Steve Wright (American football, born 1942)
| No. 72, 78, 75, 73, 62 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | July 18, 1942 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | June 1, 2025 (aged 82) Augusta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Manual (Louisville, Kentucky) | ||||||||
| College: | Alabama | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1964: 5th round, 69th pick | ||||||||
| AFL draft: | 1964: 8th round, 59th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Stephen Thomas Wright (July 18, 1942 – June 1, 2025) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle for five teams in the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Chicago Fire of the WFL in 1974. Wright played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He never started a game for Alabama, but was selected in the fifth round of the 1964 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, as well as the New York Jets in the eighth round of the American Football League draft; although New York offered a blank check, the prospect of playing for Green Bay proved to factor in his decision.[1] Wright started in 43 of 101 games in nine seasons in the NFL.
Wright was the author of I'd Rather be Wright: Memoirs of an Itinerant Tackle (1974, with William Gildea and Kenneth Turan), a fly-on-the wall look at the professional football world of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1969, Wright was the model for the NFL Man of the Year Award (which was changed to honor Walter Payton in 1999), which was sculpted by Daniel Bennett Schwartz; the award still bears Wright's likeness to this day. Wright worked as a salesman for veterinary pharmaceuticals and insurance before retiring, and until his death, he lived in Augusta, Georgia.[2][3]
Wright died at a care facility in Augusta, Georgia, on June 1, 2025, at the age of 82.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ "Packers had to wait on Steve Wright".
- ^ "Daniel Bennett Schwartz". Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "The Model for a Tribute to Model Players", by SEAN CALLAHAN, The New York Times, February 1, 2013
- ^ Lombardi-era offensive lineman Steve Wright dies at 82
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1942 births
- 2025 deaths
- Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky
- American football offensive tackles
- Alabama Crimson Tide football players
- Green Bay Packers players
- New York Giants players
- Washington Redskins players
- Chicago Bears players
- St. Louis Cardinals (football) players
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- DuPont Manual High School alumni