Alexander Wright (born July 19, 1967) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

and

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

. He was a two-time winner of the NFL's "Fastest Man" competition. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

Early years

Wright attended Albany High School, where he focused on

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

until his senior season, when he made the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He played at wide receiver and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

, where his athletic ability allowed him to cover opposing players one-on-one without any additional support.

College career

He accepted a football scholarship from

. He was initially a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, but because of his poor tackling and lack of run support abilities, he was moved to wide receiver as a sophomore. As a junior in his first start, he faced the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, tallying 3 receptions for 108 yards, including a 75-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. In the season, he registered 12 receptions for 279 yards and 2

s. Wright developed slowly on the offensive side of the ball and didn't see much playing time, until becoming a starter as a senior after replacing the graduated Lawyer Tillman. In the season opener against the University of the Pacific, he registered single-game school records with 263 receiving yards (52.6 average) and 4

s. Against the

, he collected four receptions for 129 yards and one

. He had an outstanding game against the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, recording 7 receptions for 143 yards in a 30-20 victory over unbeaten Alabama, in the season finale and first

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

to be played at

Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium i ...

. After finishing the season with 30 receptions (led the team) for 714 yards (led the team) and 6 receiving

s (led the team) in a ground oriented offense, he received the

Shug Jordan Zhug ( he, סְחוּג, s'ḥug), sahawiq (Yemeni Arabic: ) or bisbas ( Somali: ) is a hot sauce originating in Yemeni cuisine. In other countries of the Arabian Peninsula it is also called ma'booj ( ar, معبوج}). Etymology The word '' ...

Award as the team's outstanding senior football player. Wright finished in the school's all-time top ten career receiving list with 56 receptions for 1,320 yards and 11

s. He still holds the record with a career average of 23.57 yards per reception. One-out-of-five of his 56 receptions went for

with an average distance of over 57 yards. Of his 11

receptions, 6 were longer than 50 yards. He also scored in 4 out of the 12 times he ran a reverse run. He also practiced

. In 1988, he won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

title in both the

55 meters 55 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field. The history of the event lies in the 60-yard dash, which is about 5 inches shorter than 55 metres. Since the 1960s almos ...

and the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, becoming only the second athlete in conference history to be named All-American in three events (

and

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

). His time of 6.18 seconds in the

, at the time tied him with

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...

as the sixth fastest sprinter in school history.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Wright was selected by the

in the second round (26th overall) of the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

, the first wide receiver to be chosen and the first pick of the round. Although he was considered a raw football player, he was also seen as a gifted athlete with elite speed. He was intended to become a deep threat wide receiver, to complement

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

, chosen in the first round of the same draft. As well as Smith, he also had a long (40 days) rookie contract holdout, that forced him to miss most of training camp and the first two preseason games. In the second game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

he returned a kickoff for a 90-yard

. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, he was a starter at wide receiver in the first 8 games, before being passed on the depth chart by rookie

Alvin Harper Alvin Craig Harper (born July 6, 1967) is a former football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the firs ...

. He displayed his talent on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

as a

kickoff returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

, ranking third in the league and second in the

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

. Against the

Phoenix Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

he had a 71-yard kickoff return. On December 22,

, he set the record for the longest play in Cowboys history, with a 102-yard kick off return against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. , he and

Mel Renfro Melvin Lacy Renfro (born December 30, 1941) is a former American football player, a cornerback who spent his entire 14-year career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Dallas Cowboys. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ea ...

are the only Cowboys with multiple kick return touchdowns. Wright was one of the fastest players in the league, winning the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

's "Fastest Man" competition in 1992 and 1993. In May

, he was timed to have run the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

in 4.14 seconds. He was also the strongest wide receiver on the team. He did not develop as well as expected, however, and when later asked about his performance, he admitted "I was never a polished package". At the end of the

1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...

, the Cowboys began looking for trade offers. On October 13,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, he was traded to the

in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick (#96- Ron Stone), when he still had no receptions following the first five games of the season.

Los Angeles Raiders

Wright was acquired to complement

Tim Brown Timothy, Timmy, or Tim Brown may refer to: Music * Timothy Brown (bassist) (born 1969), bassist for the band The Boo Radleys * Timothy Brown (conductor) (born 1946), English choral conductor * Timothy Brown (hornist), English hornist Sports Gridir ...

and

Willie Gault Willie James Gault (born September 5, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the f ...

in the team's speed-driven offense. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, he became a full-time starter and had his most productive season, recording 27 receptions for 462 yards. During the final game of that season and with the Raiders trailing the Denver Broncos 23-30, he caught the game-tying touchdown pass from

Jeff Hostetler William Jeffrey Hostetler (born April 22, 1961) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins. His nickname is "Hoss." College career ...

and the Raiders went on to win the game 33-30, while earning a spot in the playoffs. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he was sidelined for most of training camp with a calf injury he suffered in the first week of activity, but still managed to keep his starting position. During his time with the Raiders, sportscaster

Chris Berman Christopher James Berman (born May 10, 1955), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American sportscaster. He has been an anchor for '' SportsCenter'' on ESPN since 1979, joining a month after its initial launch, and hosted the network's '' Sunday NFL Coun ...

nicknamed him “If Loving You Is Wrong I Don’t Want to Be” Wright.

St. Louis Rams

On March 22,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. A bulging disk in his lower back forced him to miss the last 8 games of the season. The next year his back problems resurfaced and he was limited to 3 games. He retired after the 1996 season, due to health reasons related to his back.

Statistics

Coaching career

In 1999, Wright earned the

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in sports management from

Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri. Founded in 1827 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Missis ...

. In 2002, he served as the interim head coach of the

River City Renegades A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

, a

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

team. In 2003, he served as the wide receiver coach for

Francis Howell North High School Francis Howell North High School is a secondary school located in St. Charles, Missouri. The school's mascot is Norm the Knight. History After Francis Howell High School alone could no longer support the burgeoning population of its part of St. ...

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65,794 at the 2010 census, making St. Charles the ninth-largest city in Missouri. Situated on t ...

. In 2004, he was the wide receiver coach for

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...

. In 2005, he was hired to be the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Greensboro College Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls about 1,000 students from 32 states, the District of Columbi ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

. He was the offensive coordinator for

Southwestern Assemblies of God University Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) is a private Christian university in Waxahachie, Texas. SAGU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and officially endorsed by the Assemblies of Go ...

Waxahachie, Texas Waxahachie ( ) is the seat of government of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020. Etymology Some sources state that the name means "cow" or "buffalo" in an unspecified Native American language. One possible ...

. He then took a role as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

and head football coach at San Jacinto Christian Academy in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, in which he served from 2008 t o 2010. He also assisted with the track team. Wright later moved to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

for his ministry. He is the current President and CEO for Alexander Wright Ministries in Amarillo. He is also a pastor at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Alexander 1967 births Living people American football wide receivers Auburn Tigers football players Auburn Tigers men's track and field athletes Dallas Cowboys players Greensboro Pride football coaches Los Angeles Raiders players Southwestern Assemblies of God Lions football coaches St. Louis Rams players West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coaches High school football coaches in Missouri High school football coaches in Texas Lindenwood University alumni Sportspeople from Albany, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American male track and field athletes 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients