Inside Colts owner Jim Irsay's incredible memorabilia collection

You know Jim Irsay as the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, one of the most powerful men in the NFL. But he also owns and curates a priceless memorabilia collection that touches on sports, entertainment and American history.

A chunk of the collection was on display Saturday at the TD Garden in Boston. The owner of the Colts has invested millions in his artifacts that he believes represent once-in-a-lifetime memories.

“I’ve pondered questions such as what real currency does a memory have,” Jim Irsay said in an interview with ESPN. “How did the memory serve us? Did it help form who you are? There are historic moments that shifted the whole world. History is just an incredible teacher for us.”

This time a year ago, Irsay devoted hours to bid in a virtual auction for one of the most priceless items in sports. He wanted the heavyweight belt Muhammed Ali won from George Foreman back in 1974 during a fight in Zaire. The fight was so promiment in pop culture history, you probably know it as the “Rumble in the Jungle.”

“Ali’s the greatest athlete that ever lived,” Irsay said. “And his greatest moment was in Zaire. No one thought he could beat Foreman.”

It took Irsay five hours to secure the belt. The price? How about $6.18 million.

Irsay’s collection also features another cool item from sports history. He recently paid $2 million for the saddle used by jockey Ron Turcotte to ride Secretariat to victory. The saddle is from the 1973 Belmont Stakes, when Secretariat blew away the field to win the final leg of the Triple Crown.

And the Irsay collection features far more than sports collectibles. He’s gone heavy on items from American history.

There’s his copy of the Declaration of Independence. Barack Obama wrote a letter for Irsay to accompany the document.

Then there’s an item associated with one of the most devastating moments in our history. Irsay recently purchased a Stetson hat that then Texas Gov. John Connally planned to gift President John F. Kennedy when he made an appearance in Dallas in November, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed Kennedy as he rode in a presidential motorcade. Connally also was wounded. He never had the chance to present JFK the Stetson.

Jim Irsay says his collection his priceless. He plans to leave it all to his grandkids when he dies. But he’s turned down huge offers for the entire collection.

“I’ve been offered $1.15 billion for the collection in totality by someone in the Middle East,” Irsay told ESPN. “I turned it down because, to me, No. 1, it’s priceless. And No. 2, I never started the collection for that reason, to look at it and say, ‘Oh, this is going to be a great investment.'”