Major Wright
No. 27, 21, 31 | |||||||||||||||
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Position: | Safety | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born: | Lauderdale Lakes, Florida | July 1, 1988||||||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
Weight: | 204 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school: | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) | ||||||||||||||
College: | Florida | ||||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 2010 / round: 3 / pick: 75 | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Major Wright (born July 1, 1988) is a former American football safety. He played college football for the University of Florida, and was a member of a BCS National Championship team. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Early years
Wright was born in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.[1] He attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he played high school football for the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders and ran track.[2] As a junior, he recorded 58 tackles with six interceptions and as a sophomore had 71 tackles and 10 interceptions.[2] As a senior, he was a finalist for the Hall Trophy (U.S. Army Player of the Year Award) after he recorded 72 tackles and three interceptions. He played in the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.[2] Wright was an All-state selection both years.[2] In track & field, Wright posted personal-bests of 11.1 in the 100-meter dash, 22.8 in the 200-meter dash and 41.32 in the 4×100-meter relay.[3]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Major Wright Safety |
Fort Lauderdale | St. Thomas Aquinas | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | 4.5 | Jan 30, 2007 |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 1 Rivals: 4 | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
Wright accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida,[2] where he played for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators football team from 2007 to 2009.[4] As a freshman in 2007, Wright started seven of 13 games for the Gators at free safety, recording 67 tackles, four forced fumbles and an interception.[2] He was a first-team freshman All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com and second-team freshman All-American by Rivals.com.[4] As a sophomore in 2008, Wright started all 14 games at free safety, recording 66 tackles and four interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown.[2] He had nine tackles and an interception in the Gators win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game.[2]
After his junior season, Wright decided to forgo his senior year and enter the NFL Draft.[5]
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 ft 11+1⁄2 in (1.82 m) |
206 lb (93 kg) |
31 in (0.79 m) |
9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) |
4.48 s | 1.55 s | 2.60 s | 4.36 s | 6.95 s | 37.5 in (0.95 m) |
9 ft 11 in (3.02 m) |
14 reps | |
All values from NFL Combine[6][7] |
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears selected Wright in the third round (75th overall pick) of the 2010 NFL Draft,[8] and was predicted to be a future starter by former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo.[9] During his rookie season, Wright played in eleven of sixteen regular season games. He recorded his first career interception in 2011 off a Michael Vick pass against the Philadelphia Eagles, when a pass by Vick squirted through linebacker Lance Briggs's hands into Wright, who was able to return the ball 39 yards.[10] A week later against the Detroit Lions, Wright intercepted a Matthew Stafford lob and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown, which was the first pick-six of his career.[11]
In the 2012 season Wright started all 16 games for the Bears at Strong Safety, recording four interceptions along with 52 tackles for the year. During the Week 3 match up against the St. Louis Rams he returned an interception 45 yards for a defensive touchdown.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On April 4, 2014, Wright agreed to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reuniting with his former Bears head coach Lovie Smith.[12] Wright was cut by the Buccaneers on August 30, 2014. Wright rejoined the team on September 3, 2014.
Wright re-signed with the Buccaneers on March 7, 2015.[13] On December 30, 2015, Wright was placed on injured reserve.[14]
On August 28, 2016, Wright was waived by the Buccaneers.[15] He was re-signed by the Buccaneers on November 29, 2016.[16] He was released again on December 13, 2016.[17]
NFL statistics
Year | Team | GP | COMB | TOTAL | AST | SACK | FF | FR | FR YDS | INT | IR YDS | AVG IR | LNG | TD | PD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | CHI | 11 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2011 | CHI | 12 | 58 | 42 | 16 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 20 | 36 | 1 | 7 |
2012 | CHI | 16 | 71 | 52 | 19 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 11 | 45 | 1 | 8 |
2013 | CHI | 15 | 100 | 78 | 22 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 23 | 38 | 1 | 3 |
2014 | TB | 12 | 51 | 34 | 17 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2015 | TB | 9 | 25 | 16 | 9 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
2016 | TB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 77 | 329 | 242 | 87 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 151 | 17 | 45 | 3 | 22 |
Subsequent activities
On May 8, 2020, Wright announced the his first book called Major Pain: Confessions Of A Smash-Mouth Safety.[19]
See also
References
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Major Wright. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h GatorZone.com, Football History, 2009 Roster, Major Wright Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
- ^ "Major Wright | Florida | Bears DB". Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
- ^ a b 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 89, 99, 154, 186 (2011). Retrieved September 1, 2011.
- ^ "Three Gators enter NFL draft," ESPN.com (January 11, 2010). Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ "Major Wright Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ "Major Wright, Florida, FS, 2010 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, 2010 National Football League Draft. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ Jeff Dickerson, "Bears make Major decision," ESPN.com (April 24, 2010). Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ "Bears hit the ground running once again". Chicagobears.com. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
- ^ "Defense fuels Bears to victory over Lions". Chicagobears.com. November 13, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
- ^ Wesseling, Chris (April 4, 2014). "Major Wright, Tampa Bay Buccaneers agree to contract". NFL.com. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ Sessler, Marc (March 7, 2015). "Buccaneers agree to terms with safety Major Wright". NFL.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
- ^ "Vincent Jackson, Major Wright Head to IR". www.buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
- ^ Smith, Scott (August 28, 2016). "Jacob Schum, Major Wright Among 12 Cuts". Buccaneers.com.
- ^ Smith, Scott (November 29, 2016). "Major Wright Returns Amid Week 12 Moves". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ Smith, Scott (December 13, 2016). "John Hughes Returns, Major Wright Released". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016.
- ^ "Major Wright Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ Harvey, Demetrius (May 10, 2020). "Former Gators DB Major Wright Helps Others Overcome Obstacles In New Book". SI.com. Retrieved May 11, 2020.