Washington hires Wright as NFL’s 1st Black team president

Reality began to sink in for Jason Wright in the days after accepting the job as president of the Washington Football Team.

Not only was he becoming the first Black team president in NFL history, but he was hired by the organization that was last in the league to integrate, and is in the midst of a transformation in name, culture and identity.

“The pivot in history, given the history of the franchise, is great,” Wright said in a phone interview Monday. “I think that it also just shows a way of evaluating talent where the most qualified professional happened to also be

Black. And that that didn’t prevent them from getting the role is a good signal to just all of us who may not be from the majority population in corporate America or in the global corporate ecosystem.”

Wright at 38 is the NFL’s youngest team president and will run the organization’s business operations, with coach Ron Rivera maintaining control over football decisions.

“If I could custom design a leader for this important time in our history, it would be Jason,” owner Dan Snyder said. “His experience as a former player, coupled with his business acumen, gives him a perspective that is unrivaled in the league.”

His hiring drew a commendation from the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which seeks to promote diversity in NFL. Chairman Harry Carson and Executive Director Rod Graves called it a “historic event.”

“The selection is the result of an inclusive process that recognizes the talents that people of color can offer,” they said. “We hope that it signifies a true change for the manner in which leadership is chosen in the NFL.”

Until now, Kevin Warren had been the highestranking Black businessside executive in the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings promoted Warren to chief operating officer in 2015, and he held that post for four years until leaving to become the Big Ten commissioner.

Wright, a running back for seven years with Atlanta, Cleveland and Arizona, was a captain for the Cardinals and their NFLPA representative during labor negotiations in 201011. Being involved in those talks pushed Wright into the business realm, with this gig representing a blend of his two professional loves.

“I’ve brought back out my nerd and my analytic thinking and learned how to lead businesses through their most trying moments, whether that’s financial duress or a need for culture change or launching a new product, or whatever it is,” Wright said. “And there’s almost no situation that uniquely pulls those things together like this.”