Read the PFT reports and listen to Mike Caspino’s interview with Doug Franz and voice your opinions

Terry McDonough’s lawyer tees off on “horrible” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill

The legal skirmish between former Cardinals executive Terry McDonough and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has moved from secret arbitration to open court. The difference between the two forums is already becoming crystal clear.

McDonough’s attorney, Mike Caspino, could say nothing about the arbitration while it was happening. Now that it’s over, and now that the battle has sparked a related lawsuit advancing claims that weren’t covered by arbitration, Caspino has much more freedom to speak his mind.

On Tuesday, he did.

Appearing on Doug Franz Unplugged, Caspino shared some strong criticisms of Bidwill.

“Michael Bidwill . . . is a horrible person,” Caspino said, “and I mean through his core.

Caspino accused Bidwill of repeatedly lying under oath in the arbitration process.

“He’s worse than Dan Snyder,” Caspino said at one point during the interview.

Caspino believes Bidwill demonstrated “absolute, sheer arrogance,” flowing from a “belief of entitlement.”

Bidwill, in Caspino’s estimation, was truthful in one specific area. Bidwill, per Caspino, admitted that the statement issued by P.R. executive Jim McCarthy was irrelevant to the claims made by McDonough in the arbitration, and that the goal was to make McDonough look bad.

Speaking of McCarthy, Caspino said this: “If anyone in this world is going to hell, it’s Jim McCarthy. For a living he disparages people on the Internet. That’s his job. And Michael Bidwill brought him in to do that about Terry.”

Caspino concluded with this observation about the Cardinals under Bidwill: “It is an explanation for me as to why the Cardinals have been so abysmal. And we got into, in Michael Bidwell’s deposition, him telling me that he’s an outstanding judge of football talent. And I said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Did you ever play the game?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I played it.’ I said, ‘Where’d you play?’ He said, ‘High school, in Washington, D.C.’ I said, ‘So, you’re the one making, you know, the talent decisions around the building?’ ‘Yeah, I am.’ And it struck me that — and in speaking to other people there — that he is such a hands-on owner that he goes into offensive coordinators and tells them who to get the ball to. And he’s making all of the decisions regarding the talent, regarding who to draft. And he’s making it off because he paid for a year or two at some fancy boarding school in Washington, D.C. And it just struck me right there why the Cardinals are so bad. They have an owner who doesn’t listen to the people around him and thinks he’s smarter than everybody else, even with the game of football.”

Said the Cardinals as to Caspino’s overall interview: “While we have a completely different perspective than Mr. Caspino, we are not going to comment publicly while the legal process is ongoing.”

The NFL declined comment on the matter, in response to an email from PFT.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Terry McDonough’s lawyer suggests NFL covered up Cardinals’ violation of Steve Keim suspension

Tuesday’s interview of Terry McDonough’s lawyer, Mike Caspino, on Doug Franz Unplugged included plenty of eyebrow-raising allegations. One set of claims arose from the notion that the Cardinals violated the terms of the five-week suspension imposed on G.M. Steve Keim in 2018, after he pleaded guilty to extreme DUI charges.

Caspino explained that the team’s position in McDonough’s arbitration proceeding was that former Cardinals executive Mike Disner distributed burner phones for use in communicating with Keim during his suspension and that, once owner Michael Bidwill became aware of it, he immediately gathered the devices.

But here’s a twist. Caspino said that McDonough still has his burner phone. Caspino also said that he offered to give the phone to NFL general counsel Jeff Pash, and that Pash didn’t want it.

There’s also a question of whether Disner would corroborate Bidwill’s version of the events. Caspino said that both the Cardinals and the Lions (where Disner now works) fought successfully to keep Disner from being questioned under oath in the McDonough case.

Caspino, during the interview with Franz, blasted the failure of the arbitration process to compel Disner to testify — and possibly to expose that Bidwill wasn’t telling the truth.

“The NFL is a sham,” Caspino said. “It exists for one reason and one reason only: To protect 32 billionaires. . . They don’t care if an owner breaks the rules and in fact all they try to do is cover it up.”

The good news for those who care about the truth is that Disner won’t be able to avoid testifying in the separate lawsuit that McDonough, his wife, and his daughter have filed against the Cardinals and various other entities. The challenge for Caspino will be to make the “burner phone” issue sufficiently relevant to the claims in the lawsuit to allow that evidence to be pursued.

It’s safe to say the Cardinals (and the Lions) will do their damnedest to keep Disner from having to answer questions as to the question of whether Bidwill was the one who stopped the “burner phone” scheme, or whether he was the one who started it.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Steve Keim received $1 million for “cooperation agreement” that included testimony in Terry McDonough case

We’ve heard from time to time over the past year or so that former Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim was paid $1 million to testify in the arbitration claim filed by former Cardinals executive Terry McDonough. The connection isn’t quite that direct.

Keim, per attorney Mike Caspino, received $1 million as part of a “cooperation agreement,” which requires him to testify in any cases that might emerge. The McDonough case was one of them.

“At first he tried to hide that but it came out,” Caspino added during his recent interview on Doug Franz Unplugged.

Keim was obviously a key witness, since he was the person with whom Cardinals employees allegedly were communicating with burner phones during his five-week suspension in 2018.

It’s possible that the $1 million payment was part of a standard severance agreement. However, Keim specifically called it a “cooperation agreement” while testifying in McDonough’s case.

We asked the Cardinals for comment/clarification on the subject.

“Again, we have a completely different perspective than what Mr. Caspino is alleging but while the legal process is ongoing, we are not going to comment publicly,” the Cardinals said.

Obviously, any suggestion that the Cardinals paid Keim $1 million to testify could cause some to think that Keim said whatever the team wanted him to say. If the cooperation clause was part of a broader severance agreement that paid Keim $1 million to, for example, waive any and all legal claims against the Cardinals, there’s a far different vibe.

There’s a chance more details will come to light in connection with the litigation filed recently regarding the team’s reaction to the filing of McDonough’s arbitration claim.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

To listen to Mike Caspino’s Interview on Doug Franz Unplugged: (strongly advised)

(1) – Let me know if you have any questions! (dougfranzunplugged.com)

This interview is ear and eye popping.

I will leave the commentary up to you.

At some other time, I will have plenty more to say about this on-going situation.