Major Wright: Career earnings of the former Gators star and what he's up to now
Former Florida safety Major Wright is often known as the man who put in the hardest tackle in college football history. He created a cult following after leading the Gators against the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2009 BCS national championship game.
Wright declared for the 2010 NFL draft and was picked No. 75 in the third round by the Chicago Bears. He signed a four-year, $2,634,700 contract, which had a $679,300 signing-on bonus and $679,300 guaranteed. His annual salary was $658,675.
After leaving the Bears in 2014, Wright signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers worth $795,000, with $65,000 guaranteed. He extended his contract in 2015 to a two-year deal worth $3,000,0000 with $1,000,000 guaranteed.
In his last contract as a free agent, Wright signed a one-year $760,000 contract with the Buccaneers.
Wright made more than $5.7 million during his NFL career, but he didn't always make the wisest financial decisions.
The decision that ruined him involved him borrowing heavily to buy South African diamonds in a venture that went horribly wrong, leaving him bankrupt.
“I went four years with no income, and I ended up going broke,” Wright said.
Major Wright found his calling after he met a homeless man and, even with his dwindling savings, bought the man a burger and gave him money for an ID card.
“From that day on, every Tuesday, I wanted to go out in the community, and I wanted to do random acts of kindness to make an impact and to get the same feeling that I had got for doing that good deed,” Wright said.
Since then, he started "Wright’s Good Deed Tuesday," which includes starting a school program that does good deeds in the community. He even has a comic book starring "Mr. GDT," who gets more power by helping others.
Major Wright and the Swamp Kings
Major Wright was part of Urban Meyer's all-conquering Gators team that won BCS national championships in 2006 and 2008.
He played safety on the team that had renowned names like Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes and Aaron Hernandez.
The team was nicknamed "the swamp kings" by virtue of being from Florida (and playing in a stadium known as "The Swamp") and are the subject of a Netflix documentary, "UNTOLD: Swamp Kings."
Speaking in the documentary about that winning Gators era, he described how they achieved their success.
“We all came from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, and we all came together and became arguably one of the best teams to ever do it,” Wright said.
In the 2009 BCS national championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners, Major Wright had one interception and nine tackles.