Karlos Dansby may be a lot of things to a lot of people.
But lacking in confidence isn’t one of them.
One year after proclaiming himself the NFL’s best linebacker, the Miami Dolphins star told a South Florida TV station that he expected to someday be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
The 30-year-old former Auburn star might, however, want to trying to make his first Pro Bowl first.
“The Hall of Fame,” Dansby said in the interview. “If I lead men and I stay focused on what I need to do, I’ll get there.”
Dansby, who boasts 30.5 sacks and 11 interceptions over his eight-year career, believes that becoming a career 20-20 club member of those two categories will warrant his enshrinement in Canton. Only 11 players in NFL history have accomplished the feat, although the league only began counting sacks as an official statistic in 1982.
“To get that yellow jacket and be legendary, it’s right there,” Dansby said. “I’m nine picks away from that. Be legendary as one of the best ever to do it.
“The Hall of Fame, man. Without a doubt (Dansby will make it). If I get in that club, it’s without a doubt. How can you not be in it? … Not one Pro Bowl has to be behind my name if I get in that 20-20 club. That separates me from everybody else.”
Perhaps somebody should let Dansby know that of the 11 players known to be in the club – linebackers Seth Joyner, Brian Urlacher, Wilber Marshall, William Thomas, Donnie Edwards, Ray Lewis, safeties LeRoy Butler, Brian Dawkins, Lawyer Milloy and Adrian Wilson and cornerback Ronde Barber – none are actually in the Hall, although Urlacher and Lewis are sure bets to get there eventually.
Dansby, however, has never been shy about his high regard for his own abilities. He proclaimed himself the best linebacker in the NFL last November after totaling 10 tackles, a sack and an interception in a win over Washington.
Nothing has happened to change his mind. Not even the lack of Pro Bowls on his resume.
“All that stuff is political, man,” he explained. “There’s a lot of good players out there that get overlooked … (Making a Pro Bowl) will come if I get all my goals reached.”
His teammates didn’t sound as if they need much convincing.
“People think it’s cocky,” running back Steve Slaton said, “but I think it starts with yourself. You got to have confidence. Nobody is going to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.”
That doesn’t appear to be a problem for Dansby.
“You got to have swag,” he said. “You got to be sure who you are.”
