Tag: Rayfield Wright

Cowboys Hall of Fame offensive lineman Rayfield Wright dies at 76

Dallas Cowboys star offensive lineman Rayfield Wright has died at the age of 76

Dallas Cowboys great offensive lineman Rayfield Wright died Thursday at the age of 76, his wife, Di, told the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Wright had suffered a severe seizure and was hospitalized for the past few days before succumbing.

“Over the past few weeks, it has become abundantly clear the love that so many Hall of Famers and others around the NFL felt toward Rayfield, his wife, Di, and the extended Wright family,” Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said. “His gentle nature away from the game belied his commanding presence on the field. All fans, especially those of the Cowboys, will remember fondly his dominance on the offensive line in the 1970s and how he took protecting Dallas quarterbacks as his personal mission.

“We will guard his legacy in Canton with equal tenacity. The Hall of Fame Flag will fly at half-staff through Rayfield’s services next Friday as a tribute to the many lives he touched.”

After being drafted No. 182 overall in the 1967 NFL Draft, Wright appeared in 166 games, making 114 starts. Wright won two Super Bowls while playing with Dallas for 13 seasons. He was a first-team offensive tackle on the All-Decade Team of the 1970s.

“Rayfield Wright was the epitome of what it takes to be a Hall of Famer,” Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said in a statement. “His grit, his agility, his passion, his charisma and his love for football, the community and his family always shined through. The original ‘Big Cat’ helped shape the future of the Dallas Cowboys through his illustrious 13-year playing career. Rayfield was a champion on and off the field. He remained an important part of the Cowboys family long after his playing days ended, and he will be deeply missed. Our love and support go out to his wife, Di, and the entire Wright family.”

Cowboys legend, HOF tackle Rayfield Wright passes away at age of 76

‘Big Cat’ made five Super Bowl appearances over a decorated 13-year career; he had been battling dementia for the last decade. | From @ToddBrock24f7

One of the brightest stars in the Cowboys firmament has dimmed. Pro Football Hall of Famer and Ring of Honor member Rayfield Wright passed away Thursday at the age of 76.

The offensive lineman was diagnosed with dementia in 2012. Several members of the Cowboys family, including the legendary Gil Brandt, had been asking fans on social media to keep Wright in their prayers in recent days.

“Over the past few weeks, it has become abundantly clear the love that so many Hall of Famers and others around the NFL felt toward Rayfield, his wife, Di, and the extended Wright family,” Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement. “His gentle nature away from the game belied his commanding presence on the field. All fans, especially those of the Cowboys, will remember fondly his dominance on the offensive line in the 1970s and how he took protecting Dallas quarterbacks as his personal mission.”

Wright grew up in the tiny town of Griffin, Georgia and attended nearby Fort Valley State University on an athletics scholarship. To keep his education funded, the school expected the 6-foot-6-inch basketball star to also play football, despite not making his high school squad. He went All-Conference in both sports; chosen as an early NBA draft pick, he elected to stay in school to earn his degree.

Brandt and the Cowboys made him a seventh-round selection in 1967, one of the first players ever plucked from a historically-Black college. He took the first airplane ride of his life to sign his $55,000 three-year contract, which also came with a $10,000 signing bonus and a Pontiac Bonneville.

After forays at tight end and even defensive end, Cowboys coach Tom Landry moved Wright to tackle. He was knocked out cold in his first game at the position by the Rams’ Deacon Jones, but Wright played on, eventually winning the game ball that afternoon.

The ‘Big Cat’ went on to earn six straight Pro Bowl nods starting in 1971 en route to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, and he grew to become one of the most immovable lineman of his era. Men like Jack Youngblood, Carl Eller, and L.C. Greenwood, the greatest pass rushers of the day, all placed Wright among the best they ever faced.

“If he got beat,” quarterback Roger Staubach famously said, “I don’t remember it.”

Wright was on the field for some of the Cowboys’ most iconic moments: The Ice Bowl, the Hail Mary, and five Super Bowl appearances over his thirteen-year career.

But all the blows absorbed over those years took a brutal toll.

“Sometimes, I walk into the kitchen and forget why I went there,” he once told the New York Times. “I’ve gotten into several car accidents because of seizures. Totaled two cars. My memory is not good. There’s a big fight within myself.”

Wright was one of a host of retired NFL players- and several high-profile Cowboys- to file a 2012 lawsuit accusing the league of ignoring a link between concussions and permanent brain injuries.

At the time of the 2014 Times piece, one of the greatest and most decorated linemen in NFL history was making less than $2,500 per month, including $82.20 in pension from the league.

“Looking back, my instinct was to always take the easy road,” Wright said at the time of his long-overdue Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2006, the same year as Troy Aikman. “But the easy road never came my way.”

The flag at the Hall of Fame in Canton will fly at half-staff through services for Wright to be held next Friday.

Cowboys Wire told Wright’s incredible life story in February 2021.

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Cowboys’ original Big Cat: Rayfield Wright’s winding road to Canton and beyond

The only offensive lineman in the Cowboys Ring of Honor took quite a journey to get there, a journey he now has trouble remembering.

Fans don’t know the offensive linemen, the saying goes, unless they screw up.

Sometimes the best offensive linemen in the sport’s history don’t really register with the average fan. Even in the world of professional football, in the very buildings where they ply their punishing trade, they can be easily overlooked while the teammates they protect and block for get all the glory.

The Dallas Cowboys have boasted some legendary offensive linemen in their six-decade history. Superstars like Staubach, Aikman, Romo, Prescott, Dorsett, Smith, and Elliott might not be what they are without their big beefeaters up front. Despite a roster packed with playmakers, for example, the Cowboys of the ’90s don’t win three Super Bowls in four years without the front five who made up “The Great Wall of Dallas.”

Twenty-two names are forever immortalized in AT&T Stadium’s Ring of Honor. But even here, where the history of O-line play is as rich and storied as anyplace in the league, only one offensive lineman resides next to those other legends. And while he played in an era when few of today’s fans got the chance to see him, there is only one Rayfield Wright.

NFL Draft: 30 times the Dallas Cowboys came up with late-round gems

Roger Staubach, Bob Hayes, Rayfield Wright and Dak Prescott are some of the players the Dallas Cowboys have grabbed late in the NFL Draft.

The Dallas Cowboys have had their share of luck — both good and bad — in the NFL Draft. A look through the years of America’s Team making picks and how they sometimes scored big late. Anything after the third round is a hidden gem for this exercise.

1962: George Andrie

Ed Wheeler-USA TODAY Sports

Marquette is known for its basketball program. The school hasn’t had a football team since 1960.  George Andrie played his sophomore and junior seasons at the school and led the team in receiving both years. As a two-way player, he was also ranked among the team’s tackle leaders, registering over 80 tackles as a defensive lineman. After a 3–6 season in 1960 under head coach Lisle Blackbourn, the university dropped the football program in December, citing financial issues. Idle in his senior season, he was off the radar of most pro teams, except for the Dallas Cowboys Their player personnel director was Gil Brandt, who was born and raised in Milwaukee and was a Wisconsin alumnus. They selected Andrie in the sixth round (82nd overall) of the 1962 NFL Draft as a defensive end. He started 137 of the 141 games he played for Dallas. 

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