Dale Meinert was initially drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Colts, but he never played there, instead playing for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, where he won two Grey Cups.  He would return to the United States in 1958, joining the Chicago Cardinals becoming a starting Guard.  As the Cardinals relocated to St. Louis in 1960, he was relocated on the gridiron, switching to Middle Linebacker.

Meinert fit better on the defensive side, winning three Pro Bowls and the team MVP in 1961.  As the Cardinals were not a league power in the 1960s, Meinert’s contributions are not as celebrated as they should be, but this man was the team's best interior lineman for years.

A product of Stephen F. Austin, Larry Centers was one of their rare draft picks (5^th Round in 1990) by the Cardinals, but during the Fullback’s first two seasons, you had to wonder why they selected him at all, as he was barely used.

In his third season, it changed for Centers, who played in all 16 Games and had 50 Receptions, showing himself as one of the rare Fullbacks who would see the pigskin from the air far more than on the ground.  He continued increasing his Reception numbers (66 in 1993, 77 in 1994) and had a monster campaign in 1995 with 101 Receptions for 962 Yards and a pair of TDs.  Named to his first Pro Bowl that year, his 101 catches made him the first Back of any kind to have at least 100. 

Centers was even better in 1996.  His receiving numbers were slightly less in two metrics (96 Rec and 786 Yards), but he had career-highs in Receiving Touchdowns (7) and Rushing Yards (425).  Centers had two more solid years for Arizona, but in the 1999 off-season, Centers stint with the Cards ended when he was released due to salary cap considerations.  As a Cardinal, he had nearly 7,000 All-Purpose Yards and 29 Touchdowns.

Calais Campbell will go down in history as being more successful in his post-Cardinal career, but it was in Arizona that his career began.

A Second Round Pick in 2008, Campbell helped Arizona make the Super Bowl in his rookie year, and the year after, he became a starter at Left Defensive End.  Campbell's skills improved slowly, year by year, and in 2014, he went to his first Pro Bowl, with another following the season.  The multi-faceted player did not add a third consecutive Pro Bowl in 2016 but was a Second Team All-Pro, his second and first since 2014.

Campbell signed with Jacksonville in 2017 and, as a Jaguar, won the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2019.  As a Cardinal, Campbell accumulated 56.5 Sacks, 107 Tackles for Loss, and 501 Combined Tackles.

After four seasons with New England, where we won a Super Bowl and went to a Pro Bowl, Chandler Jones was dealt to the Arizona Cardinals, where he had greater individual success.

In his first year in Arizona (2016), the pass rusher had an 11 Sack/15 Tackle for Loss year, continuing his run as a top Edge performer, but he took his skills to another level in 2017.  That year, Jones led the NFL in Sacks (17.0) and Tackles for Loss (28) and added a First Team All-Pro, a Pro Bowl, and was third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.  After a year at Defensive End when the Cardinals changed their defensive scheme, Jones had his second monster campaign, with a career-high 19.0 Sacks and a league-leading 8 Forced Fumbles.  This yielded his second First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl as a Cardinal.  He was inured for most of 2020 but was a Pro Bowler again in 2021 with another double-digit Sack year (10.5).

Jones signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, leaving the club after 71.5 Sacks, 80 Tackles for Loss and 131 Quarterback Hits.