The CROH case for Steve Keim might be similarly warranted as Pat P’s.
Professional sports Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor protocols are often a topic of discussion, particularly in this era of performance enhancing drugs and some players’ and front office executives’ off-the-field transgressions.
Perhaps the most discerning of all pro sports’ Hall of Fames is the Major Leage Baseball shrine in Cooperstown, New York, where to this day one will not see the busts of Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire or Roger Clemons. While Sammy Sosa has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was, however, inducted to the Chicago Cubs’ Hall of Fame.
Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated wrote a rhetorical masterpiece about the controversy surrounding Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame plight. In Deford’s “Rose’s Thorns: An Idol and a Scoundrel, Pete Perfectly Represents Extremes,” he wrote:
“So now there’s a big fuss because Pete Rose is finally admitting what everybody who is not in the Flat Earth Society already knows: that, when he was a manager, he bet on baseball. Having properly propitiated, Rose may again be embraced by Holy Mother Baseball and then accepted into the warm fold of the shrine at Cooperstown.”
“Or not.”
“In the end, we are all —- however we feel —- just so angry at Rose. That’s the crux. And, invariably, it is the people who love baseball the most who are most torn. If we support Rose’s claim to the Hall of Fame, we’re furious that he’s tarnished his brilliance so by malfeasance and deceit. Yet if we find him unbearable and unworthy, maybe it pains us more because we know that is precisely this curious, flawed creature who, better than anyone who ever played the game of baseball, played it as we wish everyone did.”
The question today for Cardinals’ fans is:
At the crux of this matter is the question as to whether a player should be inducted to the Cardinals’ Ring of Honor based strictly on the accolades he received while playing for the team, regardless of the player’s personal conduct —- or not.
One of the most compelling arguments that Frank Deford made about Pete Rose was that Rose played the game of baseball giving absolutely 100% of himself in every game he played. Heck, the guy even sprinted to first base after a walk. That’s one of the myriad reasons why Pete Rose was nicknamed “Charley Hustle.” Deford concluded with regard to the level of Rose’s effort and unmatched success on the field as a player, “He made us love baseball more.”
The Cardinals for years were graced to see their own Charley Hustle, All-Pro wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, leave everything he had out on the football field. He stayed completely loyal to the Cardinals. In tough times, he never asked for a trade, even when no one could really blame him if he did.
On numerous occasions when he was a free agent, despite being avidly recruited by the likes of Tom Brady, Fitz elected to remain an Arizona Cardinal for life. While an alleged domestic violence incident early in his NFL career, tainted Fitz’s once impeccable reputation, he worked hard to atone for his alleged transgression by becoming one of Arizona’s most dedicated philanthropists and pillars of community service.
In 2026, Larry Fitzgerald is likely to become a first ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has yet to be inducted into the Cardinals’ Ring of Honor.
Members of the Cardinals’ Ring of Honor:
- Charles Bidwill Sr.
- William V. Bidwill
- Kurt Warner
- Pat Tillman
- Carson Palmer
- Adrian Wilson
- Larry Wilson
- Jimmy Conzelman
- Roy Green
- Jim Hart
- Dick “Night Train” Lane
- Ollie Matson
- Aeneas Williams
- Marshall Goldberg
- Dan Dierdorf
- Roger Wehrli
- John “Paddy” Driscoll
- Ernie Nevers
- Charley Trippi
Notable Omissions:
- Don Coryell
- Jackie Smith
How is this possible? Don Coryell is arguably the best head coach the Cardinals have ever had.
Jackie Smith is arguably the best tight end the Cardinals have ever had, that is before they drafted Trey McBride.
Both Don Coryell and Jackie Smith are enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
But they have not met the Cardinals’ Ring of Honor criteria?
We know why.
And seeing as there is a precedent for Cardinals’ Ring of Honor candidates being shunned because of ugly disputes with team management and tumultuous endings to their tenures with team, how then could Michael Bidwill currently make the case for Patrick Peterson?
If there is legitimate case for Patrick Peterson based strictly on his 3-time NFL All-Pro nods and 8-time Pro Bowl invitations —-despite the fact that Peterson, as a team captain asked to be traded twice, was suspended for a PED violation and coverup and was irate at the Cardinals for not paying him during his 6-game suspension to the point of calling the Cardinals front office “snakes in the grass” —-on top of subsequently being an outspoken critic of the Cardinals organization and the team’s quarterback since his departure —- then shouldn’t Steve Keim have a legitimate case of the Ring of Honor?
Over the past 50 years, Steve Keim is by far the Cardinals’ most successful GM:
- Larry Wilson: 82-132-2
- Buddy Ryan: 12-20
- Bob Ferguson: 60-84
- Rod Graves: 69-97
- Steve Keim: 80-80-2
- Monti Ossenfort: 12-22
How many of the Arizona Cardinals’ GMs have won NFL Executive of the Year awards?
Only Steve Keim —-> and he won it twice.
How many Cardinals’ GMs have been able to trade for the likes of Carson Palmer, Budda Baker, Chadler Jones, DeAndre Hopkins and Rodney Hudson, while landing free agents such as Dwight Freeney and JJ Watt?
Steve Keim hired Bruce Arians, the most successful regular season coach in Arizona Cardinals’ history 49-30-1 (.619 winning percentage).
Keim is the only Cardinals’ GM to take the team to the playoffs 3 times in a 10-year span.
The profound irony is that a number of Cardinals’ fans are blaming Steve Keim for Patrick Peterson’s tempestuous fallout in Arizona.
The reality is that there was no bigger fan of Pat P. on the planet earth than Steve Keim. Year after year, Keim was adamant that Patrick Peterson was an elite NFL cornerback. Even when Peterson’s game started to decline a little, Keim passed on a trade with the Eagles that would have given the Cardinals a 1st round pick and WR Nelson Agular. Moreover, even though Peterson was suspended for PEDS and a coverup, Keim said he would go pick up Peterson at his home at midnight when the suspension was lifted.
If anyone let down the other, wasn’t Patrick Peterson letting down Steve Keim and the Cardinals? I mean, come on. Does anyone really blame Steve Keim for choosing not to give Patrick Peterson signing bonus money so that he could get paid during his 6-week suspension?
Sure, Patrick Peterson may have a legitimate point about Keim not following through on extending him an offer when Peterson became a free agent —- but Michael Bidwill has a history of telling Cardinals the Arizona media that they want to bring back certain star free agents as a way to appease adoring fans and make them think the front office is doing everything it can, when in reality, they have already decided to move on.
Conclusion:
If the voting for the Cardinals’ Ring of Honor were up to me, I would vote to get Don Coryell, Jackie Smith and Larry Fitzgerald inducted asap.
As for Patrick Peterson, in my opinion, he was always a me-first kind of player who believed he could and should do only the aspects of his job that he wanted to do. When he stopped wanting to return punts and put any legitimate, fundamental effort into his tackling, it’s was plainly obvious. Peterson retuned 4 punts for TDs his rookie year. And he never did it again. His high tackling efforts were often comical. Teams elect captains to put the squad and their teammates first. Team captains who don’t put their teammates first do not deserve a badge of honor.
I took the time to make a case for Steve Keim’s induction into the ROH to make the point that even though an employee of one of the NFL’s worst franchises can achieve remarkable records, how the employee conducts himself is of paramount importance. Steve Keim did some great things in Arizona. But he also did some very dishonorable things. He, like Pat P., was suspended and rather than serve his punishment in earnest, he was eager and willing to break NFL communication rules during his absence. There is no honor in this type of deceptive behavior. And if the rumors are true that Steve Keim was the one leaking info to the national media that the Cardinals were concerned about Kyler Murray’s lack of leadership and commitment, then Keim strictly belongs in the Cardinals Hall of Shame.