Kenneth Dewayne Wright (born September 14, 1977) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in the fourth round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. 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 ...

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

. Wright also played for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Early years

Wright was born in

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent ...

and attended

Ruston High School Ruston High School is a four-year public high school located in the Lincoln Parish School District of Ruston, Louisiana, United States. The school has an enrollment of approximately 1300 students with 85 faculty members; the mascot is the Bea ...

College career

Wright attended and played

for three years at

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

after transferring from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He majored in Physical education.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Wright was drafted in the fourth round (120th overall) in the

by the

. In his rookie season he played in all 16 games with 11 starts and finished the campaign with 80 tackles including a career-high 11 tackles at 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. ...

on December 26. In his second season with the Vikings, he again played in all 16 games and posted 47 tackles. In 2001, his final year for Minnesota, he played in 15 games and finished the season with 45 tackles.

Houston Texans

Wright began the year with the Vikings, but was waived on July 31, 2002. He was signed by the

off waivers on August 1, 2002. In his first season with the Texans he played in all 16 games and finished the year with 34 tackles and one sack. In 2003, he played in 15 games and totaled 53 tackles and a career-high three interceptions. His third season with the Texans was less productive and he finished with only eight tackles.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Wright was signed by the

as an unrestricted free agent on March 31, 2005. He started in all 16 games and finished the season with 78 tackles and two interceptions.

Washington Redskins

Wright was signed by the

as an unrestricted free agent on April 3, 2006. He played in 16 games including nine starts, recording 43 tackles and one interception.

Cleveland Browns

The

signed Wright as an unrestricted free agent on March 4, 2007 to a three-year deal. He was released on May 15, 2008.

2008 Arrests

On April 3, 2008, Kenny was arrested after a foot chase in

Pearland Pearland ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Brazoria County, with portions extending into Fort Bend and Harris counties. The city of Pearland is a principal city within the metropolitan statistical area. At the 2020 U.S. census, th ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. 1.875 ounces of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

was found in his car. It was later revealed that Wright was also arrested on March 1, 2008 for marijuana possession following a traffic stop.Cleveland Browns terminate contract of Kenny Wright - Cleveland Sports News – The Latest Breaking News, Game Recaps and Scores from The Plain Dealer
/ref> Additionally, Wright was suspended for one year by the NCAA while at Northwestern State for testing positive for marijuana during a random drug test. Subsequently, he declared for the 1999 NFL draft with one year of college eligibility remaining.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Kenny 1977 births Living people Players of American football from Ruston, Louisiana American football cornerbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football players Northwestern State Demons football players Minnesota Vikings players Houston Texans players Jacksonville Jaguars players Washington Redskins players Cleveland Browns players Ruston High School alumni