Jim Irsay, the longtime owner of the Indianapolis Colts, was no stranger to the spotlight—or to candidly discussing his personal battles. But in the months leading up to his death in May 2025 at age 65, a far more complicated and private struggle was unfolding behind the scenes, one that would only come to light through a sweeping investigation by The Washington Post and subsequent reporting from outlets such as CBS Sports and Outkick.
According to the Washington Post, Irsay spent the last two years of his life in the throes of a relapse into opioid and ketamine use, a battle he and key Colts executives worked hard to keep from public view. The report, which drew on interviews with five people who had direct knowledge of Irsay’s relapse, as well as medical and police records, paints a picture of a man grappling with addiction in private even as he championed mental health and substance abuse awareness in public.
Those close to Irsay described a pattern that grew increasingly alarming. In December 2023 alone, he overdosed twice—first at his home in Carmel, Indiana, and then just twelve days later at a rental property in Miami. The latter incident left him hospitalized for nearly four months. These were not isolated events: the investigation uncovered at least one additional overdose in February 2020, while Irsay was in Turks and Caicos. In total, three overdoses were confirmed in the last five years of his life.
Despite these emergencies, the Colts organization issued public statements attributing Irsay’s hospitalizations to a "severe respiratory illness," heart failure, or recovery from back surgery. When pressed, Irsay himself pushed back on the notion of an overdose, telling local media he was simply recuperating from surgery. But police and medical records, as well as the accounts of those close to him, told a different story.
At the center of Irsay’s final years was Dr. Harry Haroutunian, a California-based addiction specialist who prescribed over 200 opioid pills to Irsay in the days before his December 2023 overdoses and later administered ketamine injections. Four of the five sources interviewed by The Washington Post said they had seen Irsay receive ketamine injections; all five had witnessed him consuming opioid pills. The doses, some said, were alarming for someone with Irsay’s medical history, which included chronic heart issues.
In a phone interview with The Washington Post, Haroutunian said, "I dedicated 18 months of my life to try to care for him … as a brother. We did everything we could to make him as comfortable as possible." However, he did not respond to further inquiries detailing the specifics of the reporting. When Irsay died at the Beverly Hills Hotel in May 2025, Haroutunian signed the death certificate, listing cardiac arrest due to pneumonia and heart disease as the cause. No autopsy or toxicology tests were performed, and the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner declined to investigate further, stating the death was not considered sudden or unexpected. As experts told The Washington Post, without toxicology testing, it is impossible to know whether drugs contributed to his death.
The secrecy around Irsay’s health extended beyond his immediate medical care. According to former Colts employees, chief operating officer Pete Ward and general counsel Dan Emerson played central roles in shielding Irsay’s relapses from the public. When a Colts executive called 911 during the December 2023 incident at Irsay’s home, the dispatcher was told only that Irsay might be suffering from heart failure—no mention was made of pills or possible drug use. Emerson later defended their actions, telling The Washington Post, "We handled everything in an appropriate, professional, ethical, and moral fashion… I really wish everybody would let my friend rest in peace." Ward, for his part, said, "I’ve always approached my responsibilities with the utmost professionalism and care. Out of respect for everyone, I don’t believe it’s appropriate to comment on anyone’s private health matters, whether living or deceased."
Even within Irsay’s inner circle, concerns about his treatment grew. Two days before his Florida overdose in December 2023, Irsay fired a nurse who had tried to hide his pills out of fear he was consuming them too quickly—an act that, according to a police report, underscored just how fraught his care had become. The same nurse’s dismissal was a harbinger of the crisis to come.
Yet, for all the secrecy, Irsay’s public persona was defined by openness about his struggles. He first acknowledged his dependence on prescription pain medications in 2002, entering rehab and later describing that experience as his "greatest moment." In 2014, he was suspended for six games and fined $500,000 by the NFL after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated—a consequence that brought further scrutiny to his personal battles. "Any way I can take away from the stigma is good," Irsay told reporters after his suspension. "What’s really important is that you can be honest."
This philosophy underpinned the Colts’ "Kicking the Stigma" campaign, launched in 2020 to promote mental health awareness and support those struggling with addiction. The initiative quickly became a cornerstone of the franchise’s community outreach, culminating in the Colts being named the 2025 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year at the ESPY Awards. "We can either be an example through death, or an example through living," Irsay told the Indy Star in 2022. "You’re going to be an example one way or another, and I’ve had a courtside view my whole life in so many different ways with this (mental health) issue. Kicking the Stigma has given me an avenue to discuss this."
Following Irsay’s death, his daughters—Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, and Kalen Jackson—assumed control of the Colts. In a joint statement to the media, they emphasized their father’s openness about addiction and mental health, while also requesting privacy. "Our Dad was open about his battles with addiction and mental health. He never claimed to be perfect," they wrote. "The media is not the place to address inquiries about information which is disputed, lacks essential context, or involves private medical matters." Their focus, they said, remains on honoring his legacy, his decades of philanthropy, his loyalty to the Colts and its fans, and his passion for mental health advocacy, music, and second chances.
Jim Irsay’s story is one of contradictions—of public candor and private pain, of advocacy and secrecy, of triumphs on the football field and tragedies behind closed doors. As the Colts prepare to induct him into the team’s Ring of Honor this September, his legacy as both a champion for mental health and a cautionary tale about the hidden costs of addiction will linger, offering lessons for the NFL and beyond.
