Since he left the UA following the 2015 season, Scooby Wright has done all he can to make a living in sports.
Wright, an All-American linebacker who won the Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award following a historic 2014 campaign, played in the NFL, Alliance of American Football and XFL. Recently, he began competing in muay thai and jiujitsu, and has participated in smaller martial arts tournaments.
As if that wasn't enough, Wright has entered firefighting academy in his hometown of Sonoma County, California.
Wright joined the Star’s Justin Spears on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears and Ali” earlier this week to talk about what sparked his interest to firefighting, combat sports and his “awkward” moment with new UA football coach Jedd Fisch:
What was your favorite part about playing for Arizona?
A: “Just the camaraderie of guys and just being in the locker room and being around special people every day.”
Looking back, how special was that road upset win over No. 2 Oregon in 2014 — specifically the play where you stripped Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota to seal the victory?
A: “It was a huge win for our school, obviously because it was against Oregon. But one of our strength coaches before the game — I don’t think I’ve ever told this story — and said, ‘Hey, you’re going to take the ball from somebody tonight. You’re going to take the ball from someone’s hands tonight.’ Then I stripped the ball from Mariota, and that was one of the craziest things that ever happened to me in football."
What is your most memorable Rich Rodriguez practice moment?
A: “The defense would always do good, and Coach Rod would always get mad. I always fed off that, personally, when Coach Rod got mad. It probably made me play better. In the back of my head, I always knew we’d get punished, because the offense wasn’t doing good and that was always happening. … One time he got so mad, he kicked (cornerback) Shaq Richardson off the field and told him to get out of the drill.”
Is there a RichRod-ism you still say to this day?
A: “‘Hard Edge’ has always stuck with me.”
When do you start to process life after football, or has that already happened for you?
A: “I’m in that transition right now as we speak. It was very unfortunate that I was having a bunch of neck issues in the XFL, and I was getting stingers whenever I hit somebody and I was getting nerve damage in my arm and neck, and that was going into my last XFL game. Right before my last XFL game, that was the week (COVID-19) hit, so I wasn’t going to play football anyways. During the pandemic, when I wasn’t playing football, I started doing more jiujitsu and muay thai — and I even did that during college, so I started slowly picking up more jiujitsu, more muay thai, and I competed a little bit in jiujitsu tournaments just to keep me busy or else I’d chew my arm off.”
How much different is your training regiment — and body — since you stopped playing football?
A: “During the pandemic, I was walking around at 205 (pounds) and now I’m about 210. A few weeks ago at a muay thai tournament, I was 195.”
Is there a different feeling walking into a fight than a football game?
A: “Yeah, 100%. It’s all on you. There’s no coaches — I mean, you have a coach, but he’s not in there telling you what to do and stuff. I’ve grown to it and the freedom that it brings.”
As a football player, what did you do to hype yourself up before a game, and is it any different than when you step into the ring for a mixed-martial arts fight?
A: “I haven’t competed in MMA yet. I’ve only done muay thai and jiujitsu, so I haven’t really mixed it up. When I compete in them individually, more so jiujitsu, you don’t really worry about getting punched in the face and it’s not as intense. It’s more calming, to be honest. In football, you can get hyped up and then go (beat) someone up. But muay thai and combat sports, you’ll get that adrenaline rush and tire yourself out in 30 seconds. In football, you can do that.”
What made you want to pursue muay thai?
A: “It was an outlet for me when I was playing football. When I was with the Cardinals and even the Browns, I was doing muay thai during off-days, and it was just my outlet. It was one of those where it was natural and I could say, ‘Hey, I want to do this.’ I actually started (firefighting) academy last week, and my main goal is to get that done.”
Scooby Wright was moved by the Granite Mountain Hotshots tragedy. Now, Wright — who played for the Arizona Hotshots of the AAF — is becoming a firefighter himself.
What inspired you to become a firefighter?
A: “When I was playing for the (Arizona) Hotshots (of the AAF), one of the most emotional things I’ve ever experienced was when we had our first home game, there was a halftime show and we were running out onto the field, and there was a line of families across the field from sideline-to-sideline. I remember thinking, ‘What are these people doing on the field? What’s going on? We have a game going on.’ As we got closer, I realized it was the 19 family members from those who were fallen from the Granite Mountain Hotshots. I realized it was them commemorating and the memorial. That’s what kind of started the fuse, and it’s a pretty great job. You have to be an elite person and a different individual to go and want to do that.”
What are your thoughts on what Jedd Fisch has done since taking over as head coach of the UA?
A: “As soon as Jedd Fisch got hired, I sent a message on Twitter saying, ‘Hey, congrats.’ He gave me his cell phone number and I called it, but his wife answered it. He accidentally gave me his wife’s cell phone number, and it was really awkward. So, I called the number and said, ‘Hey, this is Scooby Wright,’ and she goes, ‘Hi, this is Amber Fisch, uh, how did you get this number?’ I said, ‘I think your husband gave me the wrong number,’ so it was awkward. But coach Brandon Sanders reached out to me about sending me some old pictures that were hanging up in the facility, and he was very upset when I told him that Arizona never gave me a framed jersey, because I left as an underclassman. But he said he was going to take care of that, which is pretty cool.”
