Former Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright took a break from training to appear on “The Jim Rome Show” on Wednesday. Wright, who’s in Florida preparing for the upcoming NFL scouting combine (Feb. 23-29), discussed his journey, his comeback from injuries and other topics. Here are some of the highlights:
(on being overlooked coming out of high school)
“It was motivating, and it was a little upsetting. I did all I could do physically. I went to the Nike SPARQ combine and had one of the highest scores in the country for a linebacker at the time. And then I went to the Nike training camp and saw some of the guys who were committed to USC and a bunch of Pac-12 schools that I wanted to go to. I had zero offers at the time. I ended up doing really well at the camp. Everybody was trying to figure out who I was. A couple weeks later Arizona called me, and … I committed on the spot. I got to campus, fell in love and the rest is history.”
(on whether he proved people wrong during his breakout 2014 season)
“It wasn’t so much proving people wrong. I love the game of football. That’s my passion. I love playing it. I was just going out there playing ball. I wasn’t really thinking too much about proving people wrong or anything like that. I was just playing ball and having fun doing what I do.”
(on dealing with multiple injuries last season)
“It was definitely tough. I had a lot of expectations for me and the team coming in. … It was difficult at times. But it made me a better person. It made me face adversity head-on. I had my knee injury on the 15th or 12th play of the season, and I came back, I think it was 17 days later from my knee surgery and tried to play in a game. I probably should have waited a little bit; I came back a little too soon. But I wanted to be out there and be with my teammates out on the field. It was me just being a little eager to get out there.”
(on how that experience changed him)
“I think I matured a lot. When you’re hurt, you see things from a different perspective. You see it (as) an outsider looking in. … I think my parents and family were getting ready to strangle me. I was hard to deal with at times. I was going a little insane. I actually shaved my head at one point because I was just losing it. Looking back at it, I think it was just a life lesson in just staying humble. You never know when something can be taken from you.”
(on shaving his head while rehabbing)
“I was just having a mental breakdown (joking). I actually had to call one of my teammates and have him come over and help me shave it. Cody Ippolito. One of our linebackers, one of my good friends had to help me knock it down because I couldn’t get the back. He walked in to my apartment saying, ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ It was kind of funny. I just kind of had to start over, new beginning, face it head-on.”
(on playing and starring in the season-ending New Mexico Bowl)
“It was real emotional. I wanted to be out there all year. Those are my brothers, my teammates. We worked so hard in the offseason, coming off of last year (2014, which ended with a loss in the Fiesta Bowl), we had a bad taste in our mouth. Things didn’t work out this year as well as they could’ve. But we went into our bowl game trying to send our seniors off right, with a winning record, and finish on a high note. It was just tough. I just wanted to be out there playing ball, and I didn’t have that opportunity. I just wanted to come out in the last game, be with my teammates and play with them one last time.”
(on being projected as a mid-round draft pick)
“It’s out of my control. I’m going to control what I can control, and that’s me getting my body ready 125 percent for the combine and showing the scouts and coaches what I can do. The film speaks for itself from my freshman and sophomore years. Second to none. I just have to go out there and prove myself one more time, I guess.”
(on what a team will get if it drafts him)
“Somebody who’s never going to take a play off, going to outwork everybody in the facility and just give my all every day.”
The NFL released the official invite list for the scouting combine, and it includes two Arizona players: Wright and receiver Cayleb Jones.
NFL.com gave Wright a grade of 6.12, which puts him in the category of “should become an instant starter.” Here’s what a pro scout told the site about Wright:
“I hope he falls to us because I will do everything in my power to get him drafted. Make Zach Thomas your comp for him. They are the exact same guy.”
Thomas was a fifth-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins in 1996. He went on to become a five-time first-team All-Pro.
In addition to the combine, Wright, Jones and other Arizona draft prospects will have a chance to work out for scouts at the school’s pro day, which is scheduled for March 24.
