Broncos' Original 'Shutdown Corner' is a Perennial Hall-of-Fame Snub

The term 'shutdown corner' has long been the moniker for great cornerbacks. When used correctly, it's a term that is given to that cornerback who can take away one side of the field in the passing game.

When a cornerback is truly a shutdown corner, quarterbacks avoid them like the plague. Such players shut down any receiver that dares enter his space.

Names like Deion Sanders, Darrell Green, and Champ Bailey have been regarded as this type of cornerback. They were ushered into the Hall of Fame as soon as possible.

So why is it that the original shutdown corner keeps getting passed over? Before the term was coined, Wright was closing down one side of the field for the Denver Broncos in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Case for Wright

Quarterbacks rarely threw at Wright. Dan Fouts has been quoted saying, "We had to shy away from him, and that was not easy because he was on their left side, our right side, and it seems like you throw more passes to that side of the field."

A Hall of Fame quarterback saying he was afraid to throw at Wright is a pretty solid endorsement. When examining Wright’s career, it's quite easy to see the seasons that he was avoided due to a lesser-quality cornerback playing on the other side of the field.

In 1975 and 1976, the Broncos' other starting cornerback was Calvin Jones, and Wright had a total of two interceptions. From 1977 to 1979, the capable Steve Foley stepped in at cornerback, and Wright’s interception total increased to seven.

Foley moved to free safety in 1980, and Aaron Kyle moved in to play opposite Wright. As you can imagine, Wright’s interceptions plummeted to two from 1980 to 1982.

Enter the perennial underrated Mike Harden to help Wright finish out his career. From 1983 to 1986, Wright had the best statistical stretch of his career as he intercepted the quarterback 15 times. When the opposing quarterback could avoid Wright, he did, and when he couldn’t, Wright made him pay.

Wright was a tall and fast player who performed great in all that he was asked to do on the field. He stuck to receivers like glue, so much so that he was asked to defend the opposing team’s best receiver with no help.

Many of the NFL's great cornerbacks look more like matadors than football players when a running back is speeding toward them, but not Wright. He was superb in run support and could hit hard.

If asked to build the prototype cornerback for success in the NFL, Wright would be constructed. He was 6-foot-2, weighed in at 200 pounds, and had incredible athleticism.

Wright was a track star at San Jose State — he was fast. He was a savvy player who was excellent at press coverage, rarely beaten by receivers, and a sure tackler.

Wright earned a spot on the 1970s NFL All-Decade Team and is the only cornerback on that list who has not been elected to the Hall of Fame. What may be even more surprising is the fact that he's never even been a finalist.

This is an incredible injustice. Of the 22 defenders selected for this best-of-the-best team by decade, 17 of them are in Canton.

Ridiculous Knock on Wright's Worthiness

Critics point to Wright's low interception total. But as I've illustrated today, it's tough to get a lot of interceptions when quarterbacks were afraid to throw your way.

The Hall-of-Fame voters love to point to stats when considering players for Canton, which is unfortunate in Wright’s case. However, stats do not tell the entire story, as we can plainly see.

Hall-of-Fame Resume

In Wright's 12-year career, he was selected to the Pro Bowl five times, was a first-team All-Pro twice, helped the Broncos get to two Super Bowls, and was voted All-Pro or All-Conference many times by a slew of other sports writing organizations.

Wright was the second-best player on one of the most iconic defenses of all time, the Orange Crush defense of 1977. All in, he recorded 26 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries, 512 return yards, and four touchdowns.

Newer fans to the game won’t know this, but when Wright played, he was considered by many players (teammates and opponents) to be the best cornerback in the NFL.

Bottom Line

Unfortunately, as more time passes, Wright's excellence on the field will slip farther from the memory of the voters. Watching him on the gridiron was a true pleasure, and I will never forget how great of a player he truly was.

Wright deserves a place among the greats in the halls of Canton.

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