NEW YORK — Colts owner Jim Irsay said he was once out-bid by Paul Allen for a drum set used by Ringo Starr, and the two men shared lamentations about humans not yet having traveled to Mars. While many of his NFL owner peers didn’t know Allen well, they had a great respect for the Microsoft co-founder’s extensive philanthropic work for causes such as combatting the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
In his role as owner of the Seahawks, Allen’s lasting mark was keeping the team in his native Seattle when he purchased the team in 1997, saving it from a brief sojourn in Anaheim and investing in the construction of one of the best stadiums in the NFL.