To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 52 JOE TOFFLEMIRE
With it being the 52nd day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 52 for Arizona is center Joe Tofflemire, who established himself as Arizona’s best offensive lineman in a career that spanned from 1985-88. Tofflemire started at center all four years of his career. Originally recruited as a linebacker, he was converted back to center, which is what he played in high school. Tofflemire was a first team Playboy All-American and first team College Football News All-American in 1988. He was inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame in 1994 and named to the Wildcat Stadium Ring of Honor in 1997. He was a Morris Trophy winner in 1988 (given to the Pac-12’s best lineman as voted by opponets), and a three-time All-Pac-10 first team selection his sophomore through senior seasons. Tofflemire was taken in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft, the 44th selection overall by the Seattle Seahawks. He started all 16 games for the Seahawks in the 1992 season after taking over at center. He was hurt the following year and never regained his starting role because of injuries. Tofflemire retired after the 1994 season. He passed away from heart failure on Sept. 27, 2011, aged 46, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. His younger brother Paul succeeded Joe as Arizona’s center and started for three years, giving the Wildcats seven consecutive years of a Tofflemire at center.
NO. 52 IN 2024 — LB BRANDON CRADDOCK & LS TREY NAUGHTON
Craddock, 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds, is a preferred walk-on entering his third year in the program. He did not see action in 2022 and 2023. Played at Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Glendale. He tallied 350 tackles in his three-year varsity career at O’Connor. He had a 4.0 GPA and was selected to the AZ 360 All-Academic Team. Received offers from Georgetown, Marist, Morgan State, and Southwest Minnesota State.
Naughton, 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, in his first season at Arizona after transferring from Western Kentucky, where he played 16 games in 2022 and 2023. He appeared in all 13 games as long snapper with Western Kentucky last season. Registered three total tackles, marking the first tackles of his collegiate career. Attended Salpointe Catholic and was rated a 4.5-star long snapper recruit by Rubio Long Snapping.
NOTE
New helmet drop
Introducing our new alternate helmets for 2024 pic.twitter.com/mGl5JCR6Do
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) July 9, 2024
Arizona unveiled its latest helmet design with the “Cats” script and metallic red facemask. It’s the first time the Wildcats will have something other than an “A” on their helmet since the snake “UA” helmets in the Jim Young years of 1973 to 1976.
THEY SAID IT
Who has the best helmet in the @Big12Conference? #big12mediadays pic.twitter.com/jQeMZkxnqF
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 9, 2024
Many fans in the Big 12 had their say of who has the best helmet in the Big 12 in the above tweet. Of course, these teams have more than the helmets are shown, but it was still a fun discussion, nonetheless.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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