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Rich Rodriguez, Arizona should have protected Scooby Wright more

By Brenton Lillie

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After suffering a meniscus tear in his knee during the season opener, All-American linebacker Scooby Wright decided to play weeks before the initial recovery time, but was it the right decision?

An unfortunate injury in the season opener to Scooby Wright III, All American linebacker with the University of Arizona, was a bad sign for the season that both Wright and the Wildcats might endure in 2015. Wright had a meniscus injury, and without more detailed information and a medical doctor explaining things, it is hard to know how badly he hurt his knee.

Comparing to other athletes is difficult, given the wide range of severity, but some players, such as the NBA’s Derek Rose, missed several months after surgery to repair a meniscus tear. Ole Miss defensive back Tony Conner was diagnosed with a meniscus injury and is expected to miss four weeks, according to CBSSports.com. Wright, however, missed just two weeks before venturing back onto the football field.

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It was an important game for the Wildcats. The defending South division champions were facing the new media darlings, UCLA, in an early season showdown. Head coach Rich Rodriguez knew the importance of the game and when Scooby Wright III said he was ready to play, he allowed his star player to walk onto the field at clearly less than 100 percent. You could see the bandage around Wright’s knee, and the way he was running showed he was far from being at his best. The Wildcats would go on to lose the game in a blowout, and Wright would suffer a sprained foot. The linebacker will now miss several more weeks, according to Rodriguez.

The big takeaway for me in this game, is just how casual Rodriguez was with mortgaging the future of his best defensive player. Wright is one of the top college linebackers, and clearly has an NFL future. He is eligible for the draft at the end of this season, and is mere months away from a possible multi-million dollar contract.

If he suffers a serious injury, Wright could lose far more than just the chance to repeat as a division champion. He should not have been on the field on Saturday, regardless of whether or not the foot sprain was caused by overcompensating for his knee. If Wright was not completely healthy, the best thing for him as a person and a future professional was to sit out.

Before going any further, first take a look at Wright’s accomplishments and what he has to lose. Last year, as a sophomore, Wright won the Lombardi, Nagurski and Bednarik, the three major defensive awards given out to college players. He led the nation in tackles, tackles for loss and forced fumbles. ESPN.com’s Todd McShay projected Wright to go to the Denver Broncos with the 28th pick of the first round, in his way too early mock draft. Judging from the signings of the 2015 draft class, that means that Wright would probably ink a four-year, eight million dollar deal with a signing bonus between four and five million dollars. That kind of wealth can set you up for a lifetime of luxury if you are smart.

As a second round pick, a player would get between a one and three million bonus. In the third round, that drops to well below one million. If Wright, suffers a serious injury that prevents him from playing like he did in 2014, who knows how far he could fall. A good comparison to Wright, Manti Te’o, went in the second round without any injury concerns. With multiple injuries in the same season, it is not out of the question that Wright now drops into the third round or even lower. Playing on an injured knee for free for a coach with a multi-million dollar guaranteed salary could have cost Wright over four million dollars in just his first year as a pro.

To show that Rodriguez is not even thinking about Wright’s future once he moves on, he even suggested that maybe Wright should seek a medical redshirt for this season and come back as a senior. What? Really? Why would you counsel a guy like Wright to give up the NFL to come back and play for your program again, risking even more injury?

Football is a violent game, and injuries are a risk you take each time you run on to the field. NFL prospects like Wright should look to minimize their exposure as much as they can once they have proven their worth. Nevertheless, guys like Wright are not wired like that, and they want to get back on the field and help their team as soon as they can. Which is why the team doctors and head coach need to be the mature adults and stop that from happening.

It is one thing for a senior with no NFL future coming back for his last game when he probably should be watching from the sidelines. Someone like that knows his football career is coming to an end, and wants to get out there one last time. It is entirely another scenario when future NFL talent marches on the field just two weeks after a serious knee injury because his coach and teammates think this is an important game. Take the decision out of the hands of guys like Wright.

College athletics does plenty of good things for young men and women. Scholarships are very valuable, as any graduate with a pile of student loans knows all too well. Big time programs also treat their players very well, with everything from top-notch medical care to personal tutoring in their academic careers.

For the vast majority of players of all sports, it is a very good deal to get a quality education just for putting on a uniform and competing. However, for the guys like Wright, college sports is just a stepping stone, and an unnecessary one at that. Real reform is needed by both the NCAA and the NFL, but until that happens, coaches like Rodriguez need to man up and put the needs of their players above winning at all costs.

I respect Rodriguez, as he has shown a willingness to not tolerate the kind of shenanigans that other big time coaches put up with. Guys like Jimbo Fisher and Art Briles could learn a thing or two from Rodriguez. However, in this incident, the head coach of the Wildcats made a mistake. I hope that when he looks back on this game, he will regret more than just the final score.

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