Shareece Wright

Shareece Lyndon Wright (born April 8, 1987) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC). Wright was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Early years

Wright played football at Colton High School in Colton, California, where he was a star player.^[1] He had 68 tackles and 2 sacks in 2005, plus ran for 1,094 yards on 78 carries (14.1 avg.) with 16 TDs and caught 13 passes for 336 yards (25.8 avg.) with 4 TDs despite missing the first 2 games with a broken left hand. He also ran track at Colton, where he posted a best of 11.4 seconds in the 100-meter dash.^[2]

College career

Wright was a backup cornerback and key special teams player as a freshman in 2006, his first year at USC. Overall in 2006 while appearing in all 13 games, he had 15 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries (versus Arizona State and Stanford).^[3]

Wright was used often as USC's nickel back and also played on special teams as a sophomore in 2007. Overall in 2007 while appearing in 11 games (all but Stanford and Arizona), he had 29 tackles, including 3.5 for losses of 26 yards (with an 8-yard sack), plus 4 deflections.

Wright started USC's first 2 games (Virginia and Ohio State) of his 2008 junior season at cornerback and was productive, but then suffered a hairline fracture in his neck in practice prior to the Oregon State game and was sidelined the rest of the season.^[4]

Wright was set to start at cornerback as a junior in 2009, but was ruled academically ineligible in 2009 fall camp and had to sit out the regular season. He regained his eligibility for the bowl game against Boston College and started that contest, getting 2 tackles and an interception (which set up a USC touchdown). He was limited in 2009 spring practice while recuperating from a neck injury.^[5]

The 2010 season was the only one in which he was a full-time member of USC's secondary, as he started all games he played in and was voted a team captain.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

2012 season

Wright had appeared on track for a big year in 2012 after appearing in just seven games as a rookie. He was coming off a solid preseason, one that included a performance against Dallas in which he had a 73-yard interception return, a sack and forced fumble, and two passes defensed. But on the first play of the Chargers’ 2012 opener at Oakland, Wright hurt his foot while making a special teams tackle inside the 20 and it sent him to the sidelines for the rest of the night and for the next six games. Once healed, Wright played in each of the Chargers’ last nine games, and he finished the year with 14 tackles on defense and seven on special teams. ^[6]

2013 season

Wright was named starter opposite of newly acquired Derek Cox. Wright got off to a slow start, giving up 193 receiving yards to DeSean Jackson in week 2 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Wright improved during San Diego's run toward the playoffs. In Week 14, Wright picked off New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, returning it 41 yards for his first career interception. Wright played well against Peyton Manning and Denver's high powered offense, holding star receiver Demaryius Thomas to 4 receptions for 45 yards in a winning effort. Wright finished the regular season starting 13 games, collecting 56 tackles, 54 solo, 1 interception, and 9 passes defended. In the Wild Card round, Wright picked off Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, returning it 30 yards, which set up a Nick Novak field goal.The game ended in San Diego winning 27-10.

2014 season

Wright headed into 2014 with more experience as a starter and would wound up playing 14 games, recording 60 total tackles, (54 Solo), and 10 Passes defended.

San Francisco 49ers

2015 season

On March 14, 2015, Wright signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers.^[7] After being inactive for the first three games of the 2015 season, it announced that he was seeking a trade or his release from the 49ers.^[8] The 49ers granted his request by releasing him on October 10th. ^[9]

Baltimore Ravens

2015 season

Just a couple of days after Wright's release from the 49ers, on October 13, 2015, the Baltimore Ravens signed Wright to replace injured cornerback Will Davis who had a season-ending ACL tear in the 33-30 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, October 11, 2015 and was placed on injured reserve.

Personal life

A native of Colton, California., east of Los Angeles, the Chargers were Wright’s hometown team and they were the team he was hopeful would draft him. He even brought a Chargers hat with him to his 2011 draft party just in case the call came, which it did after Wright’s strong finish to an up-and-down collegiate career at nearby USC.^[10]

Wright works closely with the Junior Diabetes Foundation. The daughter of his former football coach from Colton High School has the disease and it inspired Wright to help. In September 2011, he was invited to throw out the first pitch at a San Diego Padres game as an introduction to his partnership with the foundation.^[11]

References

External links

• USC Trojans bio