Karlos Dansby

Karlos Montez Dansby (born November 3, 1981) is an American football linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn.

Early years
Dansby was an All-State linebacker and wide receiver at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He caught 51 passes for 857 yards and five touchdowns on offense, 81 tackles, six sacks, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries on defense as a senior. He also played basketball,as a power forward earning all-state honors as a junior.

College career
Dansby was a Butkus Award semi-finalist regarded as one of the premier defenders in college football. While he began his Auburn career at strong safety, he shifted to outside linebacker as a sophomore. In 36 games for the Tigers, he recorded 218 tackles (128 solos) with 10 quarterback sacks, 31 stops for losses, seven forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 15 pass deflections, and eight interceptions for 107 yards in returns. He was First-team All-America and a First-team All-Southeastern Conference selection as a senior when he had 84 tackles (50 solo), 5.5 sacks, 13 stops for losses, 6 pass deflections, 4 caused fumbles. In 2002 he was a First-team All-SEC with 76 tackles (32 solo), 4 sacks, 10 stops for losses, 3 interceptions, 4 pass deflections, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 caused fumbles.

Arizona Cardinals
Karlos was drafted in the second round by the Arizona Cardinals. Since being drafted, he has turned into one of the NFL's most productive linebackers, recording 24.5 sacks and 9 interceptions, taking two back for scores.

He was named to Pro Football Weekly’s 2004 All-Rookie team after starting 12 games while accumulating 68 tackles, the most of any rookie on the team and recorded three fumble recoveries, one shy of the team's rookie record for fumble recoveries. In 2005,he became the first Cardinal linebacker to record two interception returns for touchdowns in a single season and finished the year with the first 100+ tackle season of his career with 103. He followed that by finishing 2006 with 94 tackles and eight sacks, both good for second on the team, despite missing two games due to injury. In 2007 he started all 14 games he played and led team with 117 tackles, marking second season with 100+ tackles (103 in 2005). On February 14, 2008, he was designated as the Cardinals' franchise player. He has been franchised twice by Arizona, in 2008 and 2009. Cardinals signed franchised Dansby to a one-year, $8.065 million contract. In 2008 Dansby led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl while again totaling over 100 tackles and making 4 sacks and intercepting two passes. Karlos Dansby's 2009 franchise tag guarantees him $9.7 million in salary in 2009 and would make him an unrestricted free agent in 2010.

In a first-round playoff game against the Green Bay Packers on January 10, 2010, Dansby recovered a fumble in overtime by Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and returned it 17 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the highest scoring game in NFL postseason history.

Miami Dolphins
On March 5, 2010, Dansby signed with the Miami Dolphins to a five-year, $43 million contract with $22 million guaranteed, which made it the richest contract for an inside linebacker in NFL history until Patrick Willis signed a five-year, $50 million contract.