Former Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Green Bay Packers, who played for the franchise from 1964-67, died Sunday at a care facility in Augusta, Georgia. Wright was 82 years old.
Wright’s likeness was used for the inspiration for what is now known as the Walter Payton Man of the Year trophy. The trophy’s sculpture was initially created to honor Wright, but was renamed for the Chicago Bears star running back.
Wright was originally selected in the fifth round of the 1964 NFL Draft after playing at Alabama. When Wright was drafted by the Packers, the team already had three strong offensive tackles in Forrest Gregg, Norm Masters and Bob Skoronski. As a result, Wright didn’t play during his rookie campaign.
In 1965, legendary coach Vince Lombardi made the decision to move Gregg to left guard and ended up starting Wright at right tackle for the season’s first 11 games. However, Lombardi made a change 12 games into the regular season, and Wright didn’t play much when the Packers won NFL Championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967.
During the 1968 offseason, Wright was traded along with linebacker Tommy Crutcher to the New York Giants in exchange for offensive tackle Francis Peay. Wright played for the Giants, Washington, Chicago Bears and St. Louis Cardinals over the next five seasons to finish out his career.
In 1969, artist Daniel Bennett Schwartz was commissioned by the league to create a sculpture called “The Gladiator.” The Giants were asked to send a model for Schwartz to make the creation from and Wright was the player that the team chose. Wright was wearing a bird-cage facemask and had a cape laying on his shoulders in the sculpture.
The trophy, which has mostly been called the “NFL Man of the Year Award,” was renamed to honor Payton and his humanitarian efforts in 1999. It was called the “Gladiator Award” when Packers quarterback Bart Starr earned the inaugural honor in 1969.
Wright ended up playing 101 games across nine seasons before retiring from the sport following the 1972 campaign.
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