“Win for Jim” Colts guitar
Designed and co-built a guitar commissioned by the Indianapolis Colts head coach in honor of their late owner, Jim Irsay. Featured weekly on NFL broadcasts and in Guitar World.
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“He’s always with us in spirit”: Renowned guitar collector Jim Irsay honored by Indianapolis Colts with “Win for Jim” Stratocaster – which will be carried out every game this season
The custom-built Strat will travel with the team throughout the season in recognition of the passions and legacy of the late guitar collector and philanthropist
The guitar was a collaborative effort between Steichen and Purdue University Guitar Lab leader Dr. Mark French, and built by university alumnus Noah Scott. The axe is fully functional.
“Even though he's not physically with us anymore, he's always with us in spirit,” says Steichen. “And that's part of him traveling with us, every game.”
Read the full story on Guitar World ↗After Jim Irsay passed, the Colts wanted a guitar to honor him and carry their season mantra, Win for Jim. They came to me as their contact at the Purdue Guitar Lab.
Coach Shane Steichen had the general idea. I refined it into the final engineered design, and Mark French and I built it at the Lab.
Each week Steichen handed it to a player, who carried it out with the team the next day. These included:
| Week | Date | Player who carried the guitar | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sept. 7, 2025 | DeForest Buckner | Dolphins |
| 2 | Sept. 14 | Quenton Nelson | Broncos |
| 3 | Sept. 21 | Kenny Moore II | Titans |
| 4 | Sept. 28 | Jonathan Taylor | Rams |
| 5 | Oct. 5 | Zaire Franklin | Raiders |
| 6 | Oct. 12 | Daniel Jones | Cardinals |
| 7 | Oct. 19 | Grover Stewart | Chargers |
| 8 | Oct. 26 | Michael Pittman Jr. | Titans |
| 9 | Nov. 2 | Mo Alie-Cox | Steelers |
| 10 | Nov. 9 | Cam Bynum | Falcons (Berlin) |
| 11 | Nov. 16 | Bye week | — |
| 12 | Nov. 23 | Alec Pierce | Chiefs |
| 13 | Nov. 30 | Laiatu Latu | Texans |
| 14 | Dec. 7 | Luke Rhodes | Jaguars |
| 15 | Dec. 14 | — | Seahawks |
| 16 | Dec. 22 | Josh Downs | 49ers |
| 17 | Dec. 28 | Philip Rivers | Jaguars |
| 18 | Jan. 4, 2026 | Ashton Dulin | Texans |
Credits
- Concept
- Shane Steichen, Colts head coach & Larry Hall, head of the Jim Irsay Collection
- Final design and engineering
- Noah Scott
- Built by
- Noah Scott & Mark French, Purdue Guitar Lab
- Decals
- Freckles Graphics
- Color and clear coat
- Prime Body and Paint
- Photo of DeForest Buckner with the guitar
- Indianapolis Colts
In the press
More work
- Football Calendar SyncAn NFL and college football bot for Google Calendar, with kickoff times, TV networks and live scores kept up to date. Open source files landing on my GitHub in October 2026.
- The SecretaryA private document agent system. Bringing together every scan, document, or file I have. Everything gets read, sorted and indexed overnight, so I can find anything later just by asking.
- The ESPN Monday Night Football guitarMark French and I designed and built a guitar with a Wilson football-leather top for ESPN, then I played it on Monday Night Football.
- BabyShip.coA service that allows families to ship their own baby gear ahead to where they are traveling. Alleviating the need for dragging car seats through the airport or renting someone else's gear when they arrive.
- NoahGPTThe prior version of this site. Instead of reading a résumé, visitors talked to a RAG-based AI called Nova.
- The Mackey Arena floor guitarA guitar we made from the Purdue basketball court. I played it for the national anthem prior to the rivalry game of Purdue v. IU, then auctioned it off to support the Purdue Guitar Lab.