Sharing that moment with his Bears teammates, coaches and staff meant more to Wright than the actual game ball itself, which is currently stacked on a few other footballs in his closet and will eventually live in his man cave inside the house he’s building in California.
Rather than reveling in his own success while having the floor in the middle of the Philadelphia locker room, Wright used that opportunity to express gratitude for those who brought him to Chicago and have lifted him up since April.
“It was more so a chance for me to thank people like Ryan Poles and the coaching staff and the players,” Wright said. “I hadn’t got a chance to actually tell Poles, ‘thank you,’ because Poles was the one who basically okayed me coming here. I hadn’t had a chance to tell him thank you, so that was my chance to tell him, ‘thank you,’ tell the coaches, ‘thank you’ and the players, like I said, for trusting me and just embracing me coming in here and playing with them.”
Now 12 games into his fifth NFL season and first in Chicago, Wright is beginning to reflect on how his career trajectory flipped from practice squad player to Pro Bowl candidate within the same calendar year. Between a rigorous offseason training plan, a reunion with Harris and unconditional support from his family, Wright found the perfect recipe for a breakout season.
Drafted by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Wright played in Dallas under Harris — making 32 appearances with six starts — until just before the start of the 2024 regular season, when he was traded to the Vikings Aug. 9, 2024. Just 18 days later, he was released by Minnesota and later signed to their practice squad, where he remained for the majority of the 2024 season.
That transition for Wright was admittedly difficult. His NFL future felt uncertain. And he had made the move to Minnesota alone — his fiancée, Amanda, and their two daughters, Avani and Mayari, stayed back in Dallas.
It was Harris who helped Wright stay grounded. Through their years in Dallas together, the pair became like family. In 2021, after the birth of Wright’s oldest daughter, Avani, whom Harris still calls, ‘baby,’ the coach gifted her a set of golf clubs to use once she grew up. Harris, who has four kids who golf, was already helping Wright plan for his new family’s future.
“It may be a little different now, but I know back in 2021, he was saying for women’s sports in college, golf has the most unclaimed scholarships,” Wright said. “So, he wanted me to take advantage of that. He was like, ‘The money that you put up for your daughter, if she gets a full scholarship, she can just have it to buy a house, car, whatever it may be.'”