“Means So Much”: Jim Irsay’s Daughter Shoots Heart-Melting Messages to the Colts Fans and Players After the Banger Season Opener

When the Colts clinched a stupendous win during Sunday’s season opener over Miami, Coach Shane Steichen breathed a sigh of despair. It’s as contradictory as it sounds. The moment Daniel Jones ran for two touchdowns and threw for another one, the Colts dodged the most ruthless record of an 11-winless opening game streak. Fans burst into celebration, the locker room beamed with pride, a slew of franchise legends, and someone from the sky chuckled a little as if he knew what his boys could do. Late Jim Irsay, who died in May, had watched down on the team from afar, as the coach believed. Moreover, Irsay’s daughter had something special to add to mark the team’s first win without his dad. "There's a man who gave so much to this city and this organization," Steichen said of Irsay in a heartwarming mid-game speech. "He's not with us physically, but he's in this locker room spiritually. He's watching down on us. And he raised three daughters to run a football team. And we couldn't be more thankful." "Jim, we love you, we miss you,” quarterback Peyton Manning added to the overflowing emotion after the legend was inducted into the Ring of Honor, and the Irsay daughters couldn’t help but join. Kalen Jackson, the daughter of Jim Irsay, the co-owner and chief brand officer of the Indianapolis Colts, said, “This means so much. Someone said the [retractable] roof was open so he could watch us, and he was with every single one of you. He loved this team so much.” Jackson also thanked fans who all etched their art onto the piece of paper and made Jim alive at the Lucas Oil Stadium this Sunday through a splendid mural. Jackson and the other two, Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, were given three prestigious game balls by the coach after the game went down, symbolic of a strong transition as they have seamlessly been carrying the torch since their father’s demise. They say legends die, their spirit carries on. Jim has left so many unfinished wishes and works that the next generation automatically took the chair and let the legacy flow. Irsay has been a fixture on and off the field. “He loved the Colts, the horseshoe, and was the kind of owner every player dreams of playing for,” Payton Manning rightly articulated. Jim was and is deeply loved across Indianapolis. His death brought his broad philanthropic gestures and thoughts to the surface, making him more of an idol to future generations. Starting from kicking the stigma campaign that contributed significantly to the mental health industry to paying for the funerals of the people who lost their loved ones, the former Colts owner carved a path that’s beyond football. That’s not just it. Jim also left a wish to donate an enormous amount of money to every Colts staff member as a token of his last thank you! His daughters will continue walking in his path, but a leader like him remains a lost treasure.Also read: Who plays football tonight? Monday night football schedule for September 8 | NFL News - The Times of India