Michael Bidwill's Workplace Behavior Was Subject of 2019 Letter from Cardinals Exec

A 2019 letter written by former Arizona Cardinals executive V.P. and COO Ron Minegar addressed to owner Michael Bidwill corroborates some of the abusive work environment allegations made by former Cardinals executive Terry McDonough in an arbitration lawsuit.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk obtained the letter Minegar had hand-delivered to Bidwill, in which the Cardinals owner is accused of being "arrogant and condescending" in the workplace.

"You are not the guy I met back in 2000," Minegar wrote. "You used to smile and laugh a lot. You used to be fun to be around. You were excited about the future and what it would mean for our organization. You worked your ass off and started to see the fruits of your labor.

"I acknowledge that you have had to deal with a ton of issues this past year, but you come to work angry every day. You talk down to almost everyone. You've become arrogant and condescending. You need to get credit for everything when things are going well and are quick to point the finger at everyone else when we are struggling."

Minegar then categorized Bidwill's "daily anger" as "extremely frustrating" and corroborated McDonough's account that the owner ended an employee satisfaction survey after hearing of negative feedback regarding his behavior.

McDonough filed an arbitration claim against Bidwill this month, saying he was demoted and subject to ridicule from Bidwill after pushing back on a plan to circumvent the 2019 suspension of then-general manager Steve Keim by using burner phones.

"In response to McDonough's objection to the illicit burner phone scheme, Bidwill cursed at, berated, and formally reprimanded McDonough, and ultimately demoted him—irrevocably damaging the trajectory of McDonough's 34-year career in the National Football League," the claim read. "Bidwill also subjected McDonough to bullying, mocking, harassing and abusive behavior."

McDonough also accused Bidwill of creating "an environment of fear for minority employees," which included specific allegations of him berating two pregnant women to the point of tears and mistreating a Black employee.

The Cardinals issued a statement denying McDonough's allegations, calling the filing "wildly false, reckless, and an opportunistic ploy for financial gain."

Additionally, the team released a statement to Florio saying Minegar walked back the contents of his letter to Bidwill in later correspondence.

"The concerns you are describing from Mr. Minegar were later characterized by Mr. Minegar himself as misguided and were pulled back in a note of apology that he volunteered to our team's owner," Cardinals external public relations advisor Jim McCarthy said. "In that subsequent September 2022 note expressing regret Mr. Minegar wrote, 'I'm way overdue ... to express my sincere apologies for my attitude and behavior the last several years we worked together.' He continued, 'I am starting to understand what an angry, bitter man I had become. I sincerely regret how my actions and attitude impacted our relationship.' The note continued that he had come to 'realize how misguided I was' and that 'I am proud of the work we did together.'"

When contacted by PFT, Minegar said he stands by what he said in 2019 and the Cardinals' statement is "blatantly false and must be interpreted as an attempt to deflect criticism." Minegar said he is willing to meet with NFL investigators as part of the arbitration process.