Jim Irsay and the vision quest powwow

After a daylong powwow Jim Irsay has a clear path for the future. 

Do these guys look like they took a trip or what?

I’m not saying that Jim Irsay is a guy who advocates hard drugs of any kind. All I’m saying is that Jim Irsay looks like the kinda guy whose idea of conflict resolution is shoving a square paper under your tongue, locking you in a room for 8-to-10 hours and then going spelunking in the inner recesses of your psyche.

Next thing you know you’re swimming in sunshine. Running across the oil-slicked plains of Peyton Manning’s never-ending forehead. Canoeing through the slobber puddles lodged in Andrew Luck’s neck beard. Wading through the Gore to finally emerge in the pillowy gloved beds at a Hilton.

Sometimes the tactic works, the third eye opens and next thing you know you’re listening to Pet Sounds under the clearest sky you’ve ever known. All doors are ajar. The windows of truth are open and the path to glory is tastefully laid out, brick by brick.

Other times you’re hovering under a barrage of storm clouds, rolling over the league’s 32 logos and wondering if the reason your team is in the shitter is because Colts isn’t a strong name. Stallions? Thoroughbreds? Ponies? People bet the ponies. Bet on the Indianapolis Ponies. Colts. .45 Colt. Shoot straight with the Colts. Horseshoe. Good Lucky Charms …

Whatever happened in that back room, Irsay, Chuck Pagano and Ryan Grigson walked into that boardroom a fractured mess. By meeting’s end they were a cohesive unit prepared to saddle up for another four years. Irsay sailed the boat across troubled waters and opted for continuity over making splashes. Splashes are too aggressive.

"“Waking up this morning, I’m always hopeful for continuity. I could have walked someone in that door tonight or tomorrow night and have them walking in with eight figures a year … and making a big splash. If that was the best for us, believe me, I would do it.”"

Another successful vision quest.

"“It was getting together and getting in there and getting honest,” Irsay said, “getting everything right and getting a clear vision going forward.”"

The long, strange trip continues.