TEMPE, Ariz. — Two weeks ago, former Arizona Cardinals Vice President of Player Personnel Terry McDonough filed an arbitration suit with the NFL accusing Cardinals' owner Michael Bidwill of cheating and workplace misconduct, and now, in his first public comments since that day, McDonough is predicting that Bidwill's time as the owner could soon be coming to an end.
McDonough sent text messages to Doug Franz, a frequent guest on 12Sports Tonight and the host of the 'Doug Franz Unplugged' podcast on WTSMTV.
"Say a prayer for Bidwill," the first text from McDonough to Franz read. "He is going to need them when the truth comes out."
"If you know me then you know I don't lie," McDonough continued. "This was never about me. Someone had to put a stop to Bidwill's cruel treatment of people. When I started to see how he was trying to treat me, I knew it was time to speak up against him. And for all the people that he thought he could bully because he owned the team."
"I have a 29-page petition against the guy, and everything in there is factual, and I'm going to prove it all."
McDonough then went into much more detail on his claims in further texts to Franz.
"Do you have any idea how heinous Michael Bidwill's actions were towards Steve Wilks in 2018. [sic] Bidwill loved me right up until that point. From KEIM'S suspension on, EVERYTHING changed.
"The only thing I did was let Bidwill know that I was going to expose him for his atrocious treatment of Steve Wilks. That's why I suddenly disappeared. He couldn't fire me, because he knew that I had him dead in his tracks. And, That's why he came out with all that BS about me last week."
One of McDonough's major claims in his arbitration filing was that Bidwill cheated back in 2018 during then-GM Steve Keim's DUI suspension. McDonough claims he and former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks were forced to use burner phones to stay in touch with Keim during his five-week suspension.
"If he ever had the desire to tell the truth for once in his life. [sic] He would have had the guts to say what really happened," McDonough added.
"My representatives tried to make a deal three times with Terry McDonough's lawyer last week, and each time he said. No, No, No," McDonough said referencing the Cardinals' statement to his filing.
"So now, I am going to come out and destroy his character, so you fine Americans will never find out the 'Real' truth about how truly heinous my behavior has been towards pregnant woman [sic], multiple minorities etc. I am not going anywhere. He brought all of this on himself."
After that, McDonough made a major prediction, saying that the Cardinals could soon be looking for a new owner, and that someone without the last name Bidwill could own the Cardinals for the first time since 1933.
"(Bidwill's) biggest mistake is this - He never thought he was going to be held accountable for his cruel and uncivilized behavior towards many people," McDonough's penultimate text read. "His time of Owning a NFL team is going to come to a quick and abrupt end. Whenever I speak, and ESPECIALLY, when Steve Wilks talks.
"I TRULY want you to never forget this last sentence... Bidwill's days of owning the Cardinals will soon becoming [sic] to an end, and he has NOBODY to blame, but himself and his horrible behavior towards so many people."
12Sports' Cameron Cox spoke with Franz about the texts.
"My number one takeaway is really just how 100% convicted he is in his own truth and his own belief in what he saw, how he felt, and what he thought was wrong at the time," Franz said. "He went very, very strongly to me on the character of Steve Wilks and said it's going to be an even more explosive situation when Steve Wilks speaks his mind."
Franz also told 12Sports his thoughts on what will come next after McDonough's texts.
"That is the fantastic question because as much as I believe Terry McDonough, you have to understand unless this rises to an unbelievable level, you have to go above the Daniel Snyder level," Franz said.
Snyder, the much-maligned owner of the Washington Commanders, recently agreed to sell the franchise for $6 billion.
"Look how patient the NFL has been with Daniel Snyder," Franz added. "We're talking about a Michael Bidwill who among the other (NFL) owners is respected and is close with (NFL Commissioner) Roger Goodell."
Franz also said the NFL could take a lesson from the NBA suspending former Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver after he was accused of racism and workplace misconduct, which ultimately led to Sarver selling the team.
"If the information that Terry McDonough has is so damning that corporate America can't stand hearing what they're about to hear, then the pressure would be too much for Michael Bidwill to stay," Franz said. "And then I don't know what would happen because I just don't see a scenario where the Bidwills, as a family, lose the Cardinals, but maybe Michael's no longer president. But that seems to be a little further down the road."
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