On July 4, 2018, Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim was arrested for "extreme DUI," his blood alcohol content at least 0.15 percent, roughly twice the legal limit. This event had serious professional consequences... for vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough.
In an arbitration demand filed by McDonough, reported Tuesday by The Athletic and ESPN, he alleges that team owner Michael Bidwill concocted a scheme for the organization to circumvent Keim's 2018 suspension, and that McDonough was punished for objecting to the scheme.
Keim was suspended for five weeks in late July 2018, and days before that the team issued burner phones for team executives to communicate with the general manager during his suspension.
From The Athletic:
Per the complaint, on July 23, 2018, McDonough approached Bidwill on the field after practice and told him that he and Wilks were not comfortable speaking to Keim during the GM’s suspension, “that they could handle the five-week suspension in Keim’s absence; and that the Cardinals did not need to cheat to have a successful preseason.”
The complaint states that Bidwill stopped McDonough, “and started screaming at him at a high volume, accusing McDonough of insubordination and telling McDonough that he didn’t ‘like his attitude.’” McDonough was summoned to Bidwill’s office the next morning, and the owner told McDonough he was “writing him up” for unprofessional conduct in the workplace, according to the complaint. The complaint includes a photo of what McDonough says is the email memo he received from Cardinals general counsel David Koeninger, with Bidwill CC-ed on the email.
At the time, McDonough was the No. 2 personnel executive on the Cardinals' org chart. By the time of his departure, McDonough was No. 9 -- despite Keim recommending a contract extension and raise for his then second-in-command.
Wilks was not retained as head coach after one season on the job.
McDonough says he still has the burner phone, which contains evidence of the scheme.
McDonough's grievance also included allegations of mistreatment of a large number of Cardinals employees, along with a culture of verbal abuse and intimidation under Bidwill's ownership.
From ESPN:
McDonough said in his filing that Bidwill had treated a Black employee and two pregnant women poorly and "created an environment of fear for minority employees," the grievance said.
McDonough said that he has proof that in 2019, the Cardinals top brass decided to conduct an employee engagement survey with all their employees, only to see Bidwill intercept the results of the survey and cancel it.
"Many of the employees who responded to the survey indicated that they were fearful of Bidwill on a daily basis, as a result of Bidwill's erratic and often abusive interactions with them," the filing said.
“We are reluctantly obliged to provide a public response along with broader context for some disappointing and irresponsible actions by Terry McDonough,” said Jim McCarthy, an external public relations adviser to the Cardinals. “Claims he has made in an arbitration filing are wildly false, reckless, and an opportunistic ploy for financial gain.”
Keim, for the record, remained in place through the 2022 seasons. The Cardinals reached the playoffs in three of his 10 seasons in charge of personnel.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.