Former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Steve Wright, who helped the club to two Super Bowls and three NFL championships, has passed away at the age of 82.
On Tuesday morning, the Packers announced that Steve Wright passed away in a care facility in Augusta, Georgia on Sunday. A cause of death was not given.
Sadly, the NFL world also learned that Minnesota Vikings legend Jim Marshall passed away on Tuesday. The Vikings announced that Marshall, 87, passed away “following a lengthy hospitalization.”
Marshall was part of the Vikings’ iconic “Purple People Eaters” defense and led the club to a 1969 NFL championship and four Super Bowl appearances. He’s regarded as one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame, but that will hopefully change some day.
After starring at Alabama, where he won a national championship in 1961, Wright was selected by the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets in the 1964 NFL and AFL Drafts, respectively. Wright, the No. 69 pick by the Packers, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Cheesheads.
Steve Wright was a key part of the Packers’ squads that won the first two Super Bowl games in the 1966 and 1967 seasons, respectively. Wright helped the Packers to three straight NFL championships as well (1965 to ’67), making Green Bay the first American football dynasty in the Super Bowl era.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Wright’s family, friends and the Packers organization during this difficult time.
Steve Wright
After his four-year stint with the Packers, Wright also played for the New York Giants for two seasons before joining Washington (1970), the Chicago Bears (1971) and St. Louis Cardinals (1972) for one-year stops.
Wright also wrote a book, “I’d Rather be Wright: Memoirs of an Itinerant Tackle” that was published in 1974. The book detailed Wright’s career as a “fly on the wall” in American football.