If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it's the value of crisis management.
A president that's good for the economy could be the difference between a Lexus or a Honda, but a president that's good in crisis could be the difference between life or death.
From presidents to NFL general managers, all decision makers deal with crisis, and how they handle that crisis separates the good from the great.
Whether Cardinals fans want to admit it or not, Steve Keim has handled crisis very well.
Today, Keim erased David Johnson's albatross of a contract, while acquiring DeAndre Hopkins, and losing only a 2nd-round pick in the process.
Keim turned a crisis into celebration, but it's not the first time he's done that.
Last year, around this time, Keim was cleaning up his Josh Rosen, Steve Wilks fiasco. He cleaned it up well, bringing in a head coach/quarterback combination that produced the most improved offense in the NFL last season.
You're asking yourself why Steve Keim has to keep cleaning up these messes, aren't you? I'd argue he cleans up the same amount of self-imposed wreckage that most NFL GMs thrust upon themselves. Even the best ones.
Take Rick Spielman of the Vikings, who mastered the Mike Zimmer hire, and has constructed Vikings rosters featuring eight Pro Bowlers in the last three years. He got the coach, roster, and culture right, but made a huge commitment to Kirk Cousins. Everybody knows that was a mistake, including former star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was traded away today after a precarious run with Cousins.
What about Bill Belichick, who's had to clean up the wreckage of Aaron Hernandez, Spygate, Deflategate and Antonio Brown?
What about John Schneider, the GM of the Seahawks whose first round picks include mediocre names like James Carpenter, Bruce Irvin, Germain Ifedi, Rashaad Penny and L.J. Collier?
I just listed three of the very best GMs in the NFL, all of whom have had to clean up self-created debris several times during their careers. The fact is, when you're responsible for a 53-man roster, a salary cap and coaching decisions, you're bound to make mistakes.
Belichick's Patriots won the Super Bowl two years removed from Hernandez's last game. Schneider and Spielman are still managing their mistakes.
One year after Steve Keim ripped the Rosen and Wilks Band-Aids off and spread some Kyler and Kingsbury ointment on the wound, he's unclogging the David Johnson drag with DeAndre Hopkins Drano. He's made his share of mistakes, like all NFL GMs, but has recovered gracefully.
Put some respek on this man's name.