Getty Running back Jason Wright #35 of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004.
The Washington Football Team made league history on Monday after naming Jason Wright as the team’s president, making him the first Black man to ever hold that position.
Washington Football Team appointed Jason Wright as team president in a historic hire. Wright will be responsible for leading the organization’s business divisions, including operations, finance, sales, and marketing. Wright now becomes the first black president of an NFL team.
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Wright Becomes the Youngest NFL President
Wright is also breaking barriers as the youngest NFL president at just 38 years old.
Washington’s owner Dan Snyder believes Wright is the total package for this position.
“If I could custom design a leader for this important time in our history, it would be Jason,” owner Dan Snyder told AJC. “His experience as a former player, coupled with his business acumen, gives him a perspective that is unrivaled in the league.”
Wright will be responsible for running Washington’s business operations, finance, sales, and marketing departments with head coach Ron Rivera maintaining control over football decisions.
Wright’s Background
Wright has quite the resume as an NFL player and businessman. He spent a total of seven years in the NFL at running back.
The Atlanta Falcons signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2004 where he played in two games for Atlanta. He rushed three times for ten yards that season before moving on to play for the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals.
Wright is the fourth former player to become an NFL team president and is doing so after spending several years in business. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and most recently was a partner at a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., McKinsey & Company.
Rivera said that he remembers Wright as a player when he was a defensive coordinator in Chicago and San Diego and is a big fan of this decision, via the Atlantic Journal-Constitution.
“It is no surprise to me that he went on to achieve the caliber of success that Jason has in his time in the business world,” Rivera said. “Because he knows the NFL firsthand and how fast it moves, I am excited to have him on board to head up the front office and operations.”
Wright’s Hiring Is Significant
Wright’s hiring in the spotlight is a small step towards hope and progress within the NFL.
Recently, one former longtime Washington employee had told ESPN that “Washington needed to add more diverse voices but also needed to expand its net to search for talent. Too often, this person said, the organization relied on a small circle to choose high-level employees.”
Wright will be a huge part of several more changes that are yet to come to Washington. The organization decided to retire its former name and be called The Washington Football for now. The franchise is still on the hunt for a fresh new name. Washington is also looking for an area to build a brand new stadium. The lease on the land at FedEx Field is set to expire after the 2027 season.
Washington will be getting a huge makeover both physically and culturally and Wright will be able to leave an imprint on these changes, something a man of color in the league hasn’t been able to do.
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