ELMO WRIGHT

University of Houston

Wide Receiver, 1968-70

By Matt Fortuna

One of the most influential careers in the history of football happened by accident.

Elmo Wright’s passion through most of his teenage years was music, not football. While playing the saxophone on his high school field in 10th grade, he caught an errant pass right in the mouth, forcing him out of action with the band. Football then became a different outlet for him, even if he had little idea of what he was getting himself into at the time.

That stroke of fate would result in one of the most memorable careers in Houston history, a stretch so memorable that Wright now finds himself as the third former Cougar player to make the College Football Hall of Fame.

Wright is widely credited with being the first player to dance in the end zone after touchdowns, a distinction he counts as a feather in his cap all these years later.

The flamboyance was also a psychological ploy to get himself ready for game day.

“My teammates were saying, ‘If you dance, you’re gonna get killed,’” Wright recalled, laughing. “But in celebrating, two things happened: One, I had to train harder than the average player, because I knew they were coming after me. And at the same time, I was motivated to get in shape.”

The mind games continued in college, as Wright never shied away from gamesmanship. Just ask opposing defensive backs.

Wright recalled one pregame meeting where a defender got in his face at midfield and talked a little more trash than usual. But the 6-foot, 190-pound receiver was never fazed.

“Football players are banging up on each other the whole time, but in the band it’s just the opposite, right?” Wright said. “Here I am playing college ball, and I never really had a fight, and this guy’s talking about breaking my neck.

“I said, Hey man, I don’t think you understand what’s going on here. Whenever I score, when I’m dancing out there, they put it on TV, so if you follow me into the end zone after I score on you, you’re gonna be on TV tonight. But if you stop me from scoring, neither one of us is gonna be on television. So join me, man.”

Wright’s 1968 season earned him Honorable Mention All-America honors, as he set an NCAA record with eight touchdown catches of 50 yards or more. His average yards per score of 56.1 yards that season is another NCAA record. (Both still stand.)

Wright became a Second Team All-American and an Academic All-American in 1969. Ahead of Wright’s senior season in 1970, Houston assistant Bill Willingham told the Houston Post, “We may never see another one like him.”

Those words proved to be prescient, as Wright went on to earn consensus First Team All-America honors that year. He still holds program records for all-purpose career average yards per play (21.0), yards per catch in a season (27.9, 1968), yards per catch in a career (21.9) and 200-yard receiving games (four).

The Chiefs made Wright the first-ever Cougars first-round pick in 1971, taking him 16th overall, starting a five-year NFL career. The Brazoria, Texas, native made sure he could walk the walk by taking care of himself every offseason, taking advantage of the terrain available to him to train, as he ran and back-pedaled from telephone pole to telephone pole all summer long.

“That’s who those guys were defending,” he said. “The average player runs routes in the summer and catches passes, but my whole thing was training.”

All of that work, both physically mentally, stayed with Wright, who went on to work for Houston’s Harris County for more than 25 years.

“The thing that I got out of the game was much broader than simply a memory of a touchdown,” Wright said. “What I got out of the game was basically a sense of organization. It’s very clear that you have the coaches and you have the players, who each have different responsibilities. A team of guys brings different skillsets to the huddle. And if you’re in business, guess what, you’re gonna have to have a team of different people — legal, marketing, etc. And in football it’s a tackle, a guard, a center, wide receivers, running backs and a quarterback.”