Cards’ bad news piling up in arrests, releases
On most days, it’s probably good to be Michael Bidwill.
His father anointed him to run his football team, the Cardinals. One friend, Brett Kavanaugh, is a Supreme Court Justice. Another, Doug Ducey, is a governor.
At Bidwill’s disposal is a plane to fly him across the country and a helicopter to take him across the Valley.
He is a millionaire because his grandfather, Charles Bidwill, was wise enough to buy an NFL team for $50,000 in 1929. Michael Bidwill increased its value by securing a home of its own, State Farm Stadium, for the first time in franchise history.
The past year, however, has not been fun for Bidwill or the Cardinals, and they have no one to blame but themselves. The arrest of Ron Minegar, the Cardinals’ executive vice president and chief operating officer, last Saturday night on suspicion of
DUI, is just the latest indiscretion for a franchise that’s produced more memorable police mug shots than victories over the past year or so.
On Sunday, the Cardinals issued a scathing statement, which I assume came from Bidwill, calling Minegar’s decision to drink and drive “inexcusable” and promising Minegar’s decision “will have serious consequences.”
For multiple reasons, determining those consequences is the tricky part for Bidwill.
First, Bidwill set a precedent in July of 2018 by suspending General Manager Steve Keim five weeks and fining him $200,000 after Keim pled guilty to extreme DUI.
Second, upon Keim’s return, Bidwill told all employees in very certain terms they were held to a high standard that included not drinking and driving. Using Uber was mentioned more than once.
It’s similar to what Bidwill told reporters at the beginning of training camp last year.
“In this day and age there is no excuse to drink and drive. We have Lyft. We have Uber. And there are consequences, not just legal consequences for the person that is arrested. People can be hurt and killed. There is no excuse.”
Third, you can bet many Cardinals players are curious about how Minegar will be disciplined. In the past month, the team released three players – offensive lineman Desmond Harrison, defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche and defensive lineman Darius Philon – at least in part because of legal issues.
Bidwill runs the risk of perpetuating the perception by NFL players that they are held to a higher standard than anyone else employed by teams.
To some, the solution is for Bidwill to have zero tolerance, to fire anyone who breaks the law.
The problem with having zero tolerance is it makes no allowance for the inevitability of humans making mistakes, and it ignores nuance, circumstance and history.
Take the cases of Harrison and Philon. It was easy to cut ties with them because both joined the organization just this year and both were arrested for assault.
Philon allegedly pointed a gun at two women. Harrison was charged with assaulting a woman by strangulation. Nkemdiche was arrested for traffic violations and an outstanding warrant.
Nkemdiche might have remained with the Cardinals had he not reported to training camp grossly overweight.
Minegar, in contrast, is entering his 20th year with the team. He was there when voters approved funding for State Farm Stadium. He helped negotiate naming-rights deals for the stadium and oversees the Cardinals’ food and beverage and event management businesses.
Just as importantly, he’s well-liked throughout the organization, the community and the NFL.
He has a positive history with the team. The three players did not.
Minegar, 60, is one of Bidwill’s closest advisers, and often the one called upon to smooth feathers after Bidwill had ruffled them.
So my guess is that Minegar will keep his job and face discipline similar to Keim’s. The NFL will have to sign off on that, as it did with Keim.
That decision won’t be the end of Bidwill’s challenges, because the Cardinals are at their lowest point in at least a dozen years.
Last year they were a joke on the field (3-13), and for the second consecutive summer, people are making jokes about the arrest of a team executive.
But there is nothing fun, or funny, about the state of the Cardinals these days. Nothing at all.