When reading about former Cardinals executive Terry McDonough’s allegation that burner phones were used to communicate with former Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim during his five-week suspension in 2018 for extreme DUI, something sounded familiar.
With the benefit time to have my aging brain properly activate, I now remember what it is.
In his lawsuit against the Cardinals alleging racial discrimination, former Cardinals coach Steve Wilks referred to Keim as being “supposedly suspended.”
“[T]here is evidence of Mr. Keim’s input and participation during his so-called suspension,” Wilks alleged in his complaint against the Cardinals.
That evidence may be the burner-phone scheme that McDonough claims owner Michael Bidwill required McDonough and others (including Wilks) to communicate with Keim via the burner phones. McDonough contends, among other things, that Wilks expressed to McDonough discomfort with the burner-phone scheme.
The Cardinals don’t deny that burner phones were used. They contend that, when Bidwill became aware of the situation, he “took swift action” to end the communications.
Ideally, the internal grievance process will get to the truth. Whether those truths are shared with the rest of us remains to be seen. That’s one of the benefits of all 32 NFL teams utilizing a secret, rigged, kangaroo court for resolving claims made by contractual employees.
