Linebacker Karlos Dansby is getting set to enter his 14th season in the NFL and eighth season with the Arizona Cardinals this year.
Dansby has been a highly successful player through his career, posting seven seasons of at least 100 tackles with 42 career sacks and 19 interceptions. However, Dansby has never been named to the Pro Bowl despite taking home second-team All-Pro Honors in 2013 after racking up 122 tackles, four interceptions, 6.5 sacks and 19 passes defended with the Cardinals.
But participating in the Hall of Fame game last week has Dansby hoping his resume will eventually bring him back to Canton.
“That’s my expectation, is to be there,” Dansby said, via Jose Romero of the Associated Press. “It’s been my expectation since Day 1, before I even got on the field. To have that admiration and to be that ambitious, and to be there Thursday night knowing these guys being inducted are guys I played with and to congratulate them, they want to see me get there, too.”
In making the case for Dansby, he’s currently the leading active tackler in the NFL with 1,317 career tackles. One more interception would leave him with 40 sacks and 20 interceptions for his career, a threshold accomplished by just four other players in history. Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher are two of the four to do so and both of them could be named to the Hall of Fame on their first ballot next year.
The lack of Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections could be a difficult hurdle to overcome in garnering attention from the Hall of Fame committee, but Dansby’s had an impressive career regardless. And it’s not over just yet either.