7. Jim Irsay, Indianapolis Colts
While he’s not quite on par with Mark Cuban as a spotlight hog, Irsay is the NFL’s answer to him in a few ways.
When the Colts lost to the Patriots in consecutive playoffs, Irsay and general manager Bill Polian complained to the NFL, looking for rule changes to make New England’s physical defense illegal.
A decade later, Indianapolis lost another AFC Championship Game to the Patriots. Then, Ryan Grigson (no doubt, led by Irsay) led the charge that started Deflategate. The Colts’ front office was so convinced its team got cheated that it completely ignored the many holes on its roster that offseason.
In 2013, Irsay expressed regret about the Peyton Manning era, saying that it was a “disappointment” that the team won only a single Super Bowl with Manning at the helm.
Admittedly, when Manning’s Colts teams only won a single Super Bowl, it seemed like a disappointment. But there’s another way to look at this.
A team owned by Jim Irsay won a Super Bowl. For more than a decade, Irsay looked like a competent NFL owner. That’s not a “disappointment.” That’s a minor miracle.