His punishment at the hands of Roger Goodell and the NFL remains unclear, but Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay says he’s doing everything he can to get back on the right track.
In an exclusive interview with the Indianapolis Star, his first since he was arrested for a DUI in March, Irsay opened up about his struggles with alcoholism and the path he is taking to recovery.
“It’s all been a blessing, just being able to focus on my health and redouble the efforts on recovery,” Irsay said, via The Star. “It’s been a long path. I still have chronic pain. But it was the good thing. … In some ways, (going through rehab) is my greatest moment. It takes courage to try and overcome the difficulties you have.”
Despite his March arrest in which he “failed several field sobriety tests,” Irsay claims he has been alcohol-free for more than a decade. While he wouldn’t go into specifics about the night he was arrested, the Colts owner said he didn’t feel the need to apologize for his actions.
“I don’t think that’s something I’ll address right now,” he said. “There are certain things I want to say that I can’t say. We need to let the process go forward and I’ll address that later. I’m a human being; if there’s something I have to apologize for, I would, but at this point, it wouldn’t be appropriate.”
Irsay’s recent run-in with the law has sparked a heated debate as to what punishment he should receive from Goodell. Last week, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith accused the league of having a “credibility gap” between how it punishes its owners and its players for similar crimes.
Goodell has since denied Smith’s claims and insisted that the NFL’s personal conduct policy “applies to everyone.”
Photo via Twitter/@jconline
