Steve Keim (born September 8, 1972) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

executive and former player who spent over two decades as an executive with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played college football as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

at NC State and was briefly a member of the NFL's

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

and CFL in the mid-1990s. After failing to catch on as a player, Keim became a regional

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

with the Cardinals in 1999. After being promoted several times, he was eventually named the team's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in 2013 and held that role until he stepped down in 2022 for health reasons.

Playing career

College

Keim played for NC State, where he started 36 consecutive games at left guard. He was a two-time all-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

selection and was named the conference's offensive freshman of the year in 1991. During Keim's senior year, he was named captain and the N.C. State offensive line MVP. He subsequently earned a degree in Business Management.

Professional

Keim signed with the

( NFL) in 1996 and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

( CFL) in 1997.

Executive career

Keim originally joined the

in May 1999 as a college scout for the Eastern United States. He was promoted to director of college scouting in 2006 and later to director of player personnel in 2008. In May 2012, Keim was promoted to vice president of player personnel before being named general manager on January 8, 2013. For the 2013 season, Keim was selected as Pro Football Talk's NFL Executive of the Year. For the 2014 season, Keim was selected as NFL Executive of the Year by The Sporting News and a second year by Pro Football Talk. On February 23, 2015, the Cardinals announced a new 4-year deal with Keim which would keep him with the Cardinals through the 2018 season. On February 12, 2018, the Cardinals announced that Keim signed a contract extension with them through the 2022 season. On March 2, 2022, the Cardinals announced that Keim signed a contract extension with them through the 2027 season. On December 14, the Cardinals announced Keim would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. On January 9, 2023, Keim stepped down as general manager to focus on his health. Keim's total regular season record with the Cardinals was 80-80-2.

Personal life

Keim resides in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

. Keim has a daughter, Sloane, and three sons: Carson, Brady and Warner. Keim is a native of

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

and is of German descent. On July 4, 2018, Keim was cited for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

after reportedly having a 0.19% blood-alcohol concentration. Keim subsequently pleaded guilty, with the Cardinals fining him $200,000 and suspending him for five weeks.

Awards and honors

Keim was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keim, Steve 1972 births Living people American football offensive guards Arizona Cardinals executives NC State Wolfpack football players NFL general managers Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism