“I’m a football player first,” Wright said in an interview with GMA. “ … And then [I] became a businessman and cut my teeth … helping some of the most complex and most important organizations around the world transform over the last few years. So for me, it’s personal, an opportunity to help bring together my two worlds in a really unique way in a really unique time. And the fact that I happen to be Black, and the most qualified person for this, is a boost.”
Wright’s hire was a surprise, as the team tightly guarded the move while negotiations were finalized in recent days. He was not someone whose name was frequently mentioned in league circles as a prime candidate for an executive job with an NFL team. Washington told few employees about his potential hire, but those who met Wright during the process came away very impressed, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
“He is flat-out special. He’s the total package,” said Mike McCartney, an NFL agent who represented Wright during his playing career. “I can’t say enough exemplary things about him, and it’s about who he is as a man, his character. … He’s hard-working and puts his family first.”
A star running back at Northwestern, Wright signed with San Francisco as an undrafted free agent in 2004 and played seven years in the league with the Niners, Falcons, Browns and Cardinals before going into business. He graduated from Northwestern with a psychology degree and has a masters in business administration from the University of Chicago.
In recent months, it became clear that non-football responsibilities were taking up a lot of Rivera’s time, including his playing a prominent role in the team’s name-change process and speaking in response to the harassment allegations, pulling him away from the team he was hired to rebuild.
“Part of what excited me about taking this role is — we had a phrase when we played that said, 'You don’t talk about it, you be about it,” Wright said on GMA. “And I think what I’ve seen from Dan and Tanya Snyder, in the hiring of Coach [Ron] Rivera and some of the decisions they’ve made to have an independent investigator brought in around the sexual harassment allegations, there are actual shifts and actions that suggest it’s a new day. That’s why I’m excited to take this on.
“And Coach Rivera has talked a lot about this on the football side — establishing a new culture, a new way of operating rooted in values around inclusion and transparency. That’s exactly what we’re going to do on the business side. It’s a culture transformation first, to make sure that we have an organization people want to be a part of, and that itself will start to expand the value of the franchise and make the good things happen.”
Last month, the team named Terry Bateman, a longtime Snyder adviser, executive vice president and chief marketing officer to handle business operations. But Bateman’s role is intended to be a temporary one, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
“You got to give Dan Snyder a ton of credit," said McCartney, whose NFL clients include former Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins. "He made a tough change, which I know wasn’t easy, and took a step back and he’s revamped the direction they’re headed.”
Sam Fortier and Nicki Jhabvala contributed to this story.
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