INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts announced that owner Jim Irsay died Wednesday afternoon at age 65, “peacefully in his sleep.” 

Irsay became the sole owner of the Colts in 1997. In his time as the owner of the Colts, the team won 10 division titles, made it to the Super Bowl twice, and won Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy was the head coach of the Colts for seven years, from 2002-2008. He said that Irsay’s passing was a total shock.

“Something that was unexpected and obviously a very sad moment for our family as well as all the Colts family,” Dungy said. “Just hard to believe.”

“He had a tremendous impact on me, and it’s just like a brotherhood,” Dungy said. “I remember the first time he called me and talked about his vision for the Colts and the city of Indianapolis and what he wanted to accomplish. He wanted us to be good, obviously, but he wanted to connect with the fanbase. He wanted to impact the city. He wanted to win, but do it the right way. And I’ll tell you, Jim was one of the most compassionate people that I have ever known. He did so many things behind the scenes for not only our players and our staff, but for the city and for individuals that people would never even hear about. But he just did it out of the goodness of his heart. And he brough so much success to the city as well.”

“He wanted to the team to be successful,” Dungy said. “But more than that, he wanted to do it in Indianapolis. He wanted to connect. His one passion was getting a new stadium so the team would be able to stay there. I think Lucas Oil Stadium was his dream. And the fact that it’s doing so much now and housing so many events that bring people into the city, not just for the Colts, but for all sports fans and all Indianapolis people, for that matter.”

Dungy was asked where the city of Indianapolis would be without Irsay.

“I don’t think we even can measure and know the impact,” Dungy said. “He did so many things that just never were talked about. He just did them under the radar, just taking care of so many people, giving donations to groups, people who needed it, really just reaching out to everyone. And that’s what I’ll always love about him.”

Dungy helped lead the Colts to a Super Bowl title in the 2006 season.

He went 85-27 in his time in Indianapolis.

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