Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim is a regular on local radio in Phoenix. He appears weekly during the season on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, the station that carries the radio broadcast of the games. He also has appeared on a yearly feature on the same station every year since he became general manager in 2013 — that is, until this week.
Keim was not part of the radio interviews during Newsmaker Week on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Every February, the station invites decision-makers — coaches, owners and executives — from the local pro and collegiate sports franchises to come to the studio to both answer questions and get their message out. To participate, they must go to the studio.
Team owner Michael Bidwill appeared on Friday and has been a regular each year.
The station did extend invitations to both Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury but neither appeared.
Kingsbury has not been a regular. He last appeared in 2019, his first year as head coach.
Keim’s absence is notable, considering some of the controversy there has been this offseason, especially with quarterback Kyler Murray.
However, I was not told that Keim declined the invitation. It was extended and he did not appear, and it is quite possible that scheduling made it impossible.
The station held Newsmakers Week later in February than normal and the NFL combine begins next week. The combine was canceled last year and the 2020 interview was a week earlier in February.
As of publishing, the team had not yet responded to an inquiry about whether there was a reason for not participating this year. (If the team does respond, there will be an update.)
However, it does add to the slightly odd offseason the Cardinals have had after their best season since 2015.
Keim and Kingsbury will both address the media at the combine.
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