Irsay Set for Colts' Return to Baltimore

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay talks to reporters about the selection of Roger Goodell, the NFL's chief operating officer, to succede Paul Tagliabue as the league's new commissioner during NFL meetings Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006 in Northbrook Ill. Goodell will assume the duties of commissioner when Tagliabue officially retires prior the the start of this year's regular NFL season. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (M. Spencer Green - AP)

"I know he didn't want to move, but the business model was crumbling and his attorneys felt with the eminent domain threat, the city was going to move on the team," Jim Irsay said. "That's why there was a sudden move _ there was so much fear on both sides."

The secondary role Irsay played in the ticket office and accounting department back then matters little to the fans of today. After all, he's still an Irsay.

The 47-year-old owner, who inherited the team from his late father a decade ago, hopes this weekend's reception will be more pleasant than his first trip back home in 1998. On that trip, Irsay remembers seeing a T-shirt with a Ravens fan urinating on his father's grave.

Indianapolis returned to Baltimore again in 2001 and lost 39-27 before finally winning 24-7 at Baltimore in the 2005 season opener. Saturday will be the Colts first playoff game in Baltimore since 1977.

"I was always taught to pray for people who have that sort of weight still on them," Irsay said. "If people want to harbor resentment, what can you do?"

Over the years, some of the outrage has waned. The hate mail has basically stopped, Irsay said.

But some former players still shun their Colts legacy, choosing instead to stay with the Baltimore lineage. And to fans, nothing is more enticing than beating the Colts. Even beating the dreaded Steelers or the Browns, who left Cleveland and moved to Baltimore in 1996 with the promise of a new stadium, pales in comparison to a win over Indy.

"That's important to a lot of people," quarterback Steve McNair said. "We know it's important to the fans."

It is, however, mostly a fan thing. The significance is virtually lost on today's players, most of whom were small children _ or not even born yet _ when Irsay's father made his decision to leave town.

"I'd probably say that two-thirds of our players don't even know that we started in Baltimore," coach Tony Dungy said. "If you talk about Willie Mays or Jim Brown, they don't even know who those guys are."

Irsay, however, still carries fond memories from his Baltimore days.

He remembers going to training camp in Golden, Colo., in 1972, and being asked to move off the training table by John Unitas. He recalls the parties, the players, the celebrations, the disappointments and how his father groomed him to take over.

One of his daughters was born there, and he still has close friends in Baltimore.

Yet as much as Irsay hopes the city forgives, he realizes it may never forget.

"Having the name Irsay, some people will try to tie things into that, but all I can speak of is my legacy as an owner, which really began in 1998," Irsay said. "And the move was not part of my ownership legacy."