Every Arizona Football All-American in history: Linebackers Ricky Hunley and Scooby Wright III
By Mason Duhon
Scooby Wright III
Scooby Wright's 2014 season was the stuff of legends, but his entire three-year Arizona career was marked by showing up in the biggest moments. He played in 13 games as a freshman with 12 starts, notching 83 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss. He also snagged an interception when Shaq Richardson tipped a pass from Oregon's Marcus Mariota. All of this led to him earning an All-Pac-12 honorable mention in 2013.
Wright logged one of the most nationally prolific seasons in Arizona history in 2014, leading the FBS with 163 tackles, 29 TFLs, and six forced fumbles. His 14 sacks were fourth in the nation and his 99 solo tackles ranked second only to UCLA's Eric Kendricks.
He earned First-Team All-Pac-12 honors, the Pac-12 DPoY Award, and a unanimous first-team All-American selection, the Chuck Bednarik Award for National DPoY, the Bronko Nagurski Award (most outstanding defensive player), and the Vince Lombardi Award (lineman/linebacker of the year). These were just the NCAA-recognized awards, among a long list of others.
Though Wright's 2015 season was wracked with injuries, he played in the season-opener, the Pac-12 opener, and the 2015 Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. He only notched a tackle in Week 1 before exiting, and he returned to post seven tackles against UCLA in Week 3. In his final game as an Arizona Wildcat, he notched 15 total tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and 2.0 sacks in the 45-37 2015 New Mexico Bowl win over New Mexico on the Lobos' home turf en route to a Defensive MVP Award.
Wright was one of the most exciting players in Arizona history, and although his NFL career didn't pan out as hoped after getting drafted in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, he carved out a niche for himself across various spring leagues. The "SharkDawg" is currently rehabbing a severe neck injury to return to the UFL's Birmingham Stallions, where he played a pivotal role in their 2022 championship win.
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