ATLANTA – With his Colts blue tie shining bright, a smiling Jim Irsay was in Atlanta on Monday afternoon ready to speak on behalf of Indianapolis and its bid for Super Bowl 2018.
Excuse Irsay if he's feeling a little antsy but the Colts Owner is ready to have the rest of the NFL see Indianapolis' bid presentation on Tuesday afternoon.
"It's kind of being like before a big game and you want to win. We are putting everything into it, to bring it back to Indy," Irsay said of Indianapolis Super Bowl bid.
Irsay and the city of Indianapolis will be the last ones to try and sway the other NFL owners vote tomorrow.
The level of excitement for Irsay is only growing with Indianapolis' presentation coming in less than 24 hours.
"When we started this effort, we really looked at what we did for the first Super Bowl in Indianapolis," Irsay said.
"It really just inspired us to know that we've cut out a unique aspect in Indianapolis for hosting these type of events. The support has been tremendous. The money that we've raised is unprecedented."
On Tuesday afternoon, each city (Minneapolis, New Orleans and Indianapolis) will present for 15 minutes with the owner of each team represented having five minutes to further back their respective bids.
Irsay has been in this position before and he's going to reiterate the outstanding product that Indianapolis put on display back in 2012.
"The feedback we got from everyone, national media, other owners, just NFL fans in general, teams that participated in the game, it was really unprecedented in terms of the excellence," Irsay said of 2012.
"Turning what we did to engage all fans, over a million fans into the Super Bowl Village, that's become a staple and copied in Super Bowls after us so we know what type of legacy we left. We think we can do that again. Whether it's the zip line and everything that comes with our effort, it's going to be something special in Indy."
Thank you to the @colts & the Irsay family for your support and leadership throughout this bid process. @jimirsay — Indy's 2018 Bid (@Indy2018Bid) May 19, 2014
While the owners still hold Indianapolis in high regard for their 2012 performance, Irsay knows that tomorrow will be mainly about the 2018 bid.
One major addition to this year's bid for Indianapolis is the emphasis of a legacy project through the inclusion of USA Football, which is based in the Circle City.
Irsay, a grandfather of five, has an eye on the future of football and knows that improving safety is a key moving forward.
That will be a major part of the Indianapolis bid but once Irsay takes the floor, those logistics will have already been laid out.
It will be time for Irsay to put the final bow on a presentation that has concrete evidence how to put on one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time.
"I'm just really going to speak from the heart and have a deep belief that we can do it better than any city," Irsay says.
"That's not boasting or anything for our city but that's how we did it before."
