In the midst of great discussion around the NFL about race and equality, former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Sam Acho penned an eye-opening article for The Players’ Tribune about some of the issues of race that exist in the league.
Acho, drafted by the Cardinals in 2011 and who played four seasons for them, did not name names or specific teams, nor did he accuse any one person or organization of anything, but the examples he gave could be tied to the Cardinals.
However, before pointing out potential connections with the Cardinals, I must begin by recognizing that the Cardinals have been recognized for a long time as a team known for promoting diversity.
They were the first NFL team to have a black general manager and coach at the same time back when Rod Graves and Dennis Green held the positions. They hired Steve Wilks in 2018 as head coach. They have a coaching internship designed to give minorities opportunities to begin in the coaching ranks. They were the first NFL team to ever hire a woman to be on their coaching staff when Jen Welter was part of their training camp staff.
The Bidwill family has a longstanding reputation for promoting diversity.
So the following examples Acho gave in his article are not to accuse the Cardinals of racist practices, but simply connect some dots that could be connected to the team in situations that illustrate how minorities in the league face different challenges than many often realize.
Possible Cardinals connection No. 1
This is what Acho wrote about someone who reached out to him.
One guy who reached out to me serves as the director of player engagement (DPE) for an NFL Team. Every team has a DPE, though some teams call it something else. It’s generally considered the lowest management position in an organization — in most places, the DPE’s office is downstairs. Also, like in most places, this DPE was black. If you’re wondering what a DPE does exactly, according to many coaches and GMs I’ve heard speaking, the DPE is a guy who can “relate” to players. For most organizations, the DPEs serve as buffers between black players and white management — between upstairs and downstairs.
“You gotta understand how these guys view y’all,” he told me. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things they say about you guys. It’s appalling.”
This guy has been in the same position with his organization for almost 20 years, without ever having moved up the ladder. This really bothered me. If an employee is good enough to work at your company for nearly two decades, it seems only logical that he’s good enough to be promoted at least once.
This sounds a lot like Anthony Edwards for the Cardinals, who played for them from 1991-1998 and then joined the organization after that. He did hold the position of player engagement for a while. His official title with the team is senior director of player development. The role appears to be roughly the same as what Acho describes.
Again, this is simply something that could be related to the Cardinals Acho describes.
Possible Cardinals connection No. 2
The second situation sounds like when the Cardinals hired Steve Keim as their general manager.
I also got a call from an assistant GM — another African-American, who wants to be a GM, but who has been passed over several times. He told me about how, after he helped construct a playoff team, he was interviewed by another organization to be their general manager. It went great — they even told him during the interview that he was the best candidate for the job. He thought he was poised to get the gig until he got a call from the team telling him, basically, thanks, but the job had already been promised to someone else. Someone white.
“I had no shot,” he said. “Man, some of these teams have never had a black head coach or general manager. They’ve never had a black coordinator or personnel director either. All I’m asking for is a fair chance. The same opportunity that some of these other guys get. No matter what I do, I keep getting passed up.”
This sounds like it could be Morocco Brown, the minority candidate the Cardinals interviewed in 2013 before hiring Keim. Brown was well-respected and many believed he was a great candidate for the job.
It felt at the time that Keim was always the favorite, having been with the team in the front office moving up the ranks for more than a decade. He even sat in on head coaching interviews before he was officially hired.
So the team might have felt and even said in the interview that Brown was the best candidate or that could have been his impression. Of course, it is important to note that when Brown said some teams had never had a black coach or GM, that he clearly could not be referring to the Cardinals, as they were attempting to replace Graves, who is black.
The decision to hire Keim over Brown, if this scenario refers to that hiring, isn’t even necessarily the wrong hiring. However, it would be frustrating to be qualified and passed over multiple times.
Possible Cardinals connection No. 3
This is not about a black executive or coach but being put in a tough situation as a black player, according to Acho.
At the end of one season early in my career, I went to the team facility for exit interviews. I had a meeting scheduled with my position coach before I was to meet with the head coach. Both coaches were white.
Going into the meeting with my position coach, my goal was to get feedback on what I could do during the off-season to improve. I didn’t come into the league as a high draft pick, so getting that type of information was really valuable for me when it came to competing to keep my roster spot.
So my goal was professional feedback, but what actually happened during the meeting was something much different.
“Sam,” the position coach began, “you’re very well-respected around the building. Everybody thinks highly of you, including the head coach.” I figured that was a good start. But then he continued, “Do me a favor and put in a good word for me, will ya?”
I thought he might be joking.
“You know this whole thing is based on who you know,” he said. “It would mean the world to me if you could just do me this favor. And don’t worry, I’ll pay it back down the line.”
He wasn’t joking.
And at that point, I didn’t know what to do. I honestly didn’t believe he was a good coach. But if I didn’t put in a good word, could that potentially come back to hurt my career? Also, maybe I had some personal bias and he actually was a good coach. So I decided to ask another coach on staff what he thought of the guy’s abilities — and what he told me basically cut to the core of everything.
“You don’t have to worry about putting in a good word,” he said, trying to reassure me. “That guy’s already got the job. He’s friends with the head coach. That’s how he got here in the first place. He’ll keep advancing and be exposed for the coach he is.”
He was right. That assistant would go on to become a coordinator for another team. And he ultimately failed because he performed as poorly as he had as a position coach. But still, he got the opportunity because of who he knew, not what he could do. And even after being fired, he got another opportunity to work for a different NFL team — a team coached by a guy he knows.
This sounds like it could be James Bettcher. Acho’s final year in Arizona was 2014, when defensive coordinator Todd Bowles left to be head coach of the Jets. Bettcher was Acho’s position coach and was under consideration for the coordinator vacancy. He got the job and was close with Bruce Arians. He also became the DC of the Giants, where he did not fare so well.
However, some of the details Acho mentions don’t connect completely, as Bettcher appeared to never have crossed paths with then-Giants head coach Pat Shurmur previously with another team.
It could have been his position coach in 2011-2012, Matt Raich, who was let go with Ken Whisenhunt after the 2012 season, but he never was a coordinator in the NFL.
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