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Steve Wright, former Packers player from 1964-1967, dead at 82
Steve Wright, an offensive lineman who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1964 to 1967, died June 1 in Augusta, Georgia. He was 82.
Wright was drafted by the Packers out of Northern Iowa University in the sixth round, 69th overall, in the 1964 draft. He was drafted in the eighth round by the New York Jets of the then-separate American Football League.
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Wright played 56 games for the Packers at tackle, starting 13 of them. He was on three NFL championship teams and two Super Bowl winners. Over the next five years, he played for the New York Giants, Washington, the Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished his career playing in the World Football League.
Packers historian Cliff Christl wrote that "Lombardi was intrigued enough by Wright's size — he stood 6-foot-6 and weighed 250 pounds — and potential that he moved (Forrest) Gregg to left guard in place of Fuzzy Thurston and started Wright at right tackle for the first 11 games." Lombardi took Wright from the starting lineup beginning with game 12.
Steve Wright, Green Bay Packers tackle,1964-67. He died June 1. He was 82.
"'Coach Lombardi was tough and wanted perfection, but unfortunately I wasn't perfect,' Wright told Martin Hendricks for a Packers Plus story in 2015. 'He'd chew me up and down one minute and 15 minutes later tell me to do what I tell you to do and you'll be OK,'" Christl wrote.
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His more lasting legacy was that while playing for the Giants he served as the model for Gladiator Award trophy, of which Packers quarterback Bart Starr was the first recipient. The next year it was renamed the NFL Man of the Year Award, and now is called the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The name was changed, but the trophy's statue remains the same.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@ Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Steve Wright, former Packers player from 1964-1967, dead at 82
