Jason Wright

Jason Gomillion Wright (born July 12, 1982) is an American businessman who is the president of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Born in the Greater Los Angeles area, he attended Northwestern University in the early 2000s and played running back for the Wildcats while earning a degree in psychology. Wright went undrafted following graduation and was briefly a member of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers in 2004 before serving as a reserve running back and special teamer for the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals. He served as a team captain and NFLPA representative with the latter during the 2011 NFL lockout before retiring that same year.

This article is about the businessman and sports executive. For the author and speaker, see Jason F. Wright.

Jason Wright
refer to caption
Wright in 2022
Washington Commanders
Position:President
Personal information
Born: (1982-07-12) July 12, 1982
Upland, California, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High school:Diamond Bar (Diamond Bar, California)
College:Northwestern (2000–2003)
Undrafted:2004
Career history
As a player:
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As an executive:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:80
Carries:168
Rushing yards:633
Rushing touchdowns:2
Receptions:72
Receiving yards:581
Receiving touchdowns:3
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Following his playing career, Wright enrolled and graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree in operations and finance in 2013 from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. After graduation, he moved to Washington, D.C., and began working for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, advising companies on workplace culture and diversity. In 2020, Wright was hired as president of the Washington Commanders, making him the first black NFL team president. He is also a business partner with the Union Theological Seminary, Greater Washington Partnership, and The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

Early life and college

Wright was born on July 12, 1982, in Upland, California, and grew up in Pomona.[1][2][3] He attended Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, California, where he lettered in football and track before earning a football scholarship at Northwestern University.[4] He enrolled there in 2000 and played for the Northwestern Wildcats football team originally as a wide receiver before switching to running back.[5] In August 2001, a teammate at Northwestern, Rashidi Wheeler, died from an asthma attack during practice.[6] Wright later cited the event as a "transformative experience" that strengthened his faith in Christianity.[3]

Wright was named co-MVP of the 2003 Motor City Bowl after rushing for 237 yards on 21 carries, and was also named to the 2003 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[7][8] He finished his Northwestern career with 32 touchdowns on 487 carries and 577 yards and two touchdowns on 54 receptions. He also returned 31 kickoffs for 828 yards and a touchdown. He left as Northwestern's fourth all-time leading rusher with 2,625 yards, the third all-purpose yards leader with 4,030 yards, and the fourth leading scorer with 210 points.

Wright graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the school's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.[9][10] He was also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was president of the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, being named the inaugural recipient of the Bobby Bowden Award by the latter in 2003.[11][12][13]

NFL playing career

Wright attended the NFL Combine but went unselected in the 2004 NFL Draft. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers after the draft but was released as a part of the team's final roster cuts prior to the regular season. Wright then signed with the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons, being released and re-signed several times during his tenure there.[14][3] He was elevated to the active roster in December 2004 and appeared in two games before signed with the Cleveland Browns during the 2005 offseason, scoring his first NFL touchdown in a game against the Tennessee Titans that year.[14][15]

Wright played for the Browns for three seasons as a backup and third-down back behind Reuben Droughns and Jamal Lewis until signing a two-year, US$2 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals in 2009.[16] He served as a team captain with Arizona and was their NFLPA representative during the 2011 NFL lockout before retiring later that year.[17][18] Wright finished his NFL career with 168 rushes for 633 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 72 receptions for 581 yards and 3 touchdowns.[19]

Business career

Following his playing career, Wright enrolled at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in operations and finance in 2013.[20][21] Later that year he became a consultant for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company where he advised companies on organizational culture , workplace diversity, and failure at organizational branding and historical honorifics. [22]

Wright has served on the board of trustees for the Union Theological Seminary in New York since 2017, and as co-chair with Sheila Johnson on the Greater Washington Partnership's Inclusive Growth Strategy Council since 2021.[23][24] He is also a member of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and spoke at a event in February 2022.[25][26]

Washington Football Team / Commanders
Wright giving a speech in 2021

In August 2020, Wright was hired by the Washington Football Team as their team president to lead their business operations, financing, and marketing.[22] The move made him the first black president of an NFL team in history, as well as the youngest active one at the time of his hiring.[27][21] Additionally, he is only the fourth former player to be president of an NFL team.[22] Wright helped lead the franchise during their rebranding process to become the Commanders in 2022.[28][29]

For his work with the team, Wright was the recipient of the "Best Hire of 2020" award by the Sports Business Journal and was named to Black Enterprise's "Top 40 under 40" list in 2021.[30][31]

Personal life

Wright's family has a history with civil rights.[32] His great-great uncle, Charles Gomillion, was a Tuskegee University professor and the plaintiff in Gomillion v. Lightfoot, a landmark 1960 US Supreme Court case regarding voting rights that became instrumental in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[10][33] Wright was given the middle name Gomillion in honor of him.[32] His paternal grandfather, Harvey Wright, was also an educator and activist who started several NAACP chapters in Texas.[32] Wright's sister Allison is a public defender in Massachusetts.[32]

Wright is divorced from Tiffany Braxton whom he married in 2007; the two met as students at Northwestern.[10] He is close friends with Michael Blake, a fellow Northwestern graduate who later served as the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2021. Blake served as an advisor during Wright's transition as Commanders president in the early 2020s.[10]

References
  1. "18 Jason Wright". nusports.cstv.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  2. Phillips, Michael (August 21, 2020). "Jason Wright's journey to being an NFL team president is inspiring. Can he succeed where others have failed in Washington?". Richmond.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  3. Prince, Sara; Wright, Jason (January 28, 2022). "Always connect, never give up: An interview with Jason Wright". mckinsey.com. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  4. "Jason Wright – Football bio". nusports.cstv.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  5. Belson, Ken (August 17, 2020). "Washington Hires Former Player as N.F.L.'s First Black Team President". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  6. "FOOTBALL; Northwestern Player Dies At Practice". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 5, 2001. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  7. "Wildcats Edged By Bowling Green In Motor City Bowl, 28-24". nusports.com. December 26, 2003. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  8. "Harris throws 3 second-half TDs". ESPN. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  9. Schmitt, Jeff (August 18, 2020). "Chicago Booth MBA Makes History In NFL Hire". Peots & Quants. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  10. Wright, Jason. "Jason Wright tackles complex challenges in the National Football League". alumni.northwestern.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  11. Ackerman, Jon (August 18, 2020). "Washington's Jason Wright follows Christ as he becomes NFL's first Black team president". SportsSpectrum.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  12. "Alpha Phi Alpha's Jason Wright Just Became the First Black President of an NFL Team". WatchTheYard.com. August 17, 2020. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  13. "Rudolph Wins Fellowship of Christian Athletes' Bobby Bowden Award". okstate.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  14. Belson, Ken (August 17, 2020). "Washington Hires Former Player as N.F.L.'s First Black Team President". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  15. Sherman, Rodger (July 19, 2011). "Former Northwestern Running Back Jason Wright Retires from NFL's Arizona Cardinals". InsideNU.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  16. "Cardinals agree to terms with running back Wright". SI.com. March 16, 2009. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  17. La Canfora, Jason (August 19, 2020). "Washington hires Jason Wright: 'Truly special,' 'an extraordinary person' and more from those in the know". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  18. Somers, Kent. "Former Arizona Cardinals running back Jason Wright retires". azcentral.com. Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  19. "Jason Wright Stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  20. Sotiropoulos, Alexander. "From field to Booth, former Arizona Cardinal takes on next challenge". The Chicago Maroon. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  21. "Washington Football Team Appoints Jason Wright as President". WashingtonFootball.com. August 17, 2020. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  22. Keim, John (August 17, 2020). "Washington hires Jason Wright as NFL's first Black president". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  23. Ackerman, Jon (August 18, 2020). "Washington's Jason Wright follows Christ as he becomes NFL's first Black team president". SportsSpectrum.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  24. Sidersky, Robyn (June 13, 2022). "Greater Washington Partnership unveils 10-year inclusivity plan". Virginia Business. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  25. Wright, Jason. "Team President". Commanders.com. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  26. "Jason Wright". .economicclub.org. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  27. Carpenter, Les. "Washington hires Jason Wright, making him the first Black president of an NFL team". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  28. Wright, Jason (January 4, 2022). "Presidents Brief: Why Wolves won't work (and a date to save)". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  29. Jhabvala, Nicki (January 4, 2022). "Washington Football Team to reveal name, identity on Feb. 2". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  30. Homler, Ryan. "Washington team president Jason Wright named 'Best Hire of 2020'". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  31. Black Enterprise [@blackenterprise] (May 17, 2021). "@whoisjwright was appointed president of the Washington Football Team in 2020. The selection made him the first Black person to land that role for an NFL team" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. DePrisco, Mike. "Black History Month: For Jason Wright, activism runs deep". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  33. Carpenter, Les. "Jason Wright has helped save big corporations. Next up: The Washington Football Team". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
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