Wasting no time here….

When we last left off with this NFL ownership side quest that is Mike Bidwill’s tenure as leader of the Arizona Cardinals, the 2024 Edition was actually exiting a late-November bye with the NFC West lead! As will be mentioned at least three other times during these team previews, the NFC West was underwhelming last year — and Arizona, relying on stout defensive schemes to go perfect on the soft spots early in their schedule, simply seemed to manage the injury bug best of anyone in the division.

Out of the bye week, just as a pacer dies off the lead marathon pack at the 10K mark, head coach Jonathon Gannon promptly lost three straight. Which became of five of six — including an overtime loss to the 2024 Carolina Panthers — before beating the roster-less 2024 San Francisco 49ers in the finale to go 8-9 and third in the division.

I am not surprised. I am not scared. Now, I know where we are.

Personal enjoyment in life still below pre-COVID-19 levels? Lack of true ‘stimulants’ leave you scrolling the boob-tube for an hour before leaving the futon feeling worse for being a failure at escapism? Longing for familiarity-for-the-sake-of-familiarity?

Welcome to the home of the Arizona Cardinals.

No, not DFO.

2025.

This team is:

Not much new on the offense. Defense added OLB Josh Sweat from the Eagles stock to complete a defense that is built to meltdown in the Super Bowl. Draftees were defensive targets and PFF gave the Cardinals an A+ for their draft grade.

What’s Old? Still last in NFLPA Player Rankings. And not talking about stadium age or media skunk — things like how families are welcomed and treated by the organization; food and dining; and team ownership. Things you just take for granted as existing in any winning organization.

What’s New? Temporary news about Mike Bidwill celebrating Kyler Murray’s non-guaranteed contract with Dean Spanos. Greed celebrates greed. The lawless celebrate their ill-gotten gains. The fools cheer for worst of them. Here’s how I see it:

During the 2008 recession, I ended up working for this company that was the kind of ‘expert material supplier’ in their reinforcing field. Meaning, the owner was a ‘sales-focused’ MBA whose partnerships with the other founders (who were the PhD’s that went on to run separate successful competitor companies when their entrepreneurial trouple blew up), and his bit was to commoditize the shit out of everything, ignore the major consequences of the aforementioned commoditization, and pocket every penny that slips out of the chain make it look profitable on paper. Then, I would guess, the next step is to actually make profit.

So I’d been out of work and was stuck at the level of ‘pretty good but can be replaced by a cheaper fresh grad now that we’re slow’ within all of construction/engineering. I’d been interested in the infrastructure repair market since college (as emergency projects have very high margins and are interesting work) and this kind of work was a focus of the owner when I’d interviewed. Which included a Wonderlic.

Also, obviously I wasn’t even considered for response by the conventional leaders in the industry, so beggars can’t be choosers. I took a ridiculously low salary offer that, as a single frugal guy, I took as temporary because the opportunity for this manufacturer was to move into contracting these projects direct.

Then you work there a year or so and realize the guy is a fraud and his game is being cheap and trying to make up for the relevant deficiencies with marketing and — and I don’t know what to call the other thing. My company has never operated as small and cash-strapped as his place. But it’s whatever he sees as managing the company’s money relative to professional relationships and it’s about as honest as Michael Bidwill saying he takes his PReP when, in reality, he just doesn’t feel like it.

And so I’m sitting in one of his, “okay NOW we are having staff meetings on Tuesdays at 9am,” him-talk sessions and watching his excitement as he explains how he is going to grow next by hiring guys in Hermosillo to do my job. “They will do the same work as Sebastian at 20% less price!” And, I have to say, sitting there and being the example of how this clown was going to restrict my earning opportunities by pinning my professionalism and commitment to that of a value-priced service contractor (in 2025 = Yahoo!AI) on his fucking timeline. Well, it did not make me feel valued. It made me feel commoditized.

Sometime later (I image within 90 days), he had to come home early from his month-off-with-the-family in San Diego to fire me and serve some civil lawsuit because my shit talk hurt his feelings so bad, I was now conspiring corporate espionage. So I’m pretty proud of that. Not proud I didn’t keep it off my work cell phone — but that’s what makes the whole story possible (and probably kept me out of a deeper fight). But it was all true — that’s why it hurt him so bad. Or not. I don’t care.

It ended up costing me ~$7K in lawyer fees and, though unhealthy, gave me a motivation that I got a good 5-10 years out of. Better than that, the dude is still puttering around the same as ever with his budget operation and sales proposals. And get this, this shit all went down like three-weeks into dating my now-wife. So if you chicks think a guy getting fired and sued right when you meet is a bad thing — well that zero may have a daddy with a different successful company and no exit plan waiting. So you never know what lottery ticket a “loser” may be holding.

All this to say. I can’t imagine players don’t think they can slack off with a fuck-you to Bidwill here while still going to winning franchises and delivering their best. Guess what? I’ve never been interested in corporate espionage at my other career stops where I just showed up, worked hard, and got my nominal salary increase annually. It is the guys who are so entitled to be in everyone else’s pockets that seem to end up being rat fucks that don’t deliver professionally either. But you come to the NFL and find worse facilities, training staff support, and team leadership than you had in college. And you get paid the same whether you run through a brick wall or be Brock Osweiler? Come on. Kyler Murray isn’t trying. He’s soured and completing a contract. His coaches are paralyzed and forced to scheme an offense that does not revolve around the guy that eats up all the cap space, energy, and touches.

And when you don’t have a quarterback in the NFL, you are fucked. Also, the backup is Jacoby Brissett.

Record Prediction: Who cares? Give them ten wins. It just means the Rams and 49ers and NFC North will all have eleven.

Fantasy: I’m on board with huffing the Marvin Harrison Jr Year 2 bump.

But, for your own sanity, on Sundays:

#FuckMikeBidwillStrong