Rayfield Wright was a basketball phenom at Fairmont High. His success on the hardwood earned Wright a basketball scholarship to Fort Valley State. While working in the local mill over the summer, Fort Valley State football coach Stan Lomax urged him to quit and join the football team. Wright took reps as a free safety, punter, defensive end and tight end while continuing to blossom into his 6-foot-6, 225-pound frame throughout his collegiate career. The Dallas Cowboys were so impressed with Wright’s development that they selected him in the seventh round of the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft as a tight end. The Cowboys used Wright as a tight end, defensive lineman and offensive tackle. While filling in for an injured Ralph Neely, Wright’s fate as an offensive tackle was secured as he outperformed Los Angeles Rams Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones. Wright earned the starting job and would hold it for the next 13 seasons, playing in 200 games and starting at right tackle in five Super Bowls, winning two of them (VI, XII). Wright was named to six Pro Bowls and helped pave the way for the first five 1,000-yard rushers in Cowboys’ history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. Wright passed away on April 7, 2022 at age 76.
