Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks testified in a deposition that he was given a burner phone by a team executive to communicate directly with former general manager Steve Keim on the orders of team owner Michael Bidwell when Keim was suspended from team operations.
According to ESPN’s Tisha Thompson, Bidwell and Cardinals executives kept open communication with Keim while he was suspended for drunk driving. Keim was also very involved in the Cardinals’ negotiations with running back David Johnson, according to Wilks.
At the time, the NFL said it wouldn’t impose further punishment on Keim after Arizona suspended him, though it appears that it was all just a smokescreen.
Wilks, who is Black, was fired after less than one year on the job, an unusually short stint for NFL head coaches.
“With me being a first-year head coach, I felt uncomfortable from the beginning that I worked this hard to get to this plateau and this opportunity, and then I was presented with this situation with being unethical,” Wilks testified. “It was a directive from Keim as well as Bidwill. They both knew.”
Wilks, currently the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, testified Friday as part of the arbitration complaint filed by former Cardinals vice president of personnel Terry McDonough against Bidwill and the franchise.
McDonough has alleged gross misconduct by Bidwill, including discriminatory and racist treatment of employees, along with the aforementioned use of burner phones.
The Cardinals have strongly denied the claims, saying that McDonough “intended to malign his co-workers, our owner Michael Bidwill, and our team with outlandish accusations.”
[ESPN]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.