Carlie Irsay-Gordon is deemed by some to be a trailblazer in the NFL. The Indianapolis Colts co-owner and CEO has seen her popularity soar due to often being seen on the sideline of the $8.08 billion franchise’s games wearing a headset and locked in to what’s going on. Irsay-Gordon is a prominent figure on the Colts sideline, home and awayGettyShe is also often seen standing with her notebook and taking notes. But media personality Bill Simmons has had enough of her performative behavior. NFL teams are only granted a specific number of headsets on any given game day, meaning that Irsay-Gordon’s use of one is preventing a member of the Colts coaching staff from having one. “I’m not gonna tip toe around this anymore,” Simmons said on his titular The Bill Simmons Podcast. “And I know it’s been a topic the last couple weeks. I think the owner on the sideline taking notes is f***ing nuts. “I think it’s nuts. I think it’s bonkers. I can’t believe she does this, and I can’t believe people in her life haven’t talked her out of it. And now there’s this push of like, ‘Oh, no, no, she’s really into it.’ “If a male owner was doing this, we would be ridiculing this guy til the cows come home. This would be like when Vivek [Ranadive] was celebrating the summer league title in the NBA, and we thought it was so funny,” The Ringer founder continued. “We would think it was so f***ing funny if some, you know, rich guy, male owner was on the sideline with a notebook like hovering over and giving advice to the coach. … “Even Jerry Jones wouldn’t do that. And Irsay’s daughter’s doing it and we’re like, ‘oh yeah, well, she cares about the team.’ Why are we making excuses for how weird this is?”Irsay-Gordon doesn’t need to justify herselfSimmons has a point – to some, a very limited, extent. If Jones was seen on the Dallas Cowboys sidelines, or if Robert Kraft did the same at the New England Patriots, this would be a constant topic of conversation. Bill Simmons (R) has had enough of watching Irsay-Gordon on the sidelineGettyIrsay-Gordon explained the reasoning behind why she likes to be so heavily involved in the game day operationsGettyOn the flip side, though, it shows Irsay-Gordon’s keen interest to be involved with the Colts at every facet of its operations, including wanting to renovate Lucas Oil Stadium.The eldest daughter of late billionaire businessman Jim Irsay took over command of the team when her father passed away in 2025, is used to the criticism, though. In 2025, she addressed why she prefers to be on the sideline with the team and listening to the conversations between the coaches she employs. “I think one of the things that I learned in going through, even as back as when we hired Chuck Pagano (in 2012), is that sort of accelerated my, ‘I need to learn more about this,’” Irsay-Gordon said back in June 2025. “‘I need to be able to say, is this person full of BS? Do they even know what they’re talking about? And I think one of the things that being on the headset has really helped me learn is to the question earlier, it’s such a complex organism of football team and how it operates.”She’s not doing it to micromanage anybody in anyway. If anything, she’s doing quite the opposite, using it to help her learn and comprehend how she can further support her coaches from her position at ownership level. “You could say, ‘Oh, that person ran that route wrong,'” she added. “When you learn to find, ‘Oh, someone tagged the wrong wide receiver, and it wasn’t really the player’s fault – it was the person that called it.’ “I think that’s been very valuable, because it also helps us be able to know where do we need to make tweaks, what resources do we need, what do we need to fix.“So much of it comes down to just how we operate and how things work and the headsets – I would suggest it for anyone else that has to pay coaches and GMs millions and millions of dollars,” she continued. “It helps you make a less expensive mistake potentially.”The only person who seems to take issue with Irsay-Gordon’s level of involvement with the Colts is Simmons – who has no experience owning, or managing, a football team at any level. Join talkSPORT’s dedicated US Sports YouTube channel The S* Word every Tuesday and Thursday for our brand new NFL shows.On Tuesdays, Will Gavin and US senior reporter Brian T. Smith will debate the biggest talking points from the NFL weekend, while on Thursdays Efe Obada joins the crew to talk to players past and present and break down what to look for across the league.