TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle L.J. Collier waited years for the 2024 season.
And it wasn't easy. The wait was long, emotional and trying. It took him to dark places. It took away his love of football. But, as Collier boarded a flight to Japan with his wife and 2-year-old daughter after the season, he was in a place he'd been trying to get to his entire career.
Collier showed this past season why he was a first-round pick and what being in the right place at the right time can do for a player.
After struggling through four years with the Seattle Seahawks, who drafted him with the No. 29 pick in 2019, Collier had one of the best seasons of his career at just the right time: He's scheduled to enter free agency, where a sizeable payday could await.
"I just try to play every game like it was my last because you don't know what's going to happen in this league or anything like that," Collier told ESPN. "Just to have a resurgence, man. It shows that once you give me a full chance, what I can do and things like that, man. So, I've just been excited, man. I love everybody in this locker room."
Collier set career highs with 3.5 sacks and 29 tackles while playing 606 snaps, the most of his career.
Collier signed with the Cardinals on a one-year deal in 2023, but after a biceps injury in Week 1, he missed the rest of the season.
"I had some dark times last year, bro," Collier said. "I was at the house, man, I don't normally cry very easily, bro. And I cried a lot last year just because I finally found my love back for football and it was taken for me."
Waiting months to get back on the field took its toll. To get through it, he leaned on his wife, Samantha; his agent; old friends; and a former teacher.
However difficult it was to sit out the large majority of a season for the first time in his career, Collier believed he was conditioned to handle the adversity after losing his mother, Ruby, to pancreatic cancer during his freshman year at TCU.
"That's what I told myself then: Nothing's harder than losing the parents, especially your mom," Collier said.
Collier didn't like playing in Seattle, where he said he lost his confidence.
"That wasn't my type of vibe, bro," Collier said. "When you come into a place and you try to against all odds, when the coaches don't want you guys in the locker room, when money gets involved, dudes get real weird and, man, look, just there, fam, it just wasn't a place for me, fam. I wasn't feeling myself."
When he got to Arizona, Collier vowed he wouldn't be like he was in Seattle again. He wanted to be himself. Smile more. Laugh a lot. Talk to everyone.
But missing all but one game in 2023 humbled him. It gave him invaluable time with his young daughter, but he felt useless to the Cardinals sitting at home. Even so, he showed up for rehab every day, fellow defensive lineman Roy Lopez said, bringing as much of his outgoing personality with him as he could muster.
"You felt like you should be doing something else," Collier said. "I enjoyed it with my family, but you never want to be at home for those types of reasons, man. It just sucks, man."
As he entered last offseason scheduled to be a free agent, Collier wasn't sure what his football future looked like, but he knew that if the Cardinals brought him back he'd "give them everything I got." He never even made it to free agency. The Cardinals re-signed him to another one-year deal five days before free agency began.
"It meant the world to me, man," Collier said. "I mean, everybody else had wrote me off and said I wasn't good enough to come play for them and [coach Jonathan Gannon] and [defensive coordinator] Nick [Rallis] still believed I had something to offer and I appreciate that man more than you know. I would play my ass off for those dudes any day."
Rallis wanted Collier back because of his fit in the locker room, his energy and how many elements of Collier's game meshed with Arizona's defense.
Collier began the season in the same position he did last year: as a backup. But that quickly changed when defensive tackle Justin Jones suffered a triceps injury in Week 3 and missed the rest of the season. Collier was given another chance and took advantage of it, showing what he's capable of.
"That I work hard and I'll do whatever it takes to make plays," he said. "I mean, I always pop off on the stat sheet, but off I always show up in games and do me running to the ball, me doing something, fam, always showing up here and there, fam, I showed that I feel like I could be a big part of this organization."
Collier has made an imprint on his teammates and coaches.
"I ain't going to lie -- L.J. is probably the guy that kind of keeps me going every day," fellow defensive lineman Dante Stills said. "He always talks to me, gives me motivation, always gives me advice."
Collier uses his experience -- not just from six years in the NFL but also from playing for a different organization -- to help guide his younger teammates, former defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc said. And he's entertaining.
"He brings so much laughter, smiles, but then also has the maturity to match with it," Lopez said. "He's a guy that's seen everything throughout his career. You combine that with a first-round pick, he's a special dude, man."
Those around him every day have appreciated how Collier embraced his opportunity in the 2024 season. That has led him to be excited for this offseason. He's going to take the process as it comes to him, but said he believes "it's going to be a good one."
Last season was a relief, Collier explained. He found his confidence again. He was happy again. He prides himself on "being resilient, staying here, not being broken and just staying in the fight, man."
"I know how much it means to him and I know how much he pours into it," Rallis said. "To be able to see those results is important.
"I know he's going to continue to pour into it and so just know that 'Hey, what you've been doing, what you've been working on so hard, what you're so passionate about, keep doing it, it's going to pay off for you.'"