photo credit: Arkansas Athletics / Minnesota Vikings
In addition to having a strong claim as the best wide receiver in Arkansas history, Jarius Wright is also the Razorbacks’ most successful pro at the position in the modern era.
For eight seasons, the Warren native carved out a role as a reliable receiver with a knack for grabbing third-down passes that moved the chains for both the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers.
Despite being just 5-foot-10, 190 pounds and a fourth-round draft pick, Wright managed to rack up 2,782 career receiving yards — the most by a wide receiver out of Arkansas since Lance Alworth’s Hall of Fame career ended in 1972.
It was a solid career that saw him earn more than $18 million even though he was never a top target and started only 30 games during his time in the NFL.
However, had it not been for his agent getting “dog cussed” early in Wright’s career, there’s a chance his stint would have been cut significantly shorter.
Vikings GM Unloads on Agent
Following his standout career with Arkansas football, Jarius Wright was selected by Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He went 118th overall — 16 spots before the Vikings also took high school and college teammate Greg Childs.
While Childs’ career was unfortunately derailed by injuries, Wright ended up being a mid-round steal. An injury to Percy Harvin actually opened the door for him to play midway through his rookie year and he made the most of it, telling in 48 passes for 744 yards and 5 touchdowns over his first two seasons.
It was around that time that Wright started looking for new representation and ultimately signed with J.R. Carroll, an Arkansas-based agent.
Wright was still on his rookie deal, but — like any good agent — Carroll was already thinking ahead to a potential second deal for his client, so he naturally brought it up during a phone call with the Vikings’ general manager.
“I was meeting with the Vikings about another player that I had in the draft,” Carroll recounted on the Coaches and the Mouth podcast. “And I said, ‘By the way, I represent Jarius Wright. During the offseason, is there anything you think he needs to work on?’”
It was an innocent and, as Carroll described it, “very vanilla” thing to ask. Needless to say, he wasn’t expecting the response that came from the GM, whom he didn’t name in the podcast, but was Rick Spielman at that time.
“The GM just dog cussed me,” Carroll said. “He said, in so many choice words, that it would be nice if Jarius Wright would come to work on the proper weight for once and — 12 expletives — the right weight.”
Carroll was taken aback and when the tongue lashing finally ended, he immediately called up his new client to ask what the deal was.
Wright, who was known for his quiet demeanor, calmly told his agent that he “always shows up overweight” because he doesn’t do anything in the offseason, but it wasn’t a big deal because after “three days of running, I’m in the perfect weight.”
Jarius Wright Comes Through
Luckily for everyone involved, Carroll managed to talk Wright into at least staying in shape during the offseason. He called up the GM who had just chewed him out to get the target weight and Wright delivered.
“Jarius came in on that number and the GM called me a week later and said, ‘Hey, if all it takes is telling Jarius what he needs to do and he’s going to do it, if he has a good season, we’re going to extend him,” Carroll said.
Sure enough, Wright turned in arguably the best season of his career. In 2014, he played in all 16 games, including seven starts, and caught 42 passes for 588 yards and two scores.
The deal wasn’t finalized until the following September, but Carroll eventually negotiated a four-year contract extension worth $14.8 million with $7 million guaranteed. That included a $5.3 million signing bonus.
A few years later, Wright earned the nickname “Mr. Third Down” because of his propensity of making those clutch grabs to extend drives. After six seasons in Minnesota, he finished his career with a couple of years in Carolina, where made 15 of his 30 career starts.
Thanks in part to his agent taking the brunt of his boss’ frustrations, Wright struck around in the NFL long enough to earn life-changing money and now, more than five years removed from his playing days, he’s paying those lessons forward as a wide receivers coach at Sylvan Hills High in Sherwood.
Carroll, meanwhile, has since added college athletes to his list of clientele and represents multiple current Razorbacks and even a handful who’ve transferred out.
Jarius Wright still ranks at or near the top for many Arkansas football records…
Career Receiving Yards
1. Jarius Wright – 2,934 (2008-11)
2. Anthony Lucas – 2,879 (1995-99)
3. Cobi Hamilton – 2,854 (2009-12)
4. Anthony Eubanks – 2,440 (1994-97)
5. Joe Adams – 2,410 (2008-11)
Career Receptions
1. Cobi Hamilton – 175 (2009-12)
2. Jarius Wright – 168 (2008-11)
3. Joe Adams – 164 (2008-11
4. Anthony Eubanks – 153 (1994-97)
5. D.J. Williams – 152 (2007-10)
Career Touchdown Receptions
1. Marcus Monk – 27 (2004-07)
2. Jarius Wright – 24 (2008-11)
3. Anthony Lucas – 23 (1995-99)
4. Keon Hatcher – 19 (2012-16)
t-5. Treylon Burks – 18 (2019-21)
t-5. Cobi Hamilton – 18 (2009-12)
***
JR Carroll tells his Jarius Wright story at the 1:03:28 mark below:
***
More coverage of Arkansas football from BoAS…