Eric Cortez Wright (born April 18, 1959) is a former American professional

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 ...

player who was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the 2nd round of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 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 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

. Before that, the 6'1", 183 lbs.

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 ...

from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

was an all-Big Eight defensive back in 1979 and '80. He played on three University of Missouri teams that appeared in bowl games, and was selected for Missouri's all-century team in 1990. Wright shares the Missouri record for the most pass interceptions in a game (three vs. San Diego State in 1979). Considered one of the best cover cornerbacks of his day, Wright played in ten

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 ...

seasons, from 1981–1990, all for the 49ers including starting on four Super Bowl-winning teams. Wright made a key defensive play in the NFC Championship game on January 10, 1982 against the Dallas Cowboys. On the Cowboys' last possession in the final minute, after

Dwight Clark Dwight Edward Clark (January 8, 1957 – June 4, 2018) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1979 He was a member of San F ...

had made

The Catch The Catch may refer to: Film and television * ''The Catch'' (U.S. TV series), 2016-2017 American mystery television series * ''The Catch'' (UK TV series), 2023 British family drama television series * ''The Catch'' (1961 film), 1961 film by Nagisa ...

, Wright made a touchdown-saving

horse-collar tackle The horse-collar tackle is an American football maneuver in which a defender tackles another player by grabbing the back collar or the back-inside of an opponent's shoulder pads and pulling the ball carrier directly downward violently in order to ...

on Cowboy wide receiver Drew Pearson to preserve the 49er win and propel them into their first Super Bowl. A two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er, Wright's peak performance year was during the 1983 season when he intercepted 7 passes for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns. He intercepted passes in

Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

and

Super Bowl XIX Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1984 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1984 San Francisco 49ers season, San Francisco 49 ...

. Wright missed a majority of the 1986 and 1987 seasons with a deep groin pull and chipped bone in the area, missing all but 4 games during the two-year stretch. But he returned as a starter in 1988 and was on the 49ers-back-to-back Super Bowl-winning teams. Wright is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity.Hartford Alphas
He is currently an alumni coordinator for the 49ers.

References

External links

Profile
at NFL.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Eric 1959 births Living people African-American players of American football American football cornerbacks Missouri Tigers football players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Illinois San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from East St. Louis, Illinois 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients