Manuel Wright (born April 13, 1984) 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 wi ...
defensive tackle.
[ ] He was drafted by the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
in the fifth round of the
2005 supplemental draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
. Wright was also briefly signed to the Buffalo Bills and played for the New York Giants where he earned a Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XLll.
Early years
Wright earned various team, local and national honors as a member of the football team at
Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...
in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
. As a junior in 2000, Wright recorded 95 tackles (57 solo) and with 25 sacks. As a senior, Wright was the team's defensive MVP after recording 142 tackles (60 solo), 16 sacks, four fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles, 20 deflections and an interception.
College career
Wright originally signed with USC in 2002 but did not qualify for admission, so he attended
Long Beach City College
Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...
that season as a part-time student. However, he did not play football there.
In
2003, Wright served as a backup for
Defensive tackles
Shaun Cody and
Mike Patterson. While appearing in nine games during the season, Wright recorded eight tackles, including two for losses and three pass deflections. His first career sack came against
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
in the
Rose Bowl.
Wright remained a backup to both Cody and Patterson as a sophomore in
2004. He appeared in 11 games including two starts when Cody was moved to
Defensive end
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football.
This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...
. On the year Wright had 23 tackles, including six for losses, two pass deflections and two fumble recoveries. For his efforts, he was an All-
Pac-10 honorable mention.
Early departure
In
2005 Wright was a projected starter for the first time in his career, however, he sat out spring practices in order to work on his academics and remain eligible. However, he was unsuccessful, and was left with the options of either staying in school and not playing football or declaring for the
NFL's supplemental draft, which is held by the league to accommodate players who did not enter the
regular draft. Wright chose the latter.
Professional career
Miami Dolphins
Leading up to the supplemental draft, many NFL teams showed interest in Wright in the form of visits, workouts and interviews. The
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
selected Wright in the fifth round of the draft, which essentially replaced their fifth-round pick in the
2006 draft. On July 22, Wright signed a four-year contract with the team. It included a signing bonus of
$190,000.
Wright endured injuries and battled weight issues during his first training camp while his work ethic and maturity were questioned by some. In a much publicized incident on July 26, Wright broke down in tears during practice after being scolded by
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...
.
As a
rookie
A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year).
In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
, Wright was active for three games during the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
. He made his NFL debut on December 4 against the
Buffalo Bills, stepping in for injured
Nose tackle
A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...
Keith Traylor. Wright recorded two tackles and a sack. He finished the season with four tackles, one sack and one pass deflected.
Wright reportedly gained 28 pounds during the
2006 offseason, but lost most of the weight during training camp. On August 8, a reportedly
depressed Wright took a leave of absence from the team. He was quoted as saying he "did not believe he would ever play for the Dolphins again and that he needed a 'fresh start'".
Despite requests from his family and from Head coach Nick Saban, Wright remained away from football in 2006. The Dolphins attempted to trade him, unsuccessfully, but were unable to reach an agreement to release him. The team received a roster exemption for Wright in 2006 and he was placed on the non-football injury list.
Although Wright had returned to the team during the
2007 offseason under new head coach
Cam Cameron
Malcolm "Cam" Cameron (born February 6, 1961) is an American football coach. He is the former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the LSU Tigers football program. Cameron attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and playe ...
, he was released on May 1.
Buffalo Bills
On May 3, the Buffalo Bills claimed Wright on waivers. Less than a week later, he was waived by the Bills. He told Chris Brown of the team's official website that he had 30 pounds to lose. Wright was subsequently cut by the Bills on May 10 after showing up at the team's first minicamp overweight.
New York Giants
Wright signed with the
New York Giants on August 15, 2007. He appeared in six games during the regular season and recorded two tackles. He was also a member of the Giants'
Super Bowl XLII championship team.
On April 10, 2008, the Giants waived Wright.
af2
In 2008 Wright joined the
af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
and on December 22 was assigned to the
Stockton Lightning
The Stockton Lightning were a professional arena football team based in Stockton, California. They were members of the Western Division of the National Conference of the arenafootball2 (af2). The Lightning joined af2 2006 as an expansion team. Th ...
.
However, on May 8, he was suspended by the team.
See also
*
List of University of Southern California people
This is a list of notable alumni, faculty, and students, from the University of Southern California. Those individuals who qualify for multiple categories have been placed under the section for which they are best known.
Academia
Architectu ...
*
List of New York Giants players
Hall of Fame in 1999.">Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame.html" ;"title="Lawrence Taylor, linebacker for the Giants between 1981 and 1993, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame">Hall of Fame in 1999.
This article is a list of American football p ...
*
List of Miami Dolphins players
The following is a list of American football players that have played for the Miami Dolphins.
__NOTOC__
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
* Mike Iaquaniello
* Noah Igbinoghene
* Richie Incognito
* Mark Ingram Sr.
* Mark Irvin
* Heath Irwin
* ...
*
List of National Football League and Arena football players
The following is a list of American football players that have played in both the Arena Football League and the National Football League.
{{Compact ToC
A
* Dan Alexander
* Gerald Abraham
* Otis Amey
* Scotty Anderson
B
* Milton Barney
* S ...
References
External links
Stockton Lightning bioJust Sports Stats*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Manuel
Players of American football from Compton, California
African-American players of American football
American football defensive tackles
USC Trojans football players
Miami Dolphins players
Buffalo Bills players
New York Giants players
Stockton Lightning players
1984 births
Living people
Las Vegas Locomotives players
Utah Blaze players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people
Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni