Washington hires Jason Wright, making him the first Black president of an NFL team

He will be tasked with overseeing business operations for a franchise that has experienced turmoil in recent months, and has committed to cleaning up an internal culture that has been described by many as toxic.

“I’m not someone who goes off of rhetoric,” Wright said in an interview Tuesday morning. “I’m a former consultant, I know how BS can be spun and make people say something is going to happen that’s not. What I saw from them in the hiring of Coach [Ron] Rivera and in bringing in an independent investigator and some of the other decisions that may or may not be public are a real commitment to taking things in a different direction, and some of the bold leadership needed to do that. That really excited me about joining.”

Wright’s hire was a surprise, as the team tightly guarded the move while negotiations were finalized in recent days. He was not someone whose name was frequently mentioned in league circles as a prime candidate for an executive job with an NFL team. Washington told few employees about his potential hire, but those who met Wright during the process came away very impressed, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

“He is flat-out special. He’s the total package,” said Mike McCartney, an NFL agent who represented Wright during his playing career. “I can’t say enough exemplary things about him, and it’s about who he is as a man, his character. … He’s hard-working and puts his family first.”

A star running back at Northwestern, Wright signed with San Francisco as an undrafted free agent in 2004 and played seven years in the league with the Niners, Falcons, Browns and Cardinals before going into business. He graduated from Northwestern with a psychology degree and has a masters in business administration from the University of Chicago.

“I’m a football player first,” Wright said in an interview with GMA. “ … And then [I] became a businessman and cut my teeth … helping some of the most complex and most important organizations around the world transform over the last few years. So for me, it’s personal, an opportunity to help bring together my two worlds in a really unique way in a really unique time. And the fact that I happen to be Black, and the most qualified person for this, is a boost.”

In recent months, it became clear that non-football responsibilities were taking up a lot of Rivera’s time, including his playing a prominent role in the team’s name-change process and speaking in response to the harassment allegations, pulling him away from the team he was hired to rebuild.

“There are actual shifts and actions that suggest it’s a new day. That’s why I’m excited to take this on,” Wright said on GMA. “And Coach Rivera has talked a lot about this on the football side — establishing a new culture, a new way of operating rooted in values around inclusion and transparency. That’s exactly what we’re going to do on the business side. It’s a culture transformation first, to make sure that we have an organization people want to be a part of, and that itself will start to expand the value of the franchise and make the good things happen.”

Last month, the team named Terry Bateman, a longtime Snyder adviser, executive vice president and chief marketing officer to handle business operations. But Bateman’s role is intended to be a temporary one, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

“You got to give Dan Snyder a ton of credit,” said McCartney, whose NFL clients include former Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins. “He made a tough change, which I know wasn’t easy, and took a step back and he’s revamped the direction they’re headed.”

The Fritz Pollard Alliance, the diversity group that works closely with the NFL on its minority hiring practices, called Wright’s selection as team president “an historic event” and said it “commends” the Washington team.

“The selection is the result of an inclusive process that recognizes the talents that people of color can offer,” the group said in a written statement. “We hope that it signifies a true change for the manner in which leadership is chosen in the NFL.”

The Fritz Pollard Alliance previously had said it had inquired with the NFL and the Washington team to determine whether the team complied with the Rooney Rule in its recent appointments of Donaldson and Bateman to front office executive positions. The rule requires a team to interview at least one minority candidate for a vacancy at a number of key positions. The NFL, which said it would review the team’s interview process for those two jobs and seemed particularly focused on the Bateman situation, has not released its conclusions.

Sam Fortier, Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske contributed to this story.