Major Wright

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Major Wright
refer to caption
Wright playing for the Bears in 2013
No. 27, 21, 31
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1988-07-01) July 1, 1988 (age 33)
Lauderdale Lakes, Florida
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
Total tackles:326
Forced fumbles:3
Fumble recoveries:2
Pass deflections:22
Interceptions:9
Defensive touchdowns:3
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

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]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
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:5/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 1   Rivals: 4
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2007 Florida Football Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  • "Florida College Football Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  • "2007 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  • "2007 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.

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[]

Chicago Bears[]

The Chicago Bears selected Wright in the third round (75th overall pick) of the 2010 NFL Draft,[6] and was predicted to be a future starter by former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11] On December 30, 2015, Wright was placed on injured reserve.[12]

On August 28, 2016, Wright was waived by the Buccaneers.[13] He was re-signed by the Buccaneers on November 29, 2016.[14] He was released again on December 13, 2016.[15]

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

[16]

Subsequent activities[]

On May 8, 2020, Wright announced the his first book called Major Pain: Confessions Of A Smash-Mouth Safety.[17]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Major Wright. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  2. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  5. ^ "Three Gators enter NFL draft," ESPN.com (January 11, 2010). Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  6. ^ Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, 2010 National Football League Draft. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  7. ^ Jeff Dickerson, "Bears make Major decision," ESPN.com (April 24, 2010). Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  8. ^ "Bears hit the ground running once again". Chicagobears.com. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  9. ^ "Defense fuels Bears to victory over Lions". Chicagobears.com. November 13, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  10. ^ Wesseling, Chris (April 4, 2014). "Major Wright, Tampa Bay Buccaneers agree to contract". NFL.com. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  11. ^ Sessler, Marc (March 7, 2015). "Buccaneers agree to terms with safety Major Wright". NFL.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  12. ^ "Vincent Jackson, Major Wright Head to IR". www.buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  13. ^ Smith, Scott (August 28, 2016). "Jacob Schum, Major Wright Among 12 Cuts". Buccaneers.com.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Smith, Scott (December 13, 2016). "John Hughes Returns, Major Wright Released". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016.
  16. ^ "Major Wright Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  17. ^ Harvey, Demetrius (May 10, 2020). "Former Gators DB Major Wright Helps Others Overcome Obstacles In New Book". SI.com. Retrieved May 11, 2020.

External links[]

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