The Indianapolis Colts have not had an ideal start to the 2026 season. Week 1 resulted in an embarrassing loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Then, the team came close to upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs. Ultimately, an overtime loss devastated the locker room. There is still time for Shane Steichen’s unit to improve and make a run. A key piece to making that happen will be avoiding any and all potential distractions. Unfortunately, the Colts have been a topic of discussion, and not just because of poor play.
Chief Executive Officer Carlie Irsay-Gordon took over for her late father in 2025 after his passing, and hasn’t exactly stayed out of the headlines. Fans will often see her roaming the sideline on game days, while also wearing a headset. It’s not very typical for owners to do this, which is why it has drawn unnecessary attention from the outsiders looking in.
On Friday, this interesting approach from Irsay-Gordon came up during an interview with offensive playmaker Mo Alie-Cox. He wasn’t shy to speak out and give a little more insight about the controversy.
The Athletic‘s James Boyd reported on exactly what Alie-Cox had to say about the outside noise regarding the Irsay-Gordon sideline situation.
“One, it’s not an issue because she doesn’t bother us,” Alie-Cox said. “I think mainly she’s just trying to learn the game of football, learn what we’re doing, you know what I mean? She owns the team so she wants to know what’s going on and it’s not like she’s talking over the headset telling people what to do or different things like that.”
It became clear after the tight end’s words that the roster and staff are not concerned with the headset-wearing owner.
Colts Playmaker Explains Irsay-Gordon’s Intentions
Alie-Cox gave a more in-depth reason as to why Irsay-Gordon prefers to operate this way during games. She is simply trying to become better at her job.
“I really think it’s just a learning thing and stuff like that, so it doesn’t really bother us. And, it’s been going on for years,” Alie-Cox said, per Boyd’s post on X. “It’s not like it’s something that just started. It’s just, I guess, they’re taking more notice now because she’s main owner and not Jim anymore.”
Regardless of what any one person believes, Irsay-Gordon has the right to do whatever she wants. She is the Colts’ principal owner.
Alie-Cox And His Colts Teammates Are Very Used To It
Irsay-Gordon has been working on understanding the operations in Indianapolis for some time. Alie-Cox detailed this when speaking to the media, per Boyd.
“But, it’s been going on for a while, so it doesn’t bother any of us and I don’t know why it bothers people who aren’t in the organization cause at the end of the day it would affect us and not them.”
If there is one major thing to take out of what the tight end had to say, it’s that the players, coaches, and everyone else inside the Colts organization do not have any concerns about Irsay-Gordon wearing a headset and roaming the sideline during games.
Alie-Cox decided to set the record straight with his strong and bold words, as he defended the owner on Friday.
Colts Playmaker Has Bold Carlie Irsay-Gordon Sideline Take