Cardinals VP Terry McDonough Discusses Friend's Death in Fatal Accident in 1982

Arizona Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough discussed living with the fallout of a fatal car accident that killed his friend in a lengthy profile by Ian O’Connor of ESPN.com.

The accident happened in 1982 when McDonough was a teenager and driving for one of the first times in his life.

According to O’Connor, "McDonough said he drank a couple of Miller Lites from a case illegally purchased at a nearby deli before taking off with his girlfriend, Ann Gilbert, and some schoolmates to catch the Hingham-Marshfield hockey game at Pilgrim Arena" near Boston. 

McDonough hit a telephone pole when he was going approximately 25 mph over the speed limit. The accident killed 17-year-old Leslie Messina, who was Gilbert’s best friend, when she was thrown from the car.

McDonough described her as "the perfect girl."

Police took him in for a Breathalyzer test, where he blew a .07 (below the .10 legal Massachusetts standard for intoxication). Detective Joseph Mayer told McDonough at the time, "It might not be until you're 40 years old, but I promise that someday you will forgive yourself."

O’Connor noted McDonough was found guilty of vehicular homicide and operating under the influence and sentenced to one year in jail during a bench trial but appealed for a jury trial.

He was then found guilty of motor vehicle homicide, transporting alcohol as a minor and failing to possess his license by the jury but was found not guilty of operating under the influence. He was sentenced to two years in jail and ultimately granted early release.

"Not one day will ever go by that I won't think about Leslie," he said.

McDonough was a finalist for the San Francisco 49ers general manager job that John Lynch landed following the 2016 season, per O’Connor, and has been with the Cardinals for seven years. He was promoted to the vice president of player personnel position he occupies in January 2014.