During the two-plus hours Jim Irsay spent on Monday with Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star, the Colts owner took a page from Carrot Top. Irsay used a prop.
Of course, it may not have been a prop. For Irsay’s sake, let’s hope it was.
Irsay complained during the interview about the news that he had more than $29,000 in cash at the time of his March 2014 arrest. Irsay brushed it off as a direct product of his generosity, and he produced a briefcase containing stacks of $100 bills to prove his point.
Setting aside the potential connection between carrying that much cash and purchasing the kinds of things that can’t be charged to a debit card (then again, as Josh Alper noted via email, you never know when the bank is going to pack up and move in the middle of the night), Irsay’s decision to carry that kind of cash -- and to flaunt it -- represents the kind of reckless judgment that will make him the target of those who would do him harm.
The rich inherently risk attracting interest from those with criminal intentions. Sean Taylor’s murder, for example, flowed from a belief by a group of then-teenagers that he had a bunch of cash in his house. While the more sophisticated bandits realize that most rich people don’t carry around large chunks of their money, they now know that Irsay does.
Well, perhaps he does. It’s possible if not likely that Irsay brought a briefcase full of Benjamins to his interview with Kravitz in an effort to keep anyone from thinking that Irsay carries a lot of cash only when he’s buy drugs illegally.
That nuance could be lost on the guy who will now case Irsay’s home or office waiting for an opportunity to rob him of cash that he may not be carrying. For that reason, Irsay should be using some of his considerable cash to have one or more security officers with him at all times.
Meanwhile, Colts fans should hope Irsay applies far better judgment to the management of his team than he does to the preservation of his life and limb.
To hear Kravitz talking about the Irsay interview on Wednesday’s PFT Live, click the appropriate spot below.