Colts fire GM Grigson

Ryan Grigson spent everything he could to bring another Super Bowl title to Indianapolis.

He paid a heavy price for coming up short.

On Saturday, Colts owner Jim Irsay fired his general manager after five up-and-down years that ended with Indy missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1997-98.

“We are in the business of professional football and that is the business of winning,” Irsay said during a 20-minute news conference at the team headquarters. “It’s about winning and you do everything you can to make sure you are in the position to win, period.”

After almost three weeks of silence from the Colts, the assumption was that Irsay would again surprise Colts’ fans by keeping Grigson and coach Chuck Pagano for another season.

Instead, Irsay took time to analyze his own franchise and sought advice from outsiders such as former Super Bowl-winning coach and current ESPN commentator Jon Gruden. Eventually, he reached the same conclusion fans did weeks earlier — a change was needed.

So a little more than a year after announcing Grigson and Pagano had both received contract extensions through the 2019 season, Grigson is out.

As for Pagano, his immediate future is still with the Colts.

“He is our coach for 2017,” Irsay said. “The new general manager will come in, evaluate our whole football program and we will see where we are at. Again, I hope Chuck can be our coach for many years to come. He is our coach this year.”

Grigson’s blunt personality didn’t always mesh with Pagano.

Irsay even acknowledged last summer he asked the two men to resolve their differences before giving them new deals. On Saturday, Irsay said they got along better than the public believed and cited a statement issued later by Pagano as evidence.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity Ryan gave me,” Pagano said. “We shared many great memories, moments and victories together over the past five years.”

But others inside the building also didn’t get along with Pagano, and it became abundantly clear as word leaked that Grigson was out.

“Thank God. ‘Unwarranted Arrogance’ just ran into a brick wall called karma,” Pro Bowl punter Pat McAfee posted on Twitter before Irsay made it officials.

Former receiver Reggie Wayne wrote “Now we can play ball .... !”

Former linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who played for the Chicago Bears last season, chimed in with “Well that took longer than expected.”

Grigson also was reviled in New England because of his role in the Deflategate scandal.

It was Grigson who tipped off league officials that Tom Brady used improperly inflated footballs during the 2015 AFC championship game, a violation that eventually led to a four-game suspension for Brady as well as a fine and the loss draft picks for the Patriots.

Five years ago, all this seemed unfathomable.

Grigson looked like a genius after hitting it big with his first four draft picks — quarterback Andrew Luck, tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen and receiver T.Y. Hilton — and used a series of shrewd, cost-effective moves to turn a 2-14 team into a playoff team. It went down as one of the greatest turnarounds in league history.

But when Grigson, the gambler, drafted firstround bust Bjoern Werner in 2013, traded a 2014 first-round pick to Cleveland for Trent Richardson and then loaded up on a group of aging, highpriced free agents to make a Super Bowl run in 2015, Colts’ fans grew anxious and eventually angry because they didn’t see a direction or progress.

Even worse, the 44-yearold former offensive lineman never quite put together the offensive line Irsay expected to protect his franchise quarterback.