R.I.P. Mark Arneson—Solid as They Come

By John Turney 

News came today former St. Louis Cardinals middle linebacker Mark Arneson has passed away. He was 73.

Arneson was a Tucson, Arizona, native who was a fine high school athlete in three sports. He was All-City twice in football and a good wrestler as well. 

He chose to stay home and play collegiate football at the University of Arizona and there he had a terrific stay.

There he was All-WAC as a junior (making 155 tackles, nine for losses, seven pass breakups and a fumble recovery) and senior and left with the Wildcat record for tackles with 357 and still ranks tenth. 

Prior to his senior year was on Playboy's preseason All-American team  After the season he made The Sporting News and Time All-America teams and was an honorable mention on both the AP and UPI teams.

He played in the Senior Bowl, the East-West Shrine Game and the College All-Star game, the latter being a face-off with the Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys.

Though undersized (215 pounds at the time) his 4.6 speed caught the eye of the St. Louis Cardinals who selected him in the second round of the 1972 NFL Draft.

After an injury to starter Jamie Rivers, Arneson started the final ten games of 1972 and was named the club's rookie of the year and Football Digest named him to their All-Rookie.

He backed up Rivers again in 1973 but the now 225-pounder regained his starting job for the final four games after Rivers went down again. 

From then on he was a starter.

In 1974 as the Cardinals began to make their move in the NFC East division, winning it that year and the next with 10-4 and 11-3 records respectively. Winning a division that included Dallas and Washington was no small task.

Arneson, thrilled with being on a winner for the first time since high school, was a key cog in the Cards' defense, more known for offense, that was eighth in the NFL in scoring defense in 1974 and eleventh in 1975. 

Though they lost in the 1974 Divisional Playoff game, Arneson stood out. He was the Cardinals' Defensive Player of the Game.

Big Red, as the Cardinals were known, missed the playoffs in 1976, despite a 10-4 record. Arneson, though not pleased with a position change to outside linebacker had a good year totaling 85 tackles, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and three sacks and an interception and three passes defensed. 

The following season was solid as well - 94 tackles, two picks, a sack, three recoveries and two pass deflections and a forced fumble.

Another change came the following year as the scheme in St. Louis changed to a 3-4 defense and Arneson was used as a blitzer more often and averaged 4½ sacks a year in his final three seasons. 

In that same span, he made 160 tackles, six fumble recoveries (one a scoop and score) and deflected four passes. 

He finished his career with 18 fumbles recovered and 17.5 sacks, the recoveries setting a team record at the time. It is also a number that ranked ninth all-time among linebackers at the time of his retirement (as per Stathead.com). Some of the names ahead of him are Butkus, Nitschke, Bill George, Jack Ham, Bill Bergey - not bad company to be in.

Arneson was one the classic NFL good guys, tough guys. Always friendly with the media and playing with injuries, a cast on his hand, a 104-degree temperature, you name it. He had a streak of His streak of 104 consecutive NFL games despite that.

Mark received the Cards' Paul Christman Memorial Award for athletic and community achievement in 1980, reflecting more of his "good guy" qualities. 

He was named to the Arizona Republic's list of the top 100 Cardinals of all time, ranking 72nd, and was inducted into the University of Arizona Hall of Fame and the Pima County (Arizona) Hall of Fame

In June of 2022, Sports Illustrated named him one of the Cardinals franchise's top ten linebackers, ranking him eighth.

After his career, he stayed in the Midwest and got into the construction business and was involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in St. Louis, serving in high offices and on the board of directors. He'd been active in FCA since his days as an Arizona Wildcat.