Michael Bidwill
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Michael Bidwill (born 1965) is an Arizona NFL executive with the Arizona Cardinals. He is the team's vice-president, and son of team president Bill Bidwill. In addition, Michael Bidwill is a certificated private pilot and native of Missouri. He also holds a commercial pilot certificate.
[edit] Biography
Michael Bidwill grew up in one of Missouri's wealthiest families. He is the second of five children in his family.
Michael Bidwill began to enjoy American football since he was a toddler, visiting the Cardinals' training camp for the first time in 1969. From that year on, he held yearly trips to Lake Forest, Illinois, to see the Cardinals train. In 1974, Bidwill was chosen as one of the team's ball boys. Despite being close to the team and team players, Bidwill was bullied around in school, mostly because the Cardinals rarely post winning records (they have only had 11 seasons and won one playoff game since Bidwill was born). Bidwill did not let any of the taunting bother him, though, and he felt rather inspired by his peers' criticism of his family's NFL team.
By the time Bidwill was 18, he decided to study law. At nineteen, he got his pilot certificate, beginning to fly helicopters and light fixed-wing aircraft soon after.
After Bidwill graduated as a lawyer, he went on to work for the United States Attorney's office, where he oversaw the violent crimes and homicide divisions. He worked at the U.S. Attorney's office for six years.
In 1985, his brother, Bill Jr., joined the Cardinals as vice-president. The Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988, and Michael Bidwill joined the team in 1996, also as vice-president. This apparently created a split between the two brothers.
Michael Bidwill was given the responsibilities of hiring new head coaches and overseeing the Cardinals coaching staff, among other things. He was responsible for the 2004 signing of head coach Dennis Green.
Bidwill has gained the criticism of many well known Arizona citizens, including Fiesta Bowl director John Junker, who albeit admits that he appreciates what Bidwill has brought to the greater Phoenix community.
Bidwill and Junker's animosity dates back to 1999, when both were pushing for a stadium to be built at the Rio Salado project in Tempe, very close to Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport. The bid was denied based on FAA recommendations that the new stadium would be too close to the airport, but the Fiesta Bowl alleged that Bidwill and the Cardinals tried to squeeze them. Because the Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl game were sharing the same venue, Sun Devil Stadium, which belongs to Arizona State University, Bowl officials took the Cardinals to the Arizona legislature to prevent the Cardinals from making profits off of Fiesta Bowl games. Despite Michael Bidwill and the Cardinals' organization's fight at the statehouse, the Cardinals lost. That and the fact that the FAA had recommended for a new stadium not to be built where the Cardinals wanted it, pushed Bidwill to pursue the city of Glendale to build a new stadium for the Cardinals. Having agreed to make a coliseum for the NHL's Coyotes and for boxing events, the city of Glendale accepted, and construction of the $370.6 million dollars stadium began almost immediately. It is scheduled to open in 2006.
As Bidwill was vacationing in Italy, he helped Italian police catch a fugitive. Bidwill was taking a walk outside his hotel and noticed the presence of police. Notified that a fugitive was on the area, Bidwill spotted the man and tackled him to the floor, helping the police capture him [1].
Bidwill owns a Beechcraft King Air 200 airplane, which he often uses for business trips, or for hobby flying to places such as Sedona or Prescott, Arizona.
