Robert Irsay Robert Irsay ( March 5 , 1923 – January 14 , 1997 ) , was an American professional football team owner . He owned the National Football League ' s Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts franchise and , briefly , the former Los Angeles Rams . Biography . In 1972 , the Chicago - born Irsay purchased the Rams franchise for a reported $ 19 million with the intent to trade it to Carroll Rosenbloom for his Colts franchise . The person credited with brokering the franchise swap was Jacksonville , Florida attorney Hugh Culverhouse who , about two years later , would buy the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the financially - ailing Thomas McCloskey . In a controversial decision , Irsay moved the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis , Indiana in the early morning hours of March 28 , 1984 . After Irsay ' s death in Indianapolis on January 14 , 1997 , the Colts were inherited by his son , Jim , who serves as CEO . Bill Polian handles day - to - day operations of the team as team president . The Move . In January 1984 , a drunk Irsay appeared before the Baltimore media and exclaimed , " This is my goddamn team ! " He reiterated that , despite problems , the rumors that he was moving the team were untrue . With negotiations over improvements to Memorial Stadium at an impasse , one of the chambers of the Maryland state legislature passed a law on March 27 , 1984 allowing the city of Baltimore to seize the Baltimore Colts under eminent domain , which city and county officials had threatened to do . Irsay later claimed the city promised him a new football stadium , something they later denied , citing the team ' s poor attendance . The next day , Irsay , fearing a dawn raid on the team ' s Owings Mills headquarters , accepted a deal offered by the city of Indianapolis , Indiana . Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut contacted his friend John B . Smith , at that time the CEO of the Mayflower Transit Company , who arranged for fifteen trucks to hurriedly pack the team ' s property and transport it to Indianapolis in the early hours of the morning of March 29 . An ecstatic crowd in Indianapolis greeted the arrival of their new NFL team , and the team received 143 , 000 season ticket requests in just two weeks . Baltimore was without a National Football League team until 1996 , when Art Modell moved the Cleveland Browns there , where they were renamed the Ravens . Personal . Irsay was a member of the United States Marine Corps . In 1946 , he was hired by his father ' s heating and ventilation business . In 1951 , Irsay founded his own business , the Robert Irsay Co . , and sold the successful business to Zurn Industries about a year before purchasing the Colts . Irsay married Harriet Pogorzelski on July 12 , 1946 . They had three children - Thomas , Roberta and Jim . Roberta was killed in an automobile accident in 1971 on I - 294 outside Chicago . Thomas , who lived with a severe mental disability , lived in a Florida facility until his death in 1999 at the age of 45 . Irsay , who had divorced from Harriet , married Nancy Clifford on June 17 , 1989 , at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis . Hudnut officiated the ceremony . Health decline . Irsay suffered a stroke in November 1995 and was in intensive care at St . Vincent Hospital for several months . After his release , he developed pneumonia , heart problems , and kidney problems , for which he was transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota . He died shortly after 10 : 00 a . m . in Indianapolis on Tuesday , January 14 , 1997 , with his wife at his side .