Kudos to the owner for making the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, but what about his football legacy?
It was announced yesterday that Arizona Cardinals owner, Michael Bidwill, has been elected to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. From the standpoint of helping to bring an NFL franchise to Arizona and thereby carrying with it a whole host of financial bonanzas to the Arizona business world, Michael Bidwill keenly deserves his Hall of Fame induction. In fact, he’s likely deserved it for quite some time now.
If it’s one thing more than any other that characterizes Michael Bidwill’s effectiveness as a business tycoon, it’s his capacity to provide a vast variety of customers with ample and welcoming accommodations. The most salient recent example was how Bidwill came to the rescue of the Los Angeles Rams by not only opening the doors to State Farm Stadium to them and the Minnesota Vikings, but by going the literal and proverbial extra mile by flying his corporate jets over to pick up their NFC West rivals.
Ironically, opening the doors at State Farm Stadium to the rabid fans of other teams has become a weekly tradition for the Cardinals. Games at the stadium continue mostly to be sellouts while the influx of out-of-state fans for the Phoenix area hotels, shops and restaurants has been a financial boon for the Valley. Same as whenever Super Bowls and yearly Fiesta Bowls are played at the state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor arena.
Another salient example of Michael Bidwill’s penchant for accommodating the citizens of Arizona is his generosity in helping to give local high school students the privileged experience of being flown to Washington DC (in Bidwill’s Arizona Cardinals jet) for an elaborate history field trip. This DC experience is, for example, a Model UN student’s dream come true.
Most recently, Michael Bidwill has been devoting a good deal of time and effort into promoting women’s flag football leagues. Click here for the inside scoop:
Michael Bidwill Lends Support For Girls Flag Football (azcardinals.com)
Yes, Michael Bidwill and the Bidwill family continue to be an extremely valuable and veritable asset to the financial, educational and sports communities that encompass the “Ditat Deus” spirit of the Arizona ethos.
To the Football Side of Things:
“It’s a move that had to be made.” Michael Bidwill
Since taking over the everyday rule and operations of the Cardinals in 2013, Michael Bidwill’s teams have combined for a regular season record of 92-102-1 (47.2%), 4 winning seasons and 3 playoff berths in 12 years, one NFC West title, a 1-3 playoff record (25%), with 1 trip to the NFC Championship game.
In 12 seasons, Bidwill has hired 2 GMs and 4 head coaches.
Yet, in a profoundly ironic fashion, Bidwill’s accommodations, particularly for the benefit of other teams, apply to a number of his former coaches and to a former assistant GM. After moving on from the Cardinals:
Super Bowl Rings:
- Bruce Arians
- Todd Bowles
- Tom Moore
- Harold Goodwin
- Byron Leftwich
- Mike Caldwell
- Larry Foote
- Kevin Garver
- Roger Kingdom
- Kevin Ross
- Nick Rapone
- Rick Christofel
- Jason Licht – GM
Coordinators in Super Bowls:
- Todd Bowles
- Byron Leftwich
- Steve Wilks
Coordinators in conference championship games:
- Todd Bowles
- Byron Leftwich
- Steve Wilks
- Kliff Kingsbury
In another case of uncanny fate, WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Hollywood Brown, who were Cardinals’ teammates just two years ago both having been acquired by trades, are now teammates on the Super Bowl bound Kansas City Chiefs. (To some it may feel akin to how Terrell Suggs was able to win a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs after the Cardinals let go of him late in the season in 2019).
Former Arizona Cardinals’ players who won Super Bowl rings after leaving the team:
- WR Anquan Boldin
- S Tyrann Mathieu
- FB Anthony Sherman
- DT Alan Branch
- LB Terrell Suggs
- DE Alex Okafor
- DT Xavier Williams
- WR Michael Floyd
- LB Deome Bucannon
- QB Drew Stanton
- QB Blaine Gabbert
- C A.Q. Shipley
- G Ted Larsen
- RB T.J. Logan
- LB Kevin Minter
What if?
While we obviously will never know —- one cannot help but imagine whether the Cardinals could have gotten to the 2015 Super Bowl had they been able to keep Todd Bowles as DC for that year and had Tyrann Matthieu been able to dodge that season-ending ACL tear.
That team, built by Michael Bidwill and Steve Keim, was a dandy.
The 2021 team, buoyed by the signing of JJ Watt and trade for Rodney Hudson was also a dandy until injuries to Watt, Hudson and DeAndre Hopkins thwarted the team’s momentum.
Since then, what Cardinals’ pundits and fans have learned —-
- Jason Light could win a Super Bowl as a GM
- Bruce Arians could win a Super Bowl as a head coach
- Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich could win a Super Bowl as coordinators
- Steve Wilks, as the 49ers’ DC, could help take a Super Bowl team into overtime versus Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs
- Kliff Kingsbury, as the Commanders’ OC, with a rookie QB, could help take his Cinderella team to the NFC Championship game.
Therefore, from the football side of things, the question moving forward is —- can and will Michael Bidwill be more accommodating for his current GM, head coach, coordinators, coaching staff and players?
For example, word today is that Cardinals OL coach Klayton Adams, whom some like me believe is the best and most valuable coach on the Cardinals’ staff, is now being called in for a 2nd interview with the Cowboys for their OC position. If Michael Bidwill sits by and allows this to happen, it will feel like it did in Minnesota when JG opted to play prevent defense with a 6-point lead and allowed Justin Jefferson to run wide open, even on 4th and 7 with the game on the line.
Michael Bidwill’s letting go of Klayton Adams would be an extremely generous accommodation to Jerry Jones and the Cowboys to the detriment of his own team.