Cardinals' 35th season in Arizona: Former LB Karlos Dansby seeks place in Ring of Honor

Karlos Dansby has been a part of some of the greatest moments in Arizona Cardinals history, a player who had three different stints with the team who was respected for his leadership and knack for big plays.

This week, Dansby — never one to hold back when it comes to his legacy and how he feels his long and productive career is worthy of a place in the pantheon of Cardinals and NFL greats — dishes on what he's up to these days, why he loved it in Arizona, his desire to be in the Cardinals' Ring of Honor and memories of the team's only Super Bowl appearance in 2009.

This NFL season, which ends with the Super Bowl in Glendale, the Arizona Republic visits with some of the names and faces from the Cardinals' 35 seasons in Arizona. Dansby had a 14-year NFL career from 2004 to 2017 and spent eight of those seasons with the Cardinals. He had 20 interceptions, six returned for a touchdown, and 20 forced fumbles in his career.

Previous Cardinals 35th season stories: Michael Pittman | Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie | Carson Palmer.

Q: Let's start with what you're up to now, where's home, where are you these days?

A: "Home for me now is Alabama, Birmingham. What I've been up to, man, is master planning businesses, master planning land and business development around the country, helping communities I wouldn't say rebuild, but creating opportunities and jobs in different communities.

"Taking people from different walks of life and bringing them together ... and winning. I'm a competitor, man, so you know, I like wins. You get some deals done, you lose some you know, you learn your lessons from those. It's a perfect world for me in the business lane,  just you know, just developing and helping people build."

Q: You were always such a leader wherever you went and is that just kind of who you are, who you always have been as a person and how did that over time just become a part of who you are in football?

A: "Since I was six years old, I've been leading football teams. Everybody wanted me pick the team, you know since we were playing in the yard, playing full tackle or picking teams in the neighborhood. I ran away from it for a long time. High school. I tried to run away from me being a leader but it was just natural. I'm a preacher's kid, man. So I guess I felt anointed, but a blessing fell upon me and and I had to embrace it at some point. And once I got to the NFL, learned the ropes, I didn't come out of the gate trying to do that, it just gravitated towards me. Pulled me right in and it was just a natural fit for me. I was at home when I was in front, leading the pack. People depended on me for a spark."

Q: You started with the Cardinals. You went to Miami, you came back, you go to Cleveland, you came back. What made Phoenix and Arizona the place you always kept coming back to?

A: "It was home. It was love. There was a lot of love out there, a lot of good energy. Anytime I was in the building, great energy, great teammates. I motivated guys to really go, and it was a calling. It was like 'Hey, man, it's time to come back.' And I came back and helped motivate other guys around me, man. Showed them how to play the game. And they needed it at that time. Those players needed it.

"To be still playing with them, to be still admired by the front office. It was a blessing. So hopefully I can get in that Ring of Honor coming up here shortly. Hopefully that's the next step, and they think that highly of me to put me in that and I hope I earned it, earned that respect from them to put me in there, you know, being a two-time franchise player. It's pretty dope man. It's pretty dope if they considered me for that honor."

Q: So have you been contacted about that?

A: "I haven't been contacted but I've been putting it out there myself. That's the next step. That's the only thing left, is to cap off a great career. Ring of Honor, and then hopefully, Hall of Fame. I think I earned it. I think my numbers are there. My impact on the field was definitely there. Every time I left Arizona it didn't go as well as when I was there. It just showed the impact that I brought to the table ... to help give my team the best opportunity to win games. And that's all I wanted."

Q: Let's go back to the Super Bowl, with the Super Bowl being here in Arizona this year. You had a great game, the team came so close. What else do you recall about that night?

A: "That night was special, man. We were right there, we had our opportunities. We didn't capitalize on a lot of plays that we left out there. I still remember one of the calls that I should have made, probably would have changed the whole outcome of that game. That moment was special, man, and it will live with us for a lifetime. That game will outlive us, put it like that, and we put it on film. That's just the dope part about it. My great grandkids will see it and say, 'There goes great granddad, he was a baller. He made big-time plays in the Super Bowl.' They'll be able to see that, you know, and it was a blessing to have that kind of opportunity and do it in a Cardinals uniform."

Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM. 

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Arizona Cardinal Karlos Dansby hopes to be in Ring of Honor