Louis Wright (American football)

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Louis Wright
No. 20
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born: (1953-01-31) January 31, 1953 (age 71)
Gilmer, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school:Bakersfield (CA)
College:San Jose State
NFL draft:1975 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:166
Touchdowns:
1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Louis Donnel Wright (born January 31, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL), spending his entire 12-year career with the Denver Broncos from 1975 to 1986. He was a five time Pro Bowler in 1977 to 1979, 1983 and 1985.

College career

Wright began his college career at

1974 East-West Shrine Game and the 1974 Senior Bowl
. He was later inducted into the San José State University Hall of Fame.

NFL career

“They use a term today of shutdown cornerback." "We didn't have that term back then, but Louie Wright was a shutdown cornerback. He was a great run defender. He played the left side and in those days most teams were right-handed and their running plays usually went to our left side.”[1]
Joe Collier

Wright was drafted by the Broncos with the 17th overall pick in the 1975 NFL draft. He broke into the lineup quickly, starting 11 games as a rookie and intercepting 2 passes while also recovering a fumble.

1977 would be his breakout season as he intercepted 3 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown and helped lead the Broncos to Super Bowl XII. He was named a First-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in both 1978 and 1979. During the '79 season, he returned a fumble 82 yards for a touchdown. In 1980 and 1981, he was named Second-team All-Conference by UPI. In addition to his cover skills, Wright was also one of the best run supporting cornerbacks of his era. His feats eventually earned him the nickname "Lou-dini."[2]

Arguably, Wright had the best season of his career in 1983, intercepting a career-high 6 passes and being named First-team All-Pro by Newspaper Enterprise Association. In 1984, he recorded the second fumble return for a touchdown of his career and was named First-Team All-Pro by Pro Football Weekly and The Sporting News.

In 1985, he intercepted 5 passes and was named First-team All-Conference by UPI. In a week 11 game against the San Diego Chargers, Wright recorded the fourth and final touchdown of his career, returning a blocked field goal 60 yards for the winning score in overtime of the 30-24 Broncos victory. 1986 would be Wright's final season in the NFL and he intercepted 3 passes in helping lead the Broncos to Super Bowl XXI.

In his NFL career, he finished with 26 interceptions for 360 yards and 1 touchdown. He also recovered 11 fumbles and returned two for touchdowns. He was inducted to the

National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team but he is one of only four defensive players on the list to not be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
.

The Professional Football Researchers Association named Wright to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2016.[3]

Coaching career

Wright is now a teacher and assistant football coach at Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado.

References

  1. denverpost.com
    .
  2. ^ "Endzone Salutes The Denver Broncos' Ring of Fame". endzonesportscharities.org. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  3. ^ "PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2016". Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
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