Manuel Wright (born April 13, 1984) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. He was selected by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

in the fifth round of the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

supplemental draft. Wright was also briefly signed to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and played for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

where he earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

in Super Bowl XLII.

Early life

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 ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. 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 that season as a part-time student. He did not play football there. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, Wright served as a backup for

Defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

s 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 peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in the Rose Bowl. Wright remained a backup to both Cody and Patterson as a sophomore in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. 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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. 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 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

honorable mention.

Early departure

Wright was a projected starter for the first time in his career. He sat out spring practices in order to work on his academics and remain eligible. 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

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 responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

. 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, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

, 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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. He made his NFL debut on December 4 against the

, stepping in for injured

Nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

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 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

offseason under new head coach

Cam Cameron Malcolm "Cam" Cameron (born February 6, 1961) is an American football coach who was most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the LSU Tigers football program. Cameron attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana an ...

, 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

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 r ...

and on December 22 was assigned to the Stockton Lightning. On May 8, he was suspended by the team.

References

External links

Stockton Lightning bio

Stats Crew profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Manuel Players of American football from Compton, California 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 sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni