Philip Anthony "Scooby" Wright III (born August 28, 1994) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played thei ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played college football at

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

Early years

Wright attended Cardinal Newman High School in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

, where he was a two-sport star in football and track. He was regarded as a two-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

. Wright was a four-year varsity player at linebacker and running back for the Cardinals. Wright was an all-state selection his junior and senior years. Also a standout

shot putter The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

on the

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

team, Wright had a top-throw of 15.67 meters (51–3).

College career

Despite being lightly recruited, Wright earned immediate playing time as a true freshman at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

in 2013. He started 12 of 13 games, recording 83 tackles and an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

and garnering Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 honors. Wright remained a starter as a sophomore in 2014. He was a finalist for numerous awards, including the

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information dir ...

. He claimed the

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lo ...

Jack Lambert Award The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More th ...

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ame ...

and also was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first sophomore to ever win the conference award. Wright also earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors. He had the highest finish of any defensive player in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting, finishing ninth on the ballot. As a junior in 2015, Wright played only 3 games due to injury, recording 2 sacks and 23 tackles. After his junior year, he announced his intentions to enter the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft be ...

College statistics

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Wright was drafted by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in the 7th round (250th overall) of the

. On May 14, 2016, Wright signed a four-year deal worth $2.401 million featuring a $60,700 signing bonus. He was waived by the Browns on September 20, 2016. The next day, he was signed to the practice squad.

Arizona Cardinals

On December 13, 2016, Wright was signed by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

off the Browns' practice squad. On September 2, 2017, Wright was waived by the Cardinals and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 8, 2017. He was waived on September 11, 2017, and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 3, 2017. On September 1, 2018, Wright was waived by the Cardinals.

Arizona Hotshots

On December 11, 2018, Wright signed with the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their h ...

of the AAF. Wright was credited with 9 tackles in the 8 games played prior to the league shutting down.

New England Patriots

After the AAF ceased operations in April 2019, Wright signed with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

on August 25, 2019. He was released during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 20, 2019. On October 1, 2019, Wright was released from the practice squad.

DC Defenders

In October 2019, Wright was selected by the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. Th ...

in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

. In 4 games played, Wright put up 17 tackles. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020. Wright signed with the Alphas of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

on October 17, 2020.

Birmingham Stallions

On February 23, 2022, Wright was drafted by the

of the

. Wright won Defensive Player of the Week in week 4 with six tackles, one sack, and two tackles for loss. He was ruled inactive for the game against the Philadelphia Stars on May 15, 2022, with a calf injury and an illness. He was transferred back to the active roster on May 20, but moved back to the inactive roster later that day. He scored a pick six in the fourth quarter of the 2022 USFL Championship game for the go ahead score.

Statistics

Post Season

Personal life

Wright is the son of Philip Jr. and Annette Wright. His father is head softball coach at Santa Rosa Junior College and played football at Long Beach State. His sister, Ashley, played softball at Illinois. Wright has been called "Scooby" since he was a baby when his father nicknamed him.

References

External links

Arizona Wildcats bio

Cleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Scooby 1994 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Arizona Cardinals players Arizona Hotshots players Arizona Wildcats football players Birmingham Stallions (2022) players Cleveland Browns players DC Defenders players New England Patriots players People from Windsor, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Santa Rosa, California The Spring League players