1
00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:05,000
Speaker 1: Welcome in to high volume. This podcast is going to

2
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,240
Speaker 1: be a little bit different than what you've seen in

3
00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,760
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks. The volume won't be that high.

4
00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:16,800
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, as you've heard, the Colts

5
00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,080
Speaker 1: family has suffered a loss in the passing of our

6
00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,720
Speaker 1: owner Jim Mersay. I wanted to bring out a man

7
00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,720
Speaker 1: that meant so much to Jim Mersey, and that was

8
00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: a hand picked head coach that led him to a

9
00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:35,479
Speaker 1: decade of greatness unmatched in the NFL, A partnership that

10
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,200
Speaker 1: lasted for seven years, so many wins, so many wins

11
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:44,159
Speaker 1: off the field as well, And I welcome in Colts

12
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,960
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dunch You.

13
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,640
Speaker 2: I apologize, Coach. No, I'm with you. Jeffrey.

14
00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:53,040
Speaker 1: I know.

15
00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:55,279
Speaker 2: I'm with you.

16
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,280
Speaker 3: I know how much Jim meant to you. He meant

17
00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,600
Speaker 3: the same thing you talked about our partnership. But man,

18
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 3: Jim Mersey was special to me and Jeffrey, I can

19
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,479
Speaker 3: take you back to the very very first phone call

20
00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,800
Speaker 3: I had gotten let go by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

21
00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 3: in January two thousand and two. I come home one

22
00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,839
Speaker 3: day and I'm not feeling great and there's a ten

23
00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 3: minute voicemail.

24
00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,800
Speaker 2: Message famous for those yes and.

25
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,240
Speaker 3: Said, this is Jim Mersey. I want you to call

26
00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,080
Speaker 3: me back. You're the man that I want to lead

27
00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,480
Speaker 3: our team, and here's why. And he went on and

28
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,360
Speaker 3: talked about He talked a little bit about Super Bowls Jeffrey,

29
00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,680
Speaker 3: but he talked more about the team, the organization, the city,

30
00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,959
Speaker 3: connecting with the fans, being part of the community, all

31
00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,920
Speaker 3: the things that were just music to my ears. And

32
00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:50,880
Speaker 3: then at the end he said, I want you to

33
00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,120
Speaker 3: call me back. Don't have your agent call. This is

34
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 3: between you and me. And I called Jim back and

35
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,520
Speaker 3: we talked for about forty five minutes, and he really

36
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,560
Speaker 3: talked about his vision for the team and making it

37
00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,920
Speaker 3: part of the city of Indianapolis, part of the landscape,

38
00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:08,639
Speaker 3: and he wanted us to.

39
00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:09,359
Speaker 2: Do it together.

40
00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,760
Speaker 3: He wanted to bring a championship there, but do it

41
00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,080
Speaker 3: the right way. And boy, was really special. It only

42
00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,280
Speaker 3: took me about ten minutes to say, this is where

43
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,080
Speaker 3: I want to be, this is where I want to work.

44
00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,040
Speaker 3: And it was just a great partnership from there on out.

45
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,440
Speaker 1: But coach, I'm sure you did your leg work with

46
00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,040
Speaker 1: your team and your family of who am I going

47
00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,359
Speaker 1: to work for? What is Jim Irsay? And we've seen

48
00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,680
Speaker 1: some great stories and eccentric stories through the years of

49
00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,800
Speaker 1: mister Ersay and that partnership even between you two a

50
00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,840
Speaker 1: gregarious loud owner and Tony Dungee, that's always even keel.

51
00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,720
Speaker 1: How did that partnership get so close so quickly with

52
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:49,840
Speaker 1: your personalities.

53
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 3: I think it was the fact that we had the

54
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,280
Speaker 3: same things in mind and the same end goal. Jim

55
00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,560
Speaker 3: was just such a caring person and he wanted the

56
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:04,840
Speaker 3: team to be Indianapolis's team, and I wanted the same thing.

57
00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,480
Speaker 3: I wanted our young men to be involved in the city,

58
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,840
Speaker 3: to represent the Colts the right way, to represent the

59
00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,240
Speaker 3: ursa family, all of those things. So that was our

60
00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,040
Speaker 3: mission in mind, and we're talking about that in terms

61
00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,840
Speaker 3: of the players that we selected, the staff that we had,

62
00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:26,120
Speaker 3: and then Jim just really made the Colts Complex a

63
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:31,480
Speaker 3: family oriented situation. Everyone felt comfortable bringing their kids there,

64
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,840
Speaker 3: bringing their wives, just being.

65
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,400
Speaker 2: Part of the building. And that's what I enjoyed.

66
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,760
Speaker 3: And the fact that I could walk down the hall

67
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,280
Speaker 3: anytime day or night and walk in the door was

68
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,480
Speaker 3: always open. Hey, Jim, we want to talk about this Hey,

69
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,400
Speaker 3: what about that? And it just the more I talked

70
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,760
Speaker 3: to him, the more I understood this is what we're

71
00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,720
Speaker 3: both all about, and it just was very very special.

72
00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,880
Speaker 1: The tenacity of Jim Ursay is a funny one because

73
00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,400
Speaker 1: he's such a loving, as I said, gregarious person and

74
00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,080
Speaker 1: wants to be friends with everybody. But on Sundays that

75
00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,720
Speaker 1: kind of changed. I mean, he wanted to gut you, coach.

76
00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,160
Speaker 1: He wanted to gut you so like, what were those

77
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,280
Speaker 1: meetings like when he would call you in and the

78
00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,120
Speaker 1: general manager, Bill Pollian, and you guys are rolling through

79
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,000
Speaker 1: double digit wins and stuff. Did you always notice that

80
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,200
Speaker 1: tenacity to get better and better and what can I

81
00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 1: do to help the bolt Club?

82
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:26,880
Speaker 2: Oh?

83
00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,120
Speaker 3: Yes, he wanted the team to get better and he

84
00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,960
Speaker 3: would spare no expense, whatever it took.

85
00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,320
Speaker 2: That was the other thing that I really loved.

86
00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,280
Speaker 3: Anytime I went down there and said, hey, we could

87
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,280
Speaker 3: really use this or I think this would help us, Jim,

88
00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,080
Speaker 3: there was no question about it.

89
00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,880
Speaker 2: I remember we played a preseason game out.

90
00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,320
Speaker 3: In Seattle and they had this what everybody uses now

91
00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,039
Speaker 3: field turf, but it was just so much softer and

92
00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,760
Speaker 3: so much nicer than what we had and Jim said, Hey,

93
00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,560
Speaker 3: the players have talked to me, so we're doing this.

94
00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,520
Speaker 3: We're taking the RCA Dome new field. We're going to

95
00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,120
Speaker 3: put the same thing in on our complex. I don't

96
00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:03,880
Speaker 3: even know how much that costs, but he did it

97
00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,359
Speaker 3: in thirty seconds because the player said, hey, we really

98
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,719
Speaker 3: like this and it could help. That's just the way

99
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,120
Speaker 3: he was about everything. If we need it, we'll do

100
00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,839
Speaker 3: it whatever it takes. We want to be the best.

101
00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,560
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what he's shown it so many

102
00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,920
Speaker 1: hundreds and thousands of times about helping the community and

103
00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,480
Speaker 1: helping the people at work in the Colts family. And

104
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:26,840
Speaker 1: there's some great stories that are personal to you. If

105
00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,200
Speaker 1: I could just a gentleman that I had the pleasure

106
00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,120
Speaker 1: of meeting your great father Wilbur and you know you

107
00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,120
Speaker 1: came out and took this job, and we'd see him

108
00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:37,840
Speaker 1: here and there, and I know the story behind that

109
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,360
Speaker 1: you've told that, but a real connection with Jim, and

110
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,640
Speaker 1: he was a member of the family as well, traveling

111
00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:43,600
Speaker 1: to all games.

112
00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:44,919
Speaker 2: He really was.

113
00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,920
Speaker 3: And my dad was seventy seven when I got the job.

114
00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,400
Speaker 3: But he would come to practice, come to training camp,

115
00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:52,800
Speaker 3: come on Fridays.

116
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:54,479
Speaker 2: Jim would see him and talk to him.

117
00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,039
Speaker 3: And the first year of two thousand and two was

118
00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,440
Speaker 3: just really special having my dad. He'd drive over from

119
00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,480
Speaker 3: Michigan and come to the games. And then Jim saw

120
00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,520
Speaker 3: him at an away game and he said, does your dad.

121
00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:09,839
Speaker 2: Go to the Way games too?

122
00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:11,599
Speaker 3: And I said, well, he does, and the ones that

123
00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:13,720
Speaker 3: he can make it to, and he said, just tell

124
00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,000
Speaker 3: him to come here. We're putting him on the team playing.

125
00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,680
Speaker 3: So two thousand and three season, my dad went to

126
00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,080
Speaker 3: every road trip on the team plane and hung out

127
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,680
Speaker 3: with Jim because he wanted him there. And then my

128
00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,760
Speaker 3: dad passed away after that two thousand and three season,

129
00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,520
Speaker 3: But the memory of me being able to spend every

130
00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,919
Speaker 3: weekend with my dad because Jim just felt it was

131
00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,960
Speaker 3: necessary and special. That's who he was. And those are

132
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,160
Speaker 3: the things that you never ever forget.

133
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,080
Speaker 1: Jeffrey, coach, You've had such a great run as this

134
00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,800
Speaker 1: head coach of this franchise. Rather and all of a sudden,

135
00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,440
Speaker 1: you know the house that some say Peyton built, the

136
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,640
Speaker 1: house that Jim Mersey built in a great home for football,

137
00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,400
Speaker 1: Lucas Oil Stadium. And the fun part about that was

138
00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,240
Speaker 1: you were considering not coming back there, and Jim said,

139
00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,880
Speaker 1: I need you to steward in this new this new stadium,

140
00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,520
Speaker 1: because we've got a collection of great players that are

141
00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:11,360
Speaker 1: going to win some games.

142
00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:12,360
Speaker 2: Yeah.

143
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,400
Speaker 3: When I came in two thousand and two, Jim, you know,

144
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:17,880
Speaker 3: we need a new stadium. It's got to be in Indianapolis.

145
00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,400
Speaker 3: It's got to be downtown. We've got to solidify this

146
00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,760
Speaker 3: partnership between the Colts and the city. And that was

147
00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:28,560
Speaker 3: always his dream. So it comes to fruition. Everything goes through.

148
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,320
Speaker 3: We're building it. And I came to Jim after our

149
00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,640
Speaker 3: two thousand and seven season. I said, I really think, Jim,

150
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:38,680
Speaker 3: this is time for me to step down. We've got

151
00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,920
Speaker 3: it rolling. I think I'm gonna step down. And he said,

152
00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,040
Speaker 3: you can't. You have to go in this new stadium.

153
00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,120
Speaker 3: We've got to go in together. And I came back

154
00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,120
Speaker 3: for one more year just because Jim wanted to go

155
00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,120
Speaker 3: into the stadium with he and I together with the

156
00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:56,640
Speaker 3: rest of the.

157
00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:57,760
Speaker 2: Team as one.

158
00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,160
Speaker 3: And it was it was a special just the fact

159
00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,160
Speaker 3: that he wanted that made all the difference in the

160
00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:04,760
Speaker 3: world to me.

161
00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,880
Speaker 1: We talked about the brilliant football manag Jim Ersay, a

162
00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,200
Speaker 1: guy we know the stories, you know, a socks and

163
00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,360
Speaker 1: jocks guy back in the day and going up through

164
00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,200
Speaker 1: the front office, you know, general manager to owner and

165
00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,480
Speaker 1: stuff like that. But those meetings, you guys would would

166
00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,920
Speaker 1: talk about and dissect football. I'm going to bring up

167
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,280
Speaker 1: an incident or one of the examples here in a minute,

168
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,240
Speaker 1: but I just want you to touch on his football

169
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:26,440
Speaker 1: acumen for a minute.

170
00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,640
Speaker 3: Well, he when we first talked, he said, you know,

171
00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:31,840
Speaker 3: I grew up. I was a ball boy during the

172
00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,560
Speaker 3: Steelers dynasty. I was a ballboy for the Colts. I

173
00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,600
Speaker 3: saw it firsthand. That's what I want to bring and

174
00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,040
Speaker 3: that's what I want to build. So he had that

175
00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,000
Speaker 3: all the way back from watching football as a little kid,

176
00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,280
Speaker 3: growing watching talking to coaches, climbing the ladder in the

177
00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,000
Speaker 3: personnel department, become the general manager and then the owner finally,

178
00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,840
Speaker 3: and he knew football. He knew what he wanted. But

179
00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,480
Speaker 3: the thing I loved about it was he would state

180
00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:58,720
Speaker 3: his opinion, this is what we need to do, but

181
00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,480
Speaker 3: you and Bill the football guys, so you're gonna make

182
00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,839
Speaker 3: the final decision. This is what I see, but it's

183
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,120
Speaker 3: up to you. And I really respected that, and we'd

184
00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,199
Speaker 3: always ask him for his opinion. But it was never dogmatic.

185
00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,480
Speaker 3: You know, if you don't do this, you're gonna get fired. Right, No,

186
00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:16,760
Speaker 3: this is the way I see it. But you're in

187
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,080
Speaker 3: charge of the team, and we made a lot of

188
00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:21,520
Speaker 3: decisions together, I.

189
00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,160
Speaker 1: Tell you, and their history has proven that, coach. One

190
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,640
Speaker 1: particular stretch of time that if you could touch on

191
00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,800
Speaker 1: was that Super Bowl season and it's I think maybe

192
00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:36,480
Speaker 1: Game fourteen or whatever. Jacksonville was down there and Fred

193
00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,040
Speaker 1: Taylor's going nuts and Jones Drew goes nuts and there's

194
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,520
Speaker 1: three hundred and seventy five yards on your defense, and

195
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,120
Speaker 1: in the locker room afterwards, there's a lot of people

196
00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,440
Speaker 1: that are, you know, very like, what are we gonna do?

197
00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,160
Speaker 1: I don't think this is gonna work. We're going into

198
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,640
Speaker 1: the playoffs and stuff. And obviously you helped steady the ship.

199
00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,720
Speaker 1: But coach Coach Jim has talked about that incident through

200
00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,719
Speaker 1: the years many many times about your steady presence when

201
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,320
Speaker 1: you're to three of you, that three headed monster between

202
00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,880
Speaker 1: Polly and Ursa and Dungee, and you said, hey, we

203
00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,000
Speaker 1: are going to be fine. If you could just touch

204
00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,560
Speaker 1: on that moment and what Jim was saying, what his

205
00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,920
Speaker 1: reaction was when you say, hey, no, sweat, I got this.

206
00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,200
Speaker 3: I said, you know, I know it looks bad right now,

207
00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,720
Speaker 3: but we're very, very close. The thing we can't do

208
00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,760
Speaker 3: is panic and try to come up with a new formula.

209
00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,240
Speaker 3: We'll get Bob Sanders back. That's going to make a

210
00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,160
Speaker 3: big difference. We've got to move some people around until

211
00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,720
Speaker 3: that time so we can study the ship. But we're

212
00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:32,840
Speaker 3: not going to do anything special. We'll do less as

213
00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,120
Speaker 3: a matter of fact, and fine tune these fundamentals. And

214
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,600
Speaker 3: I went into the locker room after that and talked

215
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,040
Speaker 3: to the team, and we're not making any changes. We're

216
00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,280
Speaker 3: not bringing in any new personnel. You guys can do this,

217
00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:48,439
Speaker 3: and we believe in you. And I'll never forget. After

218
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,360
Speaker 3: the FC Championship game, and there's that piece is embedded

219
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,920
Speaker 3: in NFL films now where Jim says, I'm gonna throw

220
00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,599
Speaker 3: it back to Tony because he's the steady one.

221
00:10:59,000 --> 00:10:59,839
Speaker 2: But that was it.

222
00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,280
Speaker 3: Talked about staying the course, and he was fine with it. Hey,

223
00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,040
Speaker 3: you're you're the guy I hired, so I believe in you.

224
00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,840
Speaker 3: He had faith in me. I had faith in the players,

225
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,160
Speaker 3: and six weeks later were holding the Super Bowl.

226
00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,160
Speaker 1: Trump wonderful, wonderful memories, and there's so many, there's so

227
00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:20,600
Speaker 1: many peaks and valleys and Coach, a special moment that happened,

228
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,959
Speaker 1: the loss of your son James, when that happened, and

229
00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,960
Speaker 1: I remember that very well, very very well, that that

230
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,119
Speaker 1: time that that happened. And I know that this community

231
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,440
Speaker 1: and this franchise put its arms around the Dungee family.

232
00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,079
Speaker 1: But if you could just share some of the stories

233
00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,960
Speaker 1: that mister Ersay and you had regarding that loss in

234
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,559
Speaker 1: the passing of James, but everything that happened in the

235
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:47,600
Speaker 1: years past, yeah, no, he.

236
00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,080
Speaker 3: Was very always special, but that moment in particular for

237
00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:55,240
Speaker 3: our family. I called him and told him that, you know, hey,

238
00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,880
Speaker 3: you have to understand where we are. And he said,

239
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,000
Speaker 3: don't even worry about take as much time as you need.

240
00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,040
Speaker 3: This is family time and the team will be fine.

241
00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:12,680
Speaker 3: And then he started a plane and brought every member

242
00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,199
Speaker 3: of the team, all the staff, anybody who had come

243
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:20,000
Speaker 3: in contact with James, all the ball boys, just you know,

244
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,679
Speaker 3: everybody came down to the funeral and it was one

245
00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:23,880
Speaker 3: of those moments where.

246
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:25,760
Speaker 2: You said, you know, this is bigger than football.

247
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,079
Speaker 3: We're in this together, and that's that's a moment our

248
00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:30,840
Speaker 3: family will never forget.

249
00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:31,400
Speaker 2: Coach.

250
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,080
Speaker 1: I know, we go over it. I just put kind

251
00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,280
Speaker 1: of different words here and there, but the messages and

252
00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:38,760
Speaker 1: questions are still the same because I'm just trying to,

253
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,800
Speaker 1: you know, memorialize this great man. But when you're when

254
00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,040
Speaker 1: you're walking around the Pro Football Hall of Fame, when

255
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,160
Speaker 1: you're walking around the set on NBC and and people

256
00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:49,520
Speaker 1: ask you, Hey, Tony, what was it like working with

257
00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:51,520
Speaker 1: Jim Rsay? You know, we've heard the story through the

258
00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:55,000
Speaker 1: years of his some gregarious things that he does, and

259
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,000
Speaker 1: and and you know, freeing whales and everything in between.

260
00:12:58,080 --> 00:12:59,720
Speaker 1: But what what do you say when you say, what

261
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:01,480
Speaker 1: was he like working as a partner for you?

262
00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,440
Speaker 3: I couldn't imagine working for a better owner. He was involved,

263
00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,720
Speaker 3: he was there every day. He was hands on, but

264
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,520
Speaker 3: he didn't control things. We did things as a partnership.

265
00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,160
Speaker 3: He wanted us to be successful and he gave us

266
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,719
Speaker 3: every opportunity to do that, but he still made it

267
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,080
Speaker 3: like a family. And that is what I remember. I

268
00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,920
Speaker 3: tell people all the time what it was like working there,

269
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,680
Speaker 3: how enjoyable it was, and the relationships that we had,

270
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,880
Speaker 3: the last two of our people to go in the

271
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:42,560
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame Edrin James and Dwight Freeney. They chose

272
00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:47,040
Speaker 3: to be presented by their owner, Jim Mercy. That does

273
00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,560
Speaker 3: not happen in the Hall of Fame. People are presented

274
00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,240
Speaker 3: by their wife or their children, or a teammate or

275
00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,440
Speaker 3: a coach. It's just very rare that a player is

276
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,240
Speaker 3: going to say, Hey, the person that's most important to

277
00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,200
Speaker 3: me and had the most impact on me in my

278
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,960
Speaker 3: life was the owner of the team. I think that

279
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,600
Speaker 3: speaks volumes about Jim, about his relationship with everyone. I

280
00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,760
Speaker 3: can't tell you the number of times I had conversations

281
00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,680
Speaker 3: with him about a player, not about how he was

282
00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:18,840
Speaker 3: playing on the field, but what was going on in

283
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,640
Speaker 3: his life. Something's going on in his family life, and

284
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,640
Speaker 3: we've got to help him out. And that was Jim,

285
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,680
Speaker 3: just to a tea. He wanted to take care of

286
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,360
Speaker 3: every single person in that organization. I'll tell you another

287
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,000
Speaker 3: story that's just unbelievable to me. We go to the

288
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,680
Speaker 3: Super Bowl in two thousand and six. He takes everyone

289
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,480
Speaker 3: in the organization down, spouses everybody. That just does not happen.

290
00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,400
Speaker 3: That is Jim Mersey in a nutshell. But it's so

291
00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,440
Speaker 3: rare in this day and age, and that was one

292
00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,200
Speaker 3: of the most enjoyable moments. We're at the party and

293
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:56,240
Speaker 3: there's the male people and the cooks and everybody's there

294
00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:01,160
Speaker 3: enjoying this because it was a team win. Wasn't the

295
00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,120
Speaker 3: football team, wasn't the players, it wasn't the staff, it

296
00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,280
Speaker 3: was the Colts coach.

297
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,760
Speaker 1: The Colts have announced that they will be using that

298
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,920
Speaker 1: patch on the back of the helmet or on the

299
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,960
Speaker 1: on the jersey rather, and also on the back of

300
00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,920
Speaker 1: the helmet this upcoming season. Some of the stuff that's

301
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,120
Speaker 1: went around here is, you know, a lot of the

302
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,240
Speaker 1: team yesterday and staff are wearing an old weight that

303
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,560
Speaker 1: big man could hoist some weight. But I just wanted you,

304
00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,760
Speaker 1: you know better than most. And you met Jim's three

305
00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,840
Speaker 1: daughters early on, early on in your tenure here. And

306
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,880
Speaker 1: now we go into another era of Colts ownership with

307
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,480
Speaker 1: that's led by Carly Casey and Kaylin. And if you

308
00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,200
Speaker 1: could give the Colts fans a little background on what

309
00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,720
Speaker 1: you've noticed through those You've always been close with that

310
00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,640
Speaker 1: family even after you retired, but what you've seen from

311
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:55,040
Speaker 1: their maturing and how this transition from one ownership and

312
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,520
Speaker 1: now Jim with his daughters. That's gonna flow pretty well.

313
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,560
Speaker 1: I got a feeling it is, and.

314
00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,680
Speaker 3: Jim was preparing for this and none of us expected

315
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,240
Speaker 3: it to happen. Now you're thinking, maybe it's gonna be

316
00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,840
Speaker 3: eight years from now, ten years from now, but eventually

317
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,680
Speaker 3: the girls are going to take over. And he wanted

318
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,600
Speaker 3: them to be ready for it, and there's no doubt

319
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,960
Speaker 3: in my mind that they are. They've seen how it works,

320
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,040
Speaker 3: they understand things, and there'll be a learning curve, but

321
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,480
Speaker 3: they're ready for it. And just the way Jim took

322
00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,560
Speaker 3: over and the way he grew into it, they're going

323
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,480
Speaker 3: to grow the same way. But they they care about

324
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,240
Speaker 3: the people the same way. They're going to have the

325
00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:34,840
Speaker 3: same approach. It's going to be Colt's football. It's going

326
00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,840
Speaker 3: to continue, and Cole's family is going to continue.

327
00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:39,440
Speaker 2: And that's the thing I'm excited about.

328
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:41,840
Speaker 1: Well hand picked head coach like he did with you

329
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,320
Speaker 1: and basically telling you, hey, you're going to be the

330
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,720
Speaker 1: head coach here. I don't know if you've agreed on

331
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:48,960
Speaker 1: that or not, but I'm just telling you, like, I

332
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,560
Speaker 1: love that story, and you'll be connected with mister Ersay

333
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,040
Speaker 1: forever and ever, and I Coach, I appreciate you taking

334
00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,000
Speaker 1: the time, and we're going to do this again. There's

335
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,760
Speaker 1: going to be tributes throughout the summer to mister Ersay

336
00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,280
Speaker 1: and the memories that he created with his staff and players.

337
00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,320
Speaker 1: And you're right at the top of the list because

338
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,040
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of this from the back row,

339
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,919
Speaker 1: and the specialness that you had, the bond that you

340
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,119
Speaker 1: had with him and his family. Wonderful to watch and Coach,

341
00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,760
Speaker 1: tip of the hat to you for being a great friend.

342
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,040
Speaker 3: Mister Ersay, Well, he was a great friend to me

343
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,520
Speaker 3: and my family. He was great for so many people

344
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,520
Speaker 3: in the area, so many people in the NFL. But

345
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,840
Speaker 3: I miss him already. Just a special man and I

346
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,840
Speaker 3: can't even put into words how much he meant to

347
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:34,080
Speaker 3: me and my family.

348
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,520
Speaker 1: One of the greatest to do it for the Indianapolis

349
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,159
Speaker 1: Colts franchise. That's head coach Tony Dungee, who is linked

350
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,720
Speaker 1: at the hip forever with Colts owner Jim Ersay and Coach.

351
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,920
Speaker 1: I sure appreciate the time and we'll continue this. We'll

352
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,280
Speaker 1: continue telling stories and sharing some great memories as we

353
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:53,000
Speaker 1: go on, especially with you. I appreciate your time today.

354
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.

355
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,120
Speaker 3: Jeffrey anytime, anytime talking colts ball and talking Jim, irsay,

356
00:17:59,440 --> 00:17:59,960
Speaker 3: I can do that.

357
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,159
Speaker 1: Thanks, goa Jah, I'll join you on that.

358
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:04,000
Speaker 2: I could do the same.

359
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,119
Speaker 1: They're great, Tony Dungee, thank you, sir, Thanks for joining

360
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,960
Speaker 1: us here on high volume. There will be plenty more

361
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,160
Speaker 1: down the road and a tribute to a great man

362
00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,840
Speaker 1: that changed the landscape of this city, landscape of the league.

363
00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:19,680
Speaker 1: And there's stories that are out there that I hope

364
00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,520
Speaker 1: that we all can tell on mister ers. Some are privileged,

365
00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:26,479
Speaker 1: some that need to be shared with the community, and

366
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,000
Speaker 1: I hope to bring that to you guys over the

367
00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,440
Speaker 1: course of this summer and catch up with some past

368
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,800
Speaker 1: chapters of Jim's life and people that he's touched and

369
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,200
Speaker 1: work for him and befriended, and the family as well.

370
00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:42,520
Speaker 1: And it's a tough time. He was a dear friend.

371
00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,000
Speaker 1: He was a friend first for me, a boss second.

372
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,879
Speaker 1: And I've had many, many great memories with him that

373
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,159
Speaker 1: I could sit here for twelve straight hours and go

374
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,439
Speaker 1: over what that meant, what that man meant to a

375
00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:00,560
Speaker 1: lot of people and his way. He was literally wanted

376
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,000
Speaker 1: to create magic, and he'd say it, he'd say it.

377
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:05,440
Speaker 1: Man he'd say, I want to create magic, and he

378
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,119
Speaker 1: knew what that meant and is creating the buzz around

379
00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,119
Speaker 1: the team, around himself, around He loved that because he

380
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,879
Speaker 1: was larger than life and he wanted everybody to be happy.

381
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,399
Speaker 1: And it didn't matter if where you were in the

382
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,600
Speaker 1: stature of your livelihood or it didn't matter. He just

383
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,680
Speaker 1: wanted to find out about you and how you're doing today.

384
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,119
Speaker 1: And you guys out there, a lot of you have

385
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:26,800
Speaker 1: met this man and you've seen him look in your

386
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,680
Speaker 1: eye and ask about you, and that was his big heart.

387
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,359
Speaker 1: I don't think the NFL family will ever see an

388
00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,280
Speaker 1: owner like Jim Mersey again. And like I said, that

389
00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:40,960
Speaker 1: gregarious style and that raspy voice and making magic was it.

390
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:43,879
Speaker 1: It's tough to keep a straight face these days. A

391
00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,720
Speaker 1: lot of tears have been shed and we're going to

392
00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,439
Speaker 1: continue rolling on in his memory. So I appreciate you

393
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:51,800
Speaker 1: guys watching I do.

394
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:52,879
Speaker 2: I appreciate all.

395
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,520
Speaker 1: The YouTube viewers, and be sure to check out JJ

396
00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,120
Speaker 1: Stankowitz on the Cold Show because those tributes are coming

397
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,639
Speaker 1: as well. You'll hear it all throughout the summer and

398
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,639
Speaker 1: especially when the Colts are showing tributes like this and

399
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:07,120
Speaker 1: wearing this pin, and you know about the helmet sticker

400
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,160
Speaker 1: and the jersey patch. So this upcoming years win one

401
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 1: for Jim. So let's start down that road sooner than later.

402
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,359
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you soon. Thanks for watching today,