do an on side kick as long as you're trailing
anytime in the game, not just the fourth quarter of games.
And also the kickoff team is going to be one
yard closer to the receiving team. Last year old just
three of fifty on side kicks recovered that six percent.
That's below the historical averages. They don't want it suddenly, Judy,

(12:49):
to be forty percent or even twenty five percent, but
they would like it to be higher than it.

Speaker 6 (12:53):
Is right now.

Speaker 5 (12:54):
It was once explained to me that like, if they
got to twelve percent recovery, that would be really good.
They'd be fine with that number. They just don't want
the on side kick recovery to completely disappear. They want
to keep that mechanism in the game for trailing teams,
so they think this very little tweak to the alignment
may be enough to get them there.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
We will see, and we'll probably be talking about this
again in twenty twenty six and beyond. There were some
other big announcements today at the Spring League meeting, including
for Hard Knocks, the Buffalo Bills, the rare perennial playoff
team to go on the training camp version of the show.
It's gonna be Bills August fifth. That's the first episode

(13:32):
airing on HBO and Max. Also, the in season Hard
Knocks edition is locked in. It's gonna be the NFC East.
Absolutely no storylines there. A Giants quarterback Room year two
with Jade Daniels and the Commanders touch Push Central first
year Brian Schottenheimer. A lot to look forward to there.
How about an award for the Big Fellas. After consultation with,

(13:55):
among others, the Bills Dion Dawkins, the NFL announcing a
new award.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
The per Detector of the Year.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
One lucky offensive lineman is going to take that award
home when we get to NFL Honors in February. Also,
Draft picks continuing to sign at borderline a record rate.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
The number one overall pick.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Officially under contract, quarterback cam Ward agreeing to his four year,
fully guaranteed contract with a fifth year option. Twenty of
thirty two first round picks already under contract and we're
still two months away from training.

Speaker 5 (14:28):
Camp, mister relevant twenty twenty two.

Speaker 4 (14:32):
Rock Purty, rock Perty is first NFL star down.

Speaker 8 (14:36):
Head Party, Baby, Let's go touchdown?

Speaker 6 (14:40):
What a throw from rock Party?

Speaker 1 (14:42):
Prety gonna throw for the D zone touchdown?

Speaker 11 (14:44):
Rock Party is the real deal.

Speaker 12 (14:46):
We fid time for.

Speaker 6 (14:47):
Party to meet party, and he was the rock star
on that drive.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
The forty nine ers have won this crazy championship game
and they are going to the super Bowl from pick
two sixty two to two hundred and sixty five million.
That is the journey of Brock Purty, who officially signed
his new five year contract extension with the forty nine

(15:13):
ers today and now kind enough to join us right
here on the Insiders with me, Tom Pillicero and Judy Batiste.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
The Brock.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
I went back and looked at your original rookie contract,
your signing bonus seventy seven twelve dollars.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
I know I've been around you a little bit. I
know this is not all about money to you.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
When you're you're getting there to sign that paper, just
take me through the emotions of what you're reflecting on
in that moment.

Speaker 13 (15:38):
Yeah, man, my rookie contract signing it actually right here
in this room. I was just grateful to have an
opportunity to be able to go and compete for an
NFL team in camp and try to make the team.
But now sitting here having done my second contract, man,
it's it's it's such a blessing. I'm just grateful, man,
more than anything. My family, friends, my teammates, this organization

(16:01):
to be able to believe in me and keep going.
And man, just grateful more than anything.

Speaker 5 (16:09):
You know, a lot of guys when they're getting ready
to negotiate what they know is going to be a
big contract, they get like really uncomfortable. It's kind of
nerve wracking. It's a sort of a strange situation. How
did you get yourself ready for this negotiation? Did anybody
give you any advice?

Speaker 13 (16:26):
Yeah, I mean all the guys in the locker room,
you know, Kittle, Fred Warner, Bosa, like all those guys
sort of just gave me a heads up on hey, man,
like you know this is you know how it goes.
It's a business. But you know, obviously you just got
to keep going after it with your off season and
allow your agent and everybody that's on their side of
things be able to handle it, and trust in them,

(16:47):
and and just focus on what you can control and
don't get caught up in the little things and taking
things personal and being dramatic with some stuff like allow
them to handle it, keep being who you are and
and have faith that it'll get done. And so sure
enough it did, and and so here we are.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
So let's spend this thing forward now, Brock. Obviously a
disappointing season and injury riddled season for the forty nine
ers a year ago, what's the mindset in that building
right now? Your receiver corp is gonna look a little
bit different. This team's gonna look a little bit different.
What do you make of the twenty twenty five forty
nine ers?

Speaker 13 (17:23):
Man? I'm excited, you know, everybody came back for phase
one of OTAs and everything, and from that moment on,
like the energy with the young guys being here, although
obviously Vets there's just been this energy here where it's
you know, we got to have the chip on our
shoulder again and we got to go work and prove
to ourselves that we're the forty nine ers and we
are who we are and have that culture that's been

(17:46):
established here, get a little bit more refined with the
new faces and free agents and rookies that have come in.
And but I could say that, you know, it's it
feels good here right now, and everyone's really really excited
to keep competing and for camp the season to come around,
We're pumped.

Speaker 5 (18:04):
What do you want to work on personally in your
game this offseason?

Speaker 13 (18:09):
I think for me it's it's going back to the
fundamentals and for you know, cheesy as that sounds, I
think for me, I went back and watched some rookie
tape with Kyle Shanahan and r O. C. Kubiak and
Mick Lombardy, Like we've we've watched how when I first
came in, how just automatic I was with my foot,
my feet and my eyes and getting the ball out

(18:30):
on time. And I want to sink back into that
and keeping things simple and execute how I'm being coached.
I feel like last year there were some times where
I was, you know, pretty comfortable and and going through reads,
but it wasn't on top of it like I could
have been. And there was some moments where I definitely,
you know, was obviously showing some some flash and highlights

(18:52):
that I usually do, but there's also moments where I
was like, Man, I got to get back to the
basics and be hard on myself and and watch the
film and be real that, hey, I got get better
in certain areas, and so I'm excited about that. And
I've applied that to the field this offseason with the
new guys and stuff, so, you know, excited to get
after this year.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
There was a video of the forty nine ers posted
on social media one of the first days you guys
were on the field, and most people's takeaway I was
seen on social media was hey, brock Perty's out there.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
He's going through this contract thing. He showed up.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
My takeaway was he's handed off to Christian McCaffrey, a
guy who we really haven't seen a whole lot of
in the past year. What does Christian look like everything
he went through with the Achilles a year ago, what
do you anticipate getting from him in twenty twenty five?

Speaker 13 (19:35):
Man, I'm so excited, you know, Christian being back and
healthy and getting in and out of cuts and obviously
throwing him out of the backfield and in the slot.
Like Christian's a true Swiss army knife man, he could
do it all. And so to be able to have
him back healthy, and even just seeing him pour into
these young guys in the locker room and our culture
here and speaking up in meetings with certain things. Man,

(19:56):
Christian is ready to roll. And I'm so excited to
obviously have him I can play with him, but more
than anything too, just having him in the locker room
around the guys and you know, his wisdom and expertise
on certain things. Man, It's he's like no other. He's unique.
And so love having Christian as a teammate and as
a brother and excited to play with him this year.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
By one disappointment in this interview is Fred Warner promised
after signing this contract you were going to be iced out,
you were going to have changed, You were going to
drop a few million on an upgrading. Is anything about
brock Purty gonna change?

Speaker 6 (20:27):
Are you?

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Are you gonna allow yourself to make maybe a couple
of little purchases here.

Speaker 13 (20:32):
Uh, for the most part, I'm pretty sure we're just
gonna keep it simple.

Speaker 6 (20:35):
My wife and I and uh, I don't know.

Speaker 13 (20:38):
I was talking about maybe buying a bass fishing boat
down the road, and that's something that I've always wanted
since I was a kid. So you might see us
fishing more often.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
So awesome, man.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
Well, congratulations again, Brock. We appreciate you being here.

Speaker 14 (20:52):
Man.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
Can't wait to see on the field in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 13 (20:55):
Sir, thank you, Go Niners.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Rock Purty Big.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
I'm Deil big time guest right here on The Insiders,
and this show rolls on. Cameron Wolf is going to
be joining us next. He spent some time at the
Dolphins Ota today. What are his expectations for that team
into twenty twenty five. Also, what's the latest on Jalen
Ramsey contract talks. We will discuss all that next on
The Insiders.

Speaker 5 (21:27):
Welcome back to The Insiders. New today, Well, there are
quite a few things new today here at the spring meeting,
Tush push lives. The vote fel too short of banning
the Tush push, So we've got one more season at
least of the Eagles running a play that appears to
be completely unstoppable. The Lions withdrew their proposal on playoff reseating,

(21:52):
but that is not the last we're going to hear
of that. The NFL had a long discussion about playoff
reseating today and they basically told everybody put on your
thinking caps and come up with scenarios. We are probably
still a few seasons away from playoff receding, but that
is something they are interested in doing. And the onside
kick has been tweaked. If you are a trailing team,

(22:14):
you can now declare an on sidekick attempt anytime in
the game. They also tweet the formation the alignment for
the on sidekick. They're hoping to generate more on sidekick recoveries.
Not that many more, but just a few more. They
don't want the play to completely disappear from the game.
And the Miami Dolphins, this is like football, real football.

(22:37):
Their OTAs begin right after Memorial Day. But they are
on the field. They got some stuff to work on,
they got some issues on their plate, and we've got
our very own cam will fear to discuss the Miami Dolphins,
all right. They are going to be on the field
next week for OTA's cam what should we be keeping
our eyes on.

Speaker 14 (22:57):
Yeah, I can't wait to see Devon Chan, running back
who has been a star of the first two years,
and he could be in line for even more this year.
Rare he mostered left to go to Vegas, and now
he's got an opportunity to be the clear number one
player in that backfield. And he has been very loud
and clear about his goals. He said, I can be
a thousand yard rusher and a five hundred yard receiver

(23:17):
if you draft him in fantasy football. Last year he
was a top ten PPR player for you there and
he could be that guy again. And I got a
chance to talk with his running back coach, Eric Stutisville
today up at the Dolphins facility, and the question that
a lot of people had about eight Chan is he's small.
He's five to nine one hundred and eighty some pounds.
Can he handle the workload Studentsville's answers, Yes, he can

(23:37):
handle whatever we give him. I've never viewed him as
a small back, and he says he wants more. We're
preparing to give him more, and so he could end
up being even bigger part of that offense than people envision.
Of course, they have Jalen Wright, their rookie back last year.
He'll come in and fill some of those roles. And
they drafted Ali Gordon as a big back laid in
the draft. But this is devine A Chan's opportunity to

(23:58):
own that backfield, to be able to run the ball.
And he said he left a lot of yards out
there on the table that he wants to get. And
another interesting thing, Judy, you mentioned some of the talk
this offseason about the Dolphins. He said, we have heard
some people throw around the soft word, talk about our toughness,
and I hope they keep that same energy when they
come about this year. And so these guys are having

(24:19):
some maternal motivation. They say it's a different team and
they think it'll start with the running game with a
Chan and better blocking up front to be able to
have that success in December and January where they failed
in the past.

Speaker 5 (24:32):
All Right, we are almost to the Memorial Day weekend
and maybe surprisingly, Jalen Ramsey is still a Miami Dolphin.
Where do things stand with both of their sides attempts
to trade them.

Speaker 14 (24:42):
Yeah, Judy, I checked in with a couple of people
on the Jalen Ramsey situation this week, and I was
told nothing is imminent. There have been conversations draft weekend
and throughout May in regards to Jalen Ramsey. There's interest,
but right now there's nothing. There's nothing closing at this moment.
It has been relatively quiet. But one thing I was told
is to keep an eye on that July first date.

(25:04):
The Dolphins would take a over twenty five million dollar
cap hit if they traded him before July first. That
number drops to under seven million dollars if they trade
him after July first. And a lot of people were
looking at saying Jayalen Ramsey's one of their best players,
He's been elite. All these things are true. But I
talk with their defensive coording under Anthony Weaver today about
the situation, and his quote kind of sums up why

(25:26):
the Dolphins and Ramseys are here. He said that Ramsey's
been a great player for us, but relationships are hard,
and he's chosen to move on. This isn't about a
guy who wants more money or a guy who can't
play anymore. This is just a simp situation where relationships
are hard and the relationship between the Dolphins and Ramsey
has essentially run out. I expect him to get traded

(25:47):
at some point in June or July. They have talked
to a lot of teams. I'm told the Dolphins are
aware of teams that Ramsey would be interested in. We've
heard the La Rams and their coaching and GM staff
talk and rave about Jayalen Rams. There's other places where
he has had coaches he has loved to play for
in the past, whether it be Rae Morris and Atlanta
or a giro verro in Carolina. We'll kind of see

(26:09):
how the money factors in. That's going to be a
big part of it. But for the Dolphins, they're already
planning to move on. They're speaking in the past, he's
not going to be at OTAs and for them, they're
planning on developing their young corners, including Cam Smith, their
third year player, to try to replace a Jalen Ramsey.

Speaker 5 (26:28):
It's going to be really interesting to see what happens
if Jalen Ramsey is still on the roster. As we
inch closer and closer to training camp opening at the
end of July, camp Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
Bears in their second day of OTA practices, in their
first off season under new head coach Ben Johnson, who
had to answer some questions based on a recent article
about the Bears' history with quarterbacks, one that he certainly
hopes changes with Caleb Williams.

Speaker 15 (26:57):
I love it.

Speaker 6 (26:58):
I love it.

Speaker 15 (26:59):
I love the opportunity come on in and change that narrative.
That's where great stories are written, and so we're looking
to write a new chapter here twenty twenty five Chicago
Bears and looking forward to the future.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Welcome back to the insiders.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Tom Pelaserro Judi Batista here at the Spring league meeting,
joined once again by Brian Baldinger and Steve White. Judy
you got a call him up NFL dot com slash
Batista about potentially vulnerable division winners from a year ago.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Let's start right there in the NFC North. What do
you make it the lines.

Speaker 5 (27:30):
I think they're vulnerable in large part because of the
quality competition in that division. Don't forget that division came
down to the very last game of the regular season
last year. Three teams out of the NFC North went
to the playoffs last year. And it just so happens
that the Detroit Lions have the second hardest strength of
schedule this season, and they lost both of their coordinators

(27:51):
this offseason. That's an awful lot to deal with. And
the Chicago Bears should also be improved this season. So
the quality of the competition in the division is certainly
a factor here. And you know, adjusting to losing two
coordinators in one off season not easy for any team.

Speaker 7 (28:09):
I would agree with you, Judy losing the quarters. I've
often said this that it's more difficult to replace good
coordinators and Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson that it is
great players.

Speaker 6 (28:20):
It might be the case. We'll find out.

Speaker 7 (28:22):
We'll see what Dan Campbell has in store for us,
how they kind of restore the order.

Speaker 6 (28:27):
But in addition, you know, it was more than the
loss of Aden Hutchinson.

Speaker 7 (28:31):
But this was not a good defensive team down the stretch,
and their last two losses to Buffalo they give up
forty eight points and a playoff loss at home, they
give up forty five points to the Washington Commanders, and
so they were leaking oil at the end of the season.
Last year, they did win fifteen games, take nothing away
from that.

Speaker 6 (28:48):
They've won the division a couple of years in a row.

Speaker 7 (28:50):
But the competition is fierce, and we all believe that
Ben Johnson in Chicago is going to make that outfit
a lot more competitive than what we have seen, so
I would agree with you.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
I think they are vulnerable to repeating his division champ
right now.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
Baldy, thank you very much, Steve. We will get to
you shortly here, but first we need to bring you
some breaking news, and it is very sad news out
of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Ersay has died at the
age of sixty five. The team announcing this just a
short time ago, team releasing a statement staying in part,

(29:27):
we are devastated to announce our beloved owner and CEO,
Jim Ersay, passed away peacefully in his sleep this afternoon.
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. Our deepest sympathies
go to his daughter's Carlie Ersay, Gordon Casey Foyt, Kaylin Jackson,

(29:48):
and his entire family as we grieve with them. Judy
Jim Rsay was one of the great characters among NFL
owners He's somebody that I certainly knew on some level.
You spend a lot of time around him as well.
He obviously had dealt with a lot from a personal perspective,
from a health perspective in recent years.

Speaker 5 (30:08):
Tragic news tonight, Just terrible news. I saw one of
his daughters here today. Just terrible and stunning news. He
was sort of a hippie, but really an old soul.
As an owner, he was mentored by some of the
legendary owners of the game. Wellington Marra from the Giants,
Dan Rooney from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those were the people

(30:29):
who guided him when he was a young man. When
he took over the franchise from his own father, they
moved the team to Indianapolis, and he had a really
soft touch. He was the one who his father was
a little bit more rough around the edges, and when
employees would be upset, or players would be upset, or

(30:49):
fans would be upset, it was Jim who went to
them and apologized and smooth things over. He was a
lovely man. He was an enormous music aficionado. He had
the scroll to on the Road he owned that. He
owned many guitars, and he loved, loved the Indianapolis Colts.

(31:11):
He wanted to win so very badly. You know, he
was so proud of how they had turned Indiana and
Indianapolis from a basketball place to a football place. They
built a spectacular stadium downtown largely because of Peyton Manning's success,
and he wanted so much to replicate that kind of success.

(31:33):
In recent years, they haven't quite gotten there. Just a terrible,
terrible loss for the Indianapolis Colts, the Indianapolis community, and
the NFL.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Jim Mersey's children, particularly Carl Ursay, have been very involved
with the team in recent years, Carl Ersay touching all
aspects of that organization, much as Jim did under his father,
Robert Ursay versus the Colts general manager and succeeding his
late father In Nightieen ninety seven.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Here's more on the life of Jim Irsay.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
The Indianapolis Colts football revival occurred under the guidance of
Jim Ersay, a man who overcame obstacles of his own.

Speaker 11 (32:17):
I had a tough childhood. I mean, you know, I
lost both my brother and sister. You know, my sister
died in the car crash when I was eleven, a
state trooper came knocking on the door, and you know,
your sister's dad, you know, and your brother is severely
handicapped at birth and eventually dies at an early age.

(32:39):
And so you know, out a three year the only
one left. My dad died of alcoholism. My grandfather died
of alcoholism.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
Ers would struggle against similar substance dependencies throughout much of
his life, often at a heavy price. But in the
early days of Colts football in the Hoosier State, Jim
was very much in con control of his father's team
as its youthful general manager. At the age of twenty seven,
he put together a ten player blockbuster deal that brought

(33:09):
in star running back Eric Dickerson, a move that ended
a decade of futility Dickerson.

Speaker 16 (33:16):
Trying to get outside cuts up to the thirty piece
At the twenty five.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
Twenty ten.

Speaker 5 (33:22):
Thirty four years per.

Speaker 16 (33:24):
The Colts went in twenty four to six and had
the playoffs for the first time in ten years. From
last place to park.

Speaker 4 (33:32):
A decade later, Ersay made the draft choice that turned
the Colts into an NFL powerhouse.

Speaker 17 (33:40):
With the first pick of the draft, the Indianapolis Colts
select quarterback University of Tennessee Peyton Manna.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
From this began a golden era of colts football under
Ersay twenty two game winning streak. That's a record even
in this decade. That's a record.

Speaker 11 (34:05):
Looking at all other teams in the last century in
all sports.

Speaker 6 (34:09):
This is really special.

Speaker 16 (34:11):
Nine straight seasons when tenor ball wins nine straight playoff
appearances ties a lake record.

Speaker 4 (34:18):
In two thousand and eight, Hers opened a showplace stadium
for his Thoroughbred team, after having already built his reputation
among league owners with a steady stream of progressive head
coaching hires.

Speaker 6 (34:38):
We want to go get this, and.

Speaker 7 (34:42):
Anyone who doesn't want more than one of these, you know,
shouldn't wear a horse shoe.

Speaker 11 (34:47):
I walk in the locker room on Sunday, and you know,
we gather hands and pray and then get ready to
go on the field.

Speaker 6 (34:55):
WHOA Ready? Whoa?

Speaker 11 (34:58):
Every single player has to know that I did everything
I can to give us a chance to win.

Speaker 6 (35:04):
Wait a pipe, babequait a pipe.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Jim Irsay loved his Indianapolis Colts, and there were many
people who loved him. Jim Irsay passing away today at
the age of sixty five. Sad news tonight from Indianapolis,
the Colts announcing just a short time ago that their
owner and CEO, Jim Ersay, passed away peacefully in his
sleep this afternoon. He was sixty five years old. Team

(35:32):
staying in part. Jim's generosita can be felt all over Indianapolis,
the state of Indiana, and the country. He made philanthropy
a daily endeavor. He never hesitated to help countless organizations
and individuals live better lives. Music was one of Jim's passions,
and the ability to share his band and collection with
millions of people across the world brought him tremendous joy.
Simply put, he wanted to make the world a better place,

(35:53):
and that philosophy never wavered. Jim will be deeply missed
by his family, the Colts organization, and bands everywhere. We
remain inspired by his carrying and unique spirit. Colts players
weighing in on social media within the past few minutes,
including their defensive linemen to Forest Buckner setting up prayers
for Jim Ersay and the Ersay family. Welcome back to

(36:18):
the Insiders, Tom Pellisio and Judy Batista here at the
Spring League meeting which wrapped up earlier today, joined by
Steve Whites as well as Brian Baldinger, who is of
course one of our analysts and also a former Indianapolis
Colts player. Baldy, I imagine that you have some personal
memories of Jim, irsay.

Speaker 7 (36:37):
I do, and everything that has been echoed so far,
I share the same tremendous generosity. But I came to
the Colts with Jim's dad, Robert Ursay nineteen eighty eight
had played four years there.

Speaker 6 (36:49):
And whether it's myself.

Speaker 7 (36:51):
Peyton Manning, DeForest Buckner, on and on and on, anybody
that played for the Colts played for a first class organization.
Jim Marsay was dead set on that, whether it was
you know, a brand new stadium that they have built.
When I first came to the Colts tom.

Speaker 6 (37:07):
This time of the year, in the middle of May.

Speaker 7 (37:09):
This was race month in Indianapolis. This was about the
Indy five hundred race car drivers AJ Foyd. They would
come over to the Colts facility, they get treatment, you know,
for the injuries and things that they sustained. And then
Jim Mersey hired Tony Dungeon, and he hired and signed
Peyton Manning and this state, which was a heavy college
basketball state. It was the Hoosier State. It was Bob

(37:32):
it was Bobby Knight in Bloombyton, it was the race
car month in the month of May. It became a
true football powerhouse. And Jim really guided that whole thing.
Bill Polly came in, ran the organization. He hired great people.
But to this day, to this day, you go to
that facility on fifty sixth Street in Indianapolis right now,
I know that there's still people that work in the

(37:53):
equipment room, in the training room that Jim hired thirty
and forty years ago that still worked him. This is
a place where it feels like home. No matter how
long you played, you feel like you were at home
when you went back to visit for whatever reason, whether
you're back for a game, an alumnia function, or whatever
it was, you really felt like you're coming back to

(38:15):
a place where they really wanted you to be around
and to come back. And that was all the philanthropy
of Jim Mercy. You can't go downtown Indianapolis and not
see the marks that Jim Ersay has left on this
town and his ability to give back. And I know, Steve,
you're close to the organization and covering this league. I
know that you share some of the same sentiments that

(38:36):
I have as a former player.

Speaker 8 (38:38):
We waal when we broke into this broadcast with the
news of his death. I mean, it was a gut punch.
I mean, the win came at me. I'll do me,
you know, and Tom and Junior are there at the
league meetings there in Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
And I can't tell you how many years you.

Speaker 8 (38:51):
Know of seeing Jim Irsay at these meetings and having
conversations with him, because he was always very outspoken about
whatever the big topic of the season was, whether it
was a rule change, whether it was the potential ouster
of Dan Snyder is the owner of the Washington Commanders.

Speaker 6 (39:07):
He had something to say.

Speaker 8 (39:09):
He was a fearless owner who spoke up for his club,
for his community, for so many people, and you know,
just you know, I've heard from somebody for the culture
right now. This is a devastating blow to that organization
in so many ways. But you've talked about the philanthropy, Baldy.
I remember a couple of years ago when Darius Leonard,
the linebacker there, started his foundation. How Jim irsay, just

(39:30):
gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to kick this off
of the ground because it was a mental health ordeal.
And after everything Jim had been through in his life
well documented in that obituary, a lot of the medical
issues that he'd been through, the back surgery's, leg surgeries,
the respiratory issues, this mental illness thing was huge for him.
The culture, the leaders in the NFL, with their players

(39:53):
and people who work there speaking out on this.

Speaker 6 (39:57):
So again, he had a heart of gold.

Speaker 8 (39:59):
Anyone would tell you that, as quirky as he was
the late night social media post whatever, but this is
somebody in his heart of hearts and you know, this
baldy is about the betterment of mankind. So again, this
is a very human blow. As very much as we
talk about him being an NFL owner and things like that, but.

Speaker 7 (40:19):
He's also Steve an NFL owner that played college football,
played ATMU for Ron Meyer, Like he knew a little
bit about what this whole industry is about.

Speaker 6 (40:29):
Not at the professional level, but he played for the.

Speaker 7 (40:31):
Mustangs there in Dallas and ended up bringing Ron Meyer
after he was outed at you know, at New England.
He brought him on board to run the organization and
made the big trade for Eric Dickerson. I blocked for
Eric there for a couple of years. We won the
rushing title one season. I know Jim was extremely proud.
I'd see him in the weight room. He was lifting

(40:52):
weights with all the players back in those days, like
he wanted. He wanted to be a part of the
whole success of this organization. But just a class class
organization from the top down, and it's still run in
the same manner today because of the guidance of Jim Mersay.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
We certainly covered in that obituary to Jim Irsay Judy
some of the issues that he dealt with in his life.
There were not just health issues. There were substance abuse issues.
There were personal issues, but there were no question about
two things. He was a gregarious character and he was
someone who absolutely wanted to win with the Indianapolis Colts.

Speaker 5 (41:31):
Wanted to win and has been preparing his daughters now
four years he has three daughters four years to take
over the franchise. He has been working on succession planning
for a long time. Steve mentioned Dan Snyder. It was
Jim Ursay who was the first owner to come out
and say on the record publicly that the NFL had

(41:51):
to remove Dan Snyder from the league one way or
the other. No other owner would say it publicly. He
cared very very much about the integrity of the NFL
and of the Indianapolis Colts. Just a terrible loss for
all of us.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
So once again Sad News Tonight out of Indianapolis, Jim Ersay,
the Colts CEO and owner passing away at the age
of sixty five. A man who meant a great deal
to the people of Indianapolis, meant a great deal to
his family, certainly will be missed.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
By the NFL community. Much more to come on this
edition of the.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
Insiters Sad News Tonight out of Indianapolis, where the Indianapolis
Colts have announced within the past several minutes that their

(42:50):
owner and CEO, Jim Ersay, has passed away at the
age of sixty five. Colts releasing a statement saying in
part that their started to announce their beloved owner and CEO,
Jim Mersay, passed away peacefully in his sleep this afternoon.
Jim's dedication and passion for the Indianapolis Colts, in addition
to his generosity commitment to the community, and more importantly,

(43:11):
his love for his family were unsurpassed. Our deepest sympathies
go to his daughter's Carli Erce, Gordon Casey, Foyd, Kaylin Jackson,
and his entire family as we grieve with them more
now on the life of Jim Irsa.

Speaker 4 (43:30):
The Indianapolis Colts football revival occurred under the guidance of
Jim Ursay, a man who overcame obstacles of his own.

Speaker 11 (43:39):
I had a tough childhood. I mean, you know, I
lost both my brother and sister. You know, my sister
died in the car crash when I was eleven. A
state trooper came knocking.

Speaker 6 (43:49):
On the door. And you know.

Speaker 11 (43:52):
Your sister's dad, you know, and your brother is severely
handicapped at birth and eventually died at an early age.
And so you know, a three year the only one left.
My dad died of alcoholism. My grandfather died of alcoholism.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
Ers would struggle against similar substance dependencies throughout much of
his life, often at a heavy price. But in the
early days of colts football in the Hoosier State, Jim
was very much in control of his father's team as
its youthful general manager. At the age of twenty seven,
he put together a ten player blockbuster deal that brought

(44:32):
in star running back Eric Dickerson, a move that ended
a decade of futility Dickerson.

Speaker 16 (44:38):
Trying to get outside cuts up to the thirty piece
at the twenty.

Speaker 7 (44:40):
Five twenty he did thirty four years.

Speaker 16 (44:47):
The Colts went in twenty four to six that had
the playoff for the first time in ten years, from
last twice to part.

Speaker 4 (44:55):
A decade later, Ersay made the draft choice that turned
the Colts into a an NFL powerhouse.

Speaker 17 (45:03):
With the first pick in the draft, the Indianapolis Colts
select quarterback University of Tennessee Peyton Manna.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
From this began a golden era of Colts football. Under
ersa twenty two game winning streak. That's a record one
and fourteen in this decade. That's a record.

Speaker 11 (45:27):
Looking at all other teams in the last century in
all sports.

Speaker 6 (45:31):
This is really special.

Speaker 16 (45:33):
Nine straight seasons when tenor ball wins, nine straight playoff
appearances ties a lake record.

Speaker 4 (45:41):
In two thousand and eight, hers opened a showplace stadium
for his thoroughbred team. After having already built his reputation
among league owners with a steady stream of progressive head
coaching hires.

Speaker 6 (46:01):
We want to go get this, and.

Speaker 7 (46:04):
Anyone who doesn't want more than one of these, you know,
shouldn't wear.

Speaker 6 (46:09):
A horse shoe.

Speaker 11 (46:09):
I walk in the locker room on Sunday, and you know,
we gather hands and pray and then get ready to
go on the field.

Speaker 9 (46:17):
WHOA, very whoa.

Speaker 11 (46:20):
Every single player has to know that I did everything
I can to give us a chance to win.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
Wait a pipe, babe, Wait a pipe.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Current and former Colts players waiting in tonight on the
passing of Jim Mersey at the age of sixty five.
That includes one of the franchise legends, Reggie Wayne, who
wrote on social media, this hurts my soul certainly, Judy.
There are a lot of people around the NFL who

(46:51):
have similar sentiments.

Speaker 6 (46:53):
Here.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Jim Merseys we just documented there in that obituary. With
someone who bat a lot in his personal life medically
substance abuse, was also a gregarious character. He was certainly
one of one as a human being, and he absolutely
loved and wanted to win with his Indianapolis Colts.

Speaker 5 (47:13):
I was very lucky to spend time with him and
talk to him frequently, and also visited him in his
office multiple times. I am certain he is the only
NFL owner who had a picture of Jimmy Hendrix in
his office. For example, he had the original scroll of
Jack Kerouax on the Road in his office. He had
pictures of Martin Luther King. He had candles burning in

(47:35):
his office. He would get on stage and jam with
his friends like Steven Stills and John Mellencamp. He was
a very unique character, but a very much old school
NFL owner. He was mentored by people like Wellington Mara
and Art Rooney and Pete Roselle, old school owners Lamar Hunt.

(47:57):
He wanted to lead his team that way. When he
was getting prepared to move the Colts on from the
Peyton Manning era, he studied how the Dallas Cowboys moved
on from their great era in the nineties. He believed
very much in maintaining the integrity not just of the team,

(48:18):
but of the league. He was the first owner to
say publicly on the record that the NFL had to
get Dan Snyder out of the league. Other owners had
whispered it behind the scenes, but he put himself out there.
The NFL did not know he was going to do it.
They were stunned, but it certainly got the ball rolling.
He was an extraordinary person. We should make the point

(48:41):
that the team is going to be run and has
really been run in recent years by his three daughters.
Jim Orsay took a lot of time and care in
preparing his daughters for this role. He wanted them to
have the team, he wanted them to run the team,
and he prepared them for this. I saw one of
his daughters here today, only a few hours ago at

(49:02):
the meeting. His loss is a shock to all of us.
Have been communicating with some members of the organization who
are stunned as we all are. He was an extraordinary
figure in the NFL. He brought football. He and his
father brought football to Indianapolis and turned what was certainly
a basketball state into a football state.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
Certainly you mentioned his daughters have been heavily involved in running. Really,
all aspects get to touch different portions of the organization.
No statement from the Colts at this time about who
the controlling owner will be, what the ownership structured succession
plan will be. They're going to keep the focus right
now on Jim or say the time will come for
everything else. We also have a new statement from NFL
Commissioner Roger Goodell, who wrote, in part, were deeply sad

(49:48):
and to learn of Jim Orsay's passing today. Jim was
a friend and a man deeply committed to his family,
the game, the Colts, and the Indianapolis community. He spent
his life and career in the National Football League, starting
as a team as a Colts ball boy, he learned
every position in the organization before assuming leadership of the
Colts approximately thirty years ago. Jim's Colts won the Super Bowl,

(50:09):
hosted another, and built Lucas Oil Stadium. Within the league,
Jym was an active chairman of the Legislative Committee and
member of the Finance Committee. He led with integrity, passion,
and care for the Colts players, coaches, and staff, and
his courageous work and support of mental health will be
a lasting legacy. Outside of football, he was a talented
musician and built an extraordinary collection of historical and musical

(50:32):
artifacts that he shared with people across the country on
behalf of the entire NFL. I extend my heartfelt condolences
to Jim's daughters and their families, and to his many
friends throughout the NFL. Let's welcome in our Steve Whites
as well as Brian Baldinger for more on this story. Baldy,
you not only knew Jim Mersay, you played for the Colts.

(50:54):
You know how Jim Rsey felt about his family of players.
Tell me your memories of the man you knew, Jim Irsay.

Speaker 6 (51:02):
I love the man. And this is tough. This is
really tough. Never expected this, Nobody did. So it's a shot,
but I'm just reminiscing the stories.

Speaker 7 (51:12):
I left Dallas in nineteen eighty seven and came to
the Colts in nineteen eighty eight. And I had a choice.
I could have gone to the Houston Texans. I could
have gone to the Colts. I went to the Colts
in large part. Ron Meyer was the coach that Jim
Irsay brought in. His father was running the team then
Robert Ursay. But I fell in love with the team
and with the community and still feel that way about

(51:33):
it and everybody that plays there, whether you're a Peyton
manning you're a superstar, or whether you just wore the horseshoe,
it felt special, and Jim made you feel special. He
made you feel included. My first introduction to Jim Mercy
was in the weight and he was lifting weights with
all the players back and he was still young. He
was a former college football player at Elish at SMU

(51:56):
with Ron Meyer, and you know, he mingled with the
players and he wanted to get to know you and
we could talk about the philanthropy because you can't go
downtown Indianapolis not see Lucas Oil Stadium not seeing museums
that he put his money and his interest behind in
along the river there downtown Indianapolis.

Speaker 6 (52:17):
His mark has been left everywhere. And I feel like.

Speaker 7 (52:22):
Everybody that played there knew that they played for a
first class organization and they treated you that way, in
large part because of the man of your screen right there,
Jim Merseesh, it's a tough day for all of us
that wore a horseshoe, all of us that spent time
in Indianapolis, a real world class city, brought a super
Bowl to that town, brought a brand new stadium. And look,

(52:44):
the month of May when I got there, was race month.
It was about the Indy five hundred, and that's what
we celebrated. It was Collins basketball from Notre Dame to
Purdue to South Bend, all the way down to blooming
Tim and Bobby Knight, and that changed when they drafted
Man and it became a football town.

Speaker 6 (53:02):
And it still is in large part because of Jim Mercy.

Speaker 8 (53:06):
Yeah, Baldy, Juty and time so weird. Now I'm kind
of just taking all this whole day in right. We
started out talking about the tush push and flag football,
and we have just got the ultimate humanity check right
here because a man we all know who had to
be I don't have everyone's bio here, but he has
to be one of the younger owners in the NFL

(53:28):
was just pronounced dead, you know, not too long ago.
It's again, this was a gut punch. I'm scrolling through
social media seeing someone like mcbaldy just said, so many
of his former players, so many players from other teams.

Speaker 18 (53:39):
Who knew him.

Speaker 8 (53:40):
Just his impact on the human aspect. And we know
of when we dealt with him as an owner, some
of his quirkiness, of his late night social media post,
some of the videos he made outside of his private airplane.
But in conversations we have with him, let's make care
deeply about his players, about people in that organ Again,

(54:01):
I can't think a couple of years ago when Darius
Shack Leonard, their inside linebacker, launched his foundation which really
centered around the well being of the human mind, the
mental health element of things, and how much that meant
to Jim and how much this was his and his
family's crusade. They've been a big push behind a lot

(54:21):
of initiatves with the NFL about mental health and how
important it is. And we saw one of his players,
Andrew Luck, step away from the game because he said
he would go into dark places with his mental health.
So with just so much of that impact and how
much that meant to him, how much that meant to him,
and how much he cared for his players. You know,

(54:42):
just trying to digest everything that Jim ursay meant to
this league, in that community and his team.

Speaker 18 (54:47):
It's a lot right now.

Speaker 8 (54:48):
I mean, this is very much of a gut.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
Punch, certainly sad news around the NFL tonight.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
We continue to hear the tributes pour in.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
We'll speak with one of the other former Colts players,
Brandon Stokely, in just a short time. Once again, if
you are just joining us Sad News tonight from Indianapolis,
the Colts owner and CEO, Jim Ursay has passed away.
He was just sixty five years old. Devastating news tonight
out of Indianapolis, the Colts announcing within the past hour

(55:21):
that their owner and CEO, Jim Irsay has died at
the age of sixty five, a story that we're continuing
to follow here with some of the voices who knew
Jim Irsay. Well, that includes our next guests. Former Colts
wide receiver Brandon Stokely is with us, Tom Pellicero and
Judy Batista here at the.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
Spring League meeting.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
Brandon, we know that Jim Irsay had had many challenges,
including health challenges in recent years, but still the shock
of the news tonight. What were your emotions when you
heard that Jim Mersey has passed away.

Speaker 12 (55:56):
Yeah, my son texted me and that's that's how I
got the news.

Speaker 18 (56:00):
And it hurts it really does.

Speaker 6 (56:04):
You know.

Speaker 18 (56:04):
Jim Mercy was a great owner. He was a great person.

Speaker 6 (56:08):
Uh.

Speaker 12 (56:08):
He loved his players, He took care of his players
and uh, very.

Speaker 18 (56:13):
You talk about generous guys, you know.

Speaker 12 (56:15):
Every year, you know, for Christmas, Uh, we were every
every player would have a gift on their locker. You
talk about great gifts, you know, TVs. You know, when
the PlayStation new PlayStations came out, we'd have a PlayStation,
so you talk and even after you were done playing
for him, just such a generous guy. He was a

(56:36):
great owner, and he loved the Colts obviously, But just
just awful news hearing of his passing the day because
he was he was a great guy. And that's what
I want people to remember about Jim Mercy was he
was a great guy with a big heart. Uh did
so many great things for charities and gave so much

(56:59):
to so many people in the Indiana region.

Speaker 18 (57:03):
And he loved his players, he loved the Colts.

Speaker 12 (57:06):
So yeah, just a just a tough day for everyone
involved with the Colts.

Speaker 5 (57:13):
Brandon, you were obviously with the team at its very height,
at his best days, and I wonder if you could
tell us how much that meant to him, the success
of the team and trying to keep that success going.

Speaker 6 (57:27):
Yeah, that was what.

Speaker 12 (57:27):
It was all about for for mister Iersay was was
the Colts and winning, winning, you know, that's what he
was all about. As a player, That's all you could
ask for, is you wanted your owner to be committed.
You wanted your owner to want to commit to winning
and that was mister Irsay, and that's what he did.
And so being able to be there and win that

(57:50):
Super Bowl was so special. And you know, he was
just a he was a he was a great man,
a great person that did a lot of great things
and and and really for me, that's that's that's that's
his legacy was just how Genersy was to so many
people and what a special person he was.

Speaker 18 (58:13):
And so, yeah, it's a tough day. It is anytime you.

Speaker 12 (58:17):
Lose somebody like mister Ersay, it's it's a it's a
really tough day.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
I'm sure that if Jim Mersay were with us, he'd
be saying that one of his proudest moments was bringing
that Super Bowl to Indianapolis. After the two thousand and
six season, I know that you were battling injuries that year,
you weren't able to play as much as you would
have liked. But take me back to that moment in
time in Colt's history, that team led by Peyton Manning

(58:44):
and Jim Mersey overseeing it all.

Speaker 18 (58:46):
Yeah, finally you know, able to get over the hump there.

Speaker 12 (58:49):
And you know, I wasn't able to be on the
football field because I tore my achilles, but they treated
me like I was a part of the team. And
that's the way mister Arthsay treated all his players. Like
I said, he was first class all the way, even
when you're done playing, and the tradition will continue with
his daughters and they're the same way.

Speaker 13 (59:08):
So.

Speaker 12 (59:09):
But being able to win that Super Bowl finally to
get over the hump, I know that was special for
him and his family and also for all the coach fans.

Speaker 11 (59:17):
Uh.

Speaker 12 (59:18):
But certainly that's what it was all about, and that's
what he was all about, and that's what he did.

Speaker 18 (59:23):
He wanted to win. And when you have it, like
I said, when you have an owner.

Speaker 12 (59:27):
Like that, as committed to winning and doing whatever it
takes to winning as a player, you know that that's
all you can ask for. And mister Ursay set the
example for the Colts and he was He was a
special person, He really was, and he did so many
great things, not only you know, for the players, but

(59:47):
you know, for the community. And I think that's what
that's what people need to remember, is what he did
for for for the state of Indiana and for all
the charities that he supported. He was so generous, and
I think that's his lasting legacy here is.

Speaker 6 (01:00:02):
Yeah, he was a great.

Speaker 18 (01:00:03):
Owner, special owner for all of us players.

Speaker 12 (01:00:08):
But he gave so much back to the state of
Indiana and did so many things for charities that you
didn't go notice. And he was a special person and
he was a great owner.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Brandon appreciated you on a tough night and on short
notice here join us.

Speaker 18 (01:00:26):
We do appreciate it. Thanks Tom, Thanks Judy. I appreciate y'all.

Speaker 6 (01:00:30):
Thank you.

Speaker 18 (01:00:32):
Once again.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
The breaking news and very sad news tonight. Jim Ersay,
the owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, a man
who was a ball boy for the team, was the
general manager, eventually became the principal owner after his father's
passing in nineteen ninety seven, has passed away himself. Jim
Orsay was sixty five years old. Breaking and devastating news tonight, ontime.

(01:01:10):
Colts owner Jim Ersay has passed away at the age
of sixty five. His Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning
weighing in on Instagram a short time ago, saying I
am heartbroken to hear about Jim Ursay's passing. He was
an incredibly generous and passionate owner, and I will always
be indebted to him for giving me my start in

(01:01:30):
the NFL. Words that have been echoed by many former
Colts players and others who knew Jim Orsay well, welcome back,
Tom Pella, Sero, Judy Batista, and Steve Whitz, joined also
by another former Colts player, Brian Baldinger, who has many
memories of the former Colts owner Paldi.

Speaker 7 (01:01:50):
You know, I think if Peyton could go on and
on and on right now, he would talk about the
loyalty that Jim Ersay had to employees in the building.
We all know a lot of buildings in this league.
They are not very patient when they change coaches. But
Pete Ward and the front office is still there. Dave
Hammer is still running the equipment, the training room, Hunter Smith,

(01:02:12):
who was running the training room for as long as
he was needed to be there, wanted to be there.
Guys that won the video the video department, they're still there.
The equipment managers are still there, incredibly loyal to the
people that work there underneath Jim Mercy. And if they
had a voice on this show right now, Tom and
I'm sure they're sharing it. Sharing it right now on

(01:02:32):
a variety of formats out there, they would feel the
same way and be very thankful for the loyalty that
Jim Mersey showed people in that organization. You go there
to fifty sixth Street right now, you run into those
very sane people that I work for and commiserated with
forty years ago, thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:02:49):
Five years ago.

Speaker 5 (01:02:54):
Paldy I would echo that he was tremendously loyal to
his franchise, tremendously loyal to his city. You know, when
the team moved from Baltimore, obviously they left a lot
of fans behind and a lot of employees behind, and
he apologized to many of them. He was a warm,
wonderful owner, a credit to the NFL, to Indianapolis, a

(01:03:17):
tremendous loss. Jim Orsay dead tonight at the age of
sixty five.