| No. 81, 89 | |||||||||||||
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| Positions | Wide receiver Kick returner | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1967-07-19)July 19, 1967 (age 58) Albany, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Albany | ||||||||||||
| College | Auburn | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1990: 2nd round, 26th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Alexander Wright (born July 19, 1967) is an American former professionalfootball player who was awide receiver in theNational Football League (NFL) for theDallas Cowboys,Los Angeles Raiders andSt. Louis Rams. He was a two-time winner of the NFL's "Fastest Man" competition. He playedcollege football atAuburn University.
Wright attendedAlbany High School, where he focused ontrack and field until his senior season, when he made thefootball team. He played atwide receiver andcornerback, where his athletic ability allowed him to cover opposing players one-on-one without any additional support.
He accepted a football scholarship fromAuburn University. He was initially adefensive back, but because of his poor tackling and lack of run support abilities, he was moved towide receiver as a sophomore. As a junior in his first start, he faced theUniversity of Tennessee, tallying 3 receptions for 108 yards, including a 75-yardtouchdown. In the season, he registered 12 receptions for 279 yards and 2touchdowns.
Wright developed slowly on the offensive side of the ball and didn't see much playing time, until becoming a starter as a senior after replacing the graduatedLawyer Tillman. In the season opener against theUniversity of the Pacific, he registered single-game school records with 263 receiving yards (52.6 average) and 4touchdowns. Against theUniversity of Tennessee, he collected four receptions for 129 yards and onetouchdown.
He had an outstanding game against theUniversity of Alabama, recording 7 receptions for 143 yards in a 30–20 victory over unbeaten Alabama, in the season finale and firstIron Bowl to be played atJordan–Hare Stadium.[1] After finishing the season with 30 receptions (led the team) for 714 yards (led the team) and 6 receivingtouchdowns (led the team) in a ground oriented offense, he received theShug Jordan Award as the team's outstanding senior football player.
Wright finished in the school's all-time top ten career receiving list with 56 receptions for 1,320 yards and 11touchdowns. He still holds the record with a career average of 23.57 yards per reception.[2] One-out-of-five of his 56 receptions went fortouchdown with an average distance of over 57 yards. Of his 11touchdown receptions, 6 were longer than 50 yards. He also scored in 4 out of the 12 times he ran areverse run.
He also practicedtrack and field. In 1988, he won theSoutheastern Conference title in both the55 meters and the200 meters, becoming only the second athlete in conference history to be namedAll-American in three events (55 meters,200 meters and4 × 100 metres relay). His time of 6.18 seconds in the55 meters, at the time tied him withBo Jackson as the sixth fastest sprinter in school history.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 184 lb (83 kg) | 30+1⁄2 in (0.77 m) | 8+1⁄2 in (0.22 m) | 4.42 s | 1.53 s | 2.64 s | 35.5 in (0.90 m) | |||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[3] | ||||||||||||
Wright was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the second round (26th overall) of the1990 NFL draft, the firstwide receiver to be chosen and the first pick of the round.[4] Although he was considered a raw football player, he was also seen as a gifted athlete with elite speed.
He was intended to become a deep threatwide receiver, to complementrunning backEmmitt Smith, chosen in the first round of the same draft. As well as Smith, he also had a long (40 days) rookie contract holdout, that forced him to miss most of training camp and the first two preseason games.[5] In the second game against theNew York Giants he returned a kickoff for a 90-yardtouchdown.
In1991, he was a starter atwide receiver in the first 8 games, before being passed on the depth chart by rookieAlvin Harper. He displayed his talent onspecial teams as akickoff returner, ranking third in the league and second in theNFC. Against thePhoenix Cardinals he had a 71-yard kickoff return. On December 22,1991, he set the record for the longest play in Cowboys history, with a 102-yard kick off return against theAtlanta Falcons.[6] As of 2018[update], he andMel Renfro are the only Cowboys with multiple kick return touchdowns.
Wright was one of the fastest players in the league, winning theNFL's "Fastest Man" competition in 1992 and 1993. In May1991, he was timed to have run the40-yard dash in 4.14 seconds.[7] He was also the strongestwide receiver on the team.
He did not develop as well as expected, however, and when later asked about his performance, he admitted "I was never a polished package". At the end of the1991 season, the Cowboys began looking for trade offers. On October 13,1992, he was traded to theLos Angeles Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick (#96-Ron Stone), when he still had no receptions following the first five games of the season.[8]
Wright was acquired to complementTim Brown andWillie Gault in the team's speed-driven offense. In1993, he became a full-time starter and had his most productive season, recording 27 receptions for 462 yards. During the final game of that season and with the Raiders trailing the Denver Broncos 23–30, he caught the game-tying touchdown pass fromJeff Hostetler and the Raiders went on to win the game 33–30, while earning a spot in the playoffs.[9]
In1994, he was sidelined for most of training camp with a calf injury he suffered in the first week of activity, but still managed to keep his starting position.[10] During his time with the Raiders,sportscasterChris Berman nicknamed him "If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want to Be" Wright.
On March 22,1995, he was signed as afree agent by theSt. Louis Rams.[11] A bulging disk in his lower back forced him to miss the last 8 games of the season.[12] The next year his back problems resurfaced and he was limited to 3 games.[13] He retired after the1996 season, for health reasons related to his back.
| Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng | Tot | OwR | Yds |
| 1990 | DAL | 15 | 11 | 104 | 9.5 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1991 | DAL | 16 | 10 | 170 | 17.0 | 0 | 53 | 2 | -1 | -0.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | DAL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1992 | LAR | 10 | 12 | 175 | 14.6 | 2 | 41t | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1993 | LAR | 15 | 27 | 462 | 17.1 | 4 | 68t | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 1994 | LAR | 16 | 16 | 294 | 18.4 | 2 | 76t | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 1995 | STL | 8 | 23 | 368 | 16.0 | 2 | 50 | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| 1996 | STL | 3 | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 7 seasons | 87 | 101 | 1597 | 15.8 | 10 | 76t | 6 | 42 | 7.0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
In 1999, Wright earned theMaster of Arts in sports management fromLindenwood University. In 2002, he served as the interim head coach of theRiver City Renegades, aNational Indoor Football League team.
In 2003, he served as the wide receiver coach forFrancis Howell North High School inSt. Charles, Missouri. In 2004, he was the wide receiver coach forWest Texas A&M University. In 2005, he was hired to be theoffensive coordinator atGreensboro College inGreensboro, North Carolina. He was the offensive coordinator forSouthwestern Assemblies of God University inWaxahachie, Texas. He then took a role as theathletic director and head football coach at San Jacinto Christian Academy inAmarillo, Texas, in which he served from 2008 t o 2010. He also assisted with the track team.
Wright later moved toSan Antonio for his ministry. He is the current President and CEO for Alexander Wright Ministries in Amarillo. He is also a pastor at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.