Rayfield Wright, the Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle nicknamed “Big Cat” who went to five Super Bowls in his 13 NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, died Thursday.
Wright's family confirmed his death Thursday to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which said Wright had been hospitalized for several days following a severe seizure. The Cowboys also confirmed the death.
After Wright started only 16 of his 31 games in 1978 and 1979, he was released by the Cowboys the following spring. He signed with NFC East rival Philadelphia, but officially retired because of lingering injuries early in training camp without playing a game for the Eagles.“Rayfield Wright was the epitome of what it takes to be a Hall of Famer,” said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who bought the team in 1989.
When finally inducted into the Hall of Fame more than a quarter-century after his last game, Wright was presented in Canton, Ohio, by longtime Fort Valley State football coach Stan Lomax.Wright didn’t even make his high school football team for three years in Griffin, Georgia, before he went to Fort Valley State in his home state to play basketball. The following summer, Lomax made him quit his summer job at a mill to get ready to join the football team.
His sights were still set on the NBA when Cowboys player personnel director Gil Brandt called and said the team was interested in drafting him. “We go up to the line of scrimmage and I’m looking at Deacon Jones square in his eyes, his eyes seem to be red as fire, he’s kicking his back leg like a bull,” Wright later recalled. “I’m saying to myself, `My God, what have I got myself into?‘”
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Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright, Longtime Dallas Cowboy Known as ‘Big Cat,' DiesRayfield Wright, the Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle nicknamed “Big Cat” who went to five Super Bowls in his 13 NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, died Thursday. He was 76. Wright’s family confirmed his death Thursday to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which said Wright had been hospitalized for several days following a severe seizure. The…
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