Former Dallas Cowboy and Pro Football Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright died on Thursday at n76, according to his wife, Di Wright.
The six-time Pro Bowler who played in 188 career games and won two Super Bowls while spending his entire 13-year career (1967-1979) in Dallas had been in the hospital for days prior after suffering a seizure.
Wright was selected to the NFL’s 1970’s All-Decade Team and earned enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in 2006.
“In the 1970s, he [Wright] was the standard,” his former teammate RB Calvin Hill said. “When you thought about offensive linemen, he was the guy that you automatically thought of.”
Jim Porter, president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, released a statement sharing the impact that Wright had on the lives of others:
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 [Wright], his wife, Di, and the extended Wright family.
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.
