By DaVince “Dino” Wright
The Washington Football Club (formerly the Redskins) hired its first black team president. Not only is he the first for the team, but first in the NFL. He’s only 38 years old and a former player in the league as well. Who is he? What led up to this and how does this affect the league moving forward? I’ll answer those questions in this article.
Who is Jason Wright?
Jason Wright is a former undrafted free agent running back who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2004 from Northwestern. “He was an all conference running back that had exceptional speed running between the gaps,” former 49ers coach George Seifert shared. Wright’s NFL career was spent playing with the San Francisco 49ers in 2004 (practice squad), Atlanta Falcons 2004-2005, Cleveland Browns 2005-2008 and Arizona Cardinals 2009-2010. Jason Wright worked since 2010 as a partner for McKinsey & Company helping CFOs, chief HR officers and security officers set bold aspirations and bring deep expertise in administrative operations to execute transformations.
The Washington Team
Over the past 4 months, the Washington Football Club has been rocked with allegations of sexual harassment from current and former female employees. 15 former employees and two journalist had experienced harassment and verbal abuse by employees and players. The football team has launched an internal investigation about the allegations. The team has dropped the “Redskins” name and is actively in search of a new name and logo.
Moving Forward
This move will set a precedence with the league and pave the way for hiring more African Americans in high ranking positions. The world is changing and now the league will (one day) open up to change. 82% of the league is African American, from trainers, players, coaches and administrators. So, Washington being the first to make a landscape move will open doors for other teams to follow suit.
