Arizona’s Bruschi, Hunley land on All-Century Pac-12 Team
Dec 2, 2015, 10:56 AM
College Football Hall of Fame inductee Tedy Bruschi, a linebacker from Arizona, speaks during the 56th National Football Foundation Annual Awards ceremonies on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)
(AP Photo/Jin Lee)
The Pac-12 Conference is celebrating its 100-year anniversary this football season, and to help liven up the party it named its All-Century Pac-12 Team Tuesday night.
A pair of Wildcats were on the list, and both come from the defensive side of the ball.
Tedy Bruschi, who starred in Tucson from 1992-1995, was an obvious choice.
In his career, he totaled 185 total tackles (137 solo), 74 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and 52 sacks. A consensus first-team All-American in 1994 and 1995, his most dominant campaign was his senior year, when he notched 60 total tackles along with 18.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss. A three-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection, he won the Morris Trophy in 1995 as the conference’s best defensive lineman and was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
Bruschi was chosen in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, with whom he played 13 seasons and was two-time All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion. He finished his professional career with 1,110 tackles, 30.5 sacks, 12 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles.
The other Wildcat to make the team is linebacker Ricky Hunley, who was in the Old Pueblo from 1980 to 1983.
A consensus first-team All-American in 1982 and 1983 as well as the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in ’83, when he notched 176 tackles, his 566 career tackles rank first in Arizona history. He was also named first-team All-Pac-10 three times.
Hunley was the seventh overall pick in the 1984 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, though his seven-year NFL career was rather nondescript.
Though Bruschi and Hunley were the only Wildcats to make the team, defensive tackle Rob Waldrop, cornerbacks Chris McAlister, Antoine Cason and Darryll Lewis, safety Chuck Cecil, kickers Max Zendejas and Steve McLaughlin, punter Nick Folk and tight end Rob Gronkowski were all finalists for their respective positions.
Check out the entire Pac-12 All-Century Team here.
