The Arizona Wildcats are far from the most storied college football program in Division I, and they don't often churn out early-round NFL draft picks. However, there occasionally comes along a player whose greatness is nationally-recognized while suiting up in the Red and Blue with the Block A on the helmet.
The two types of All-Americans we're considering for these purposes are 'consensus' and 'unanimous' All-Americans. Consensus indicates that a player was named an All-American by at least three of the five NCAA-recognized publications, and unanimous indicates that all five publications recognized a player.
Six Arizona Football players have been recognized as unanimous first-team All-Americans, signifying that they were among the two or three best players in the nation at their positions. 12 players have been recognized as consensus All-Americans. In this series, we'll look at all their Arizona careers position-by-position.
It's only fair to start with the linebackers, who serve as the bookends for the unanimous honorees. Ricky Hunley was the first Arizona player ever to earn unanimous All-American honors in 1983, and Scooby Wright III was the last player to earn the same nod almost 10 years ago in 2014.