A football player rarely has three runs with a football team, but Karlos Dansby did just that with the Arizona Cardinals.
Dansby’s first stint in Arizona was his longest and most traditional, arriving as a 2nd Round Pick in 2004. Receiving All-Rookie honors, Dansby blossomed into a solid interior Linebacker who was capable of a big play at any time. In 2008, Dansby had his first 100-Tackle plus year, which not coincidentally also saw the Cardinals make it to the Super Bowl. After another year where he broke 100 Tackles, Dansby left for Miami but returned three years later in 2013, where he was a Second Team All-Pro and put up his best numbers in Tackles (129) as a Cardinal.
Dansby left again, this time with Cleveland as his landing spot. Furthermore, after three years, Dansby returned to the Cards for what was his final season in the NFL. His overall metrics with Arizona saw the Linebacker net 776 Tackles and 33 Sacks.
Irv Goode was a beast at the University of Kentucky, which led to his high selection by the St. Louis Cardinals, who nabbed him 12th Overall in 1961. Goode accomplished a rare feat as a rookie, earning Rookie of the Year votes (4th), and though St. Louis was not impressive in the 1960s, the versatile lineman (he played at Left Tackle, Left Guard, and Center) won Pro Bowl honors in both 1964 and 1967.
He would later win a Super Bowl in a reserve capacity with the Miami Dolphins at SB VIII.
A First Round Pick from Mississippi, Freddie Joe Nunn seemed to bounce from Defensive End to Linebacker depending on the need in his first nine years in the NFL as a Cardinal.
A really good player but never was named a Pro Bowler or All-Pro, Nunn was at his best as a pass rusher, as shown by his 14-Sack year in 1988, the first year of the Cards' relocation to the desert. Had Nunn received a more defined and consistent role with the Cardinals and not endured legal issues (he was arrested multiple times), his profile in Cardinal history would be more significant. It also did not help that the St. Louis/Phoenix were hardly world-beaters when he played there. After nine seasons, Nunn departed for the Colts, where he played three years to close out his career.
Following Nunn's departure, he had the franchise record 66.5 Sacks, a record that stood until it was broken by Chandler Jones in 2021.
The first man to win back-to-back Sun Bowl MVPs and have his number retired at New Mexico State, Charley Johnson was drafted late (10th Round) of the 1960 Draft, seeing limited action in his rookie year, but became the Cardinals starter in his second season.
Johnson may not have ever appeared in a playoff game, but in '63 and '64, he had nine wins each in 14-game Seasons and was one of the top QBs in the league. A Pro Bowl selection in 1963, Johnson led the NFL in Completions (223) and Passing Yards (3,045), though he also had 24 Interceptions against 21 Touchdown Passes that year.
Johnson remained St. Louis’s starting Quarterback until the emergence of Jim Hart in 1969, and he was traded to the Houston Oilers. Overall, with the Cardinals, Johnson compiled a TD-INT ratio of 108-110 and 14,928 Yards.