Arizona Football: Scooby Wright III declares for the NFL Draft

Wildcats win their bowl game, lose No. 33, Scooby Wright III to the NFL Draft.

The Arizona football Gildan New Mexico Bowl win was the third bowl victory for Rich Rodriguez and extends the winningest senior class total in Arizona program history to 33. But that isn’t why Wildcats will remember the number 33. The number 33 will be associated from here on out as Scooby Wright III‘s jersey number.

ZonaZealots previously reported that Mr. Wright would announce whether or not he was going to declare for the 2016 NFL draft after the Gildan New Mexico Bowl game.

Just like clockwork, the game ended, and multiple sources reported that Wright submitted a statement to Sports Illustrated about his decision to declare. He also posted his statement on Twitter from his @TwoStarScoob account. Notice he only had 1% of juice left in his phone, whew! Just made it!

Philip Wright II tweeted out a pic of his son signing with NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus Sports. Zack Rosenblatt (Tucson.com) offers us more information on what follows for Scooby:

"Wright signed Saturday night with NFL superagent Drew Rosenhaus and will soon fly to Miami to train with Pete Bommarito, the owner of Bommarito Performance Systems.He follows a path forged by former Wildcat Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots, who signed with Rosenhaus and trained with Bommarito after the 2009 season.The paperwork from the NFL draft’s advisory board told Wright that his ceiling is as a first-round pick, and NFL people have told his family that he has a good shot of being taken in the second or third rounds."

Excuse me while I grab a tissue, you may need one too if you are moved by stories about underdogs who never give up, are persistent and then successful. All Wright ever wanted to do is play in the NFL, now his dream is coming true!

More from Zona Zealots

• Arizona Football begins Conference play against Stanford
• Arizona Football starts slow but runs away from UTEP
• How Wildcats Fans Can Claim $200 INSTANT Bonus at BetMGM Betting $10 Right Now
• Costly Mistakes doom Arizona Football in loss to Mississippi State
• Arizona Basketball likely to schedule Florida Atlantic for 2023

Such an exciting time for our beloved middle linebacker, but it’s also heartwrenching for Wildcats fans. Both Scooby and his fans kind of felt gypped this season, as this was going to be a year where Scooby was going to prove to the world that last season wasn’t a fluke. Wildcats fans were going to be cheering ‘Scooooooooooobyyyyy’ all season long. Well, they were able to do some of that today.

Scooby went down with an injury at the beginning of the Wildcats season, then came back for a quarter in the UCLA game and went down again. He worked hard and got healthy just in time for the Wildcats bowl game.

The game was like a tryout for the NFL in a way; he needed to prove he could still play and was healthy. If nothing else, it sure helps his estimated draft pick ranking. Playing in the bowl game was a bonus for Wildcats fans as Scooby went out with a fantastic performance they will never forget.

Wright made a bowl high 15 tackles, 11 of them were all by himself. Add to that two sacks, two beautiful, necessary sacks, and one almost sack at the end of the game that forced up a Cam Denson Interception to end the Lobo’s chances for a win. Arizona ended up with a winning season, 7-6, and that probably wouldn’t have happened without Scooby.

After the game, ESPU captured this video of a very emotional Scooby describing how he had one offer from colleges in high school, and now he is declaring for the 2016 draft.

Scooby won nine awards in his sophomore year, this from a guy who wasn’t being recruited and only had two stars to his name. Rich Rod found a diamond in the rough who ended up his kind of guy.

Scooby Wright’s nine awards:

1. Unanimous All-American (2014)
2. Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year (2014) -First sophomore to ever win
3. First-team All-Pac-12 (2014)
4. CBS Sports Defensive Player of the Year (2014)
5. SB Nation Defensive Player of the Year (2014)
6. Bronko Nagurski Trophy (2014)
7. Rotary Lombardi Award (2014)
8. Chuck Bednarik Award (2014)
9. Jack Lambert Award (2014)

Scooby is projected to go in the first or second round according to his father via Anthony Gimino:

"“We’ve been hearing from everybody that he’s right now, as of today, before the bowl game, low first round, second round, possible third,” Phil said Friday night."

Scooby isn’t the only players being courted by NFL agents, one agent we spoke too will be talking to Reggie Gilbert and Will Parks after the game. Cayleb Jones is also looking into where he might land in the NFL Draft if he were to declare. So hold tight, this may just be the start for the NFL Draft train leaving Tucson.

Update from Will Parks himself:

Next: Arizona Football: Wildcats outlast Lobos in Gildan New Mexico Bowl

No more Scooby snacks for the NCAA. Who will wear the Wildcats Warpaint now that No. 33 Scooby Wright and No. 77 Lene Maiava are graduating? Whose photo will grace the front pages of Tucson newspapers? Who will adorn a cool nickname writers can have fun with now that Will “Philly Will” Parks and Philip “Scooby” Wright III will no longer don Wildcat red and blue?

It just won’t be the same, but their legacy will live on and Wildcats fans will adore whoever will fill these loved players shoes.

Beardown Scooby!