Jim Irsay Has a Long Road

Sep 16, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay and general manager Ryan Grigson stand on the sidelines before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis defeats Minnesota 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay, was released form Hamilton County Jail at 1:30 pm ET. He made no statement and his twitter account has been silent as well. That’s not normal for the man who seems to live on twitter. This is not a normal day for him. Irsay is being charged with four felony accounts of possession of a controlled substance. He will definitely have to pay some fines and he could be looking at six months in prison or more. A lot of it depends on the circumstances surrounding the event. We don’t know all of the details still. We should know more after his court date which is set for Wednesday.

If Irsay is found guilty, he will be looking at more consequences from the league. The NFL policies clearly state that there is no difference between player, coach or owner in this situation. More than likely Irsay will have to pay fines and maybe more. It’s very likely that he will have to participate in the leagues substance abuse program. Many fans may think that the program is only for on the field issues, performance enhancing drugs, or for players only. This program is for player and owner a like. It’s also for any type of substance abuse on and off the field.

You may remember back in 2010 when punter Pat McAfee was arrested for public intoxication. He had decided to take a swim in the white river and no one in their right mind would do that sober. As a result McAfee was suspended for one game and entered into the substance abuse program. This may not seem like a big deal, but according to McAfee it’s more than you might imagine.

In an article Pat wrote for Fox Sports last year he explained his experience in the program. The NFL had him evaluated by multiple psychiatrists and psychologists, plus they had him take several tests. This was all to determine how bad his substance abuse problem was.

Stage one of this program entailed multiple drug tests a month. There were also weekly meetings. Finally the league wanted to know his location at all times. After 90 days of that he was notified that he was in stage two which was pretty much the same thing for 730 days. He never entered stage three but if he had he would stay in that stage for the rest of his NFL career.

This is no light or simple program and you can expect Jim Irsay to be introduced to the program if he decides to stay with the NFL. In summary, Jim Irsay will face a lot of consequences for this action. More than most people will know or see.