Jaguars' Matthew Wright Randomly Drug Tested Following Game-Winning Field Goals
Matthew Wright has been the unlikely member of a number of stories in recent days.
The former UCF and Pittsburgh Steelers kicker went from software engineer back to NFL kicker a few weeks ago after the unlikely regression of formerly elite kicker Josh Lambo. He was the unlikely hero in the Jaguars' 23-20 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 6, kicking a 53-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
And on Wednesday, Wright once again had a case of the unlikelies, becoming the rare kicker requested by the NFL to take a randomly selected drug test, with the veteran kicker posting the NFL's notice to him in jest on Twitter/
Wright made kicks of 40, 54, and 53 yards against the Dolphins, snapping the Jaguars' 20-game losing streak and becoming the Jaguars' new full-time kicker all with three swift kicks. Evidently, the kicks were so swift the NFL has given Wright the Myles Garrett treatment, requesting a drug test following a stellar performance.
In the Jaguars’ last-second victory against the Dolphins in London, Wright nailed the two longest kicks of his NFL career within 3:40 of each other. With 3:40 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Jaguars trailing by three, Wright kicked a career-long, 54-yard field goal to tie the game.
Wright then hit the game-winner from 53 yards out, becoming the first kicker in NFL history to make multiple field goals of 50-plus yards in the last 4 minutes of the fourth quarter in a single game. He also became the first kicker in franchise history to connect on two-50-plus yard field goals in the fourth quarter of a single game.
As a result of Wright's heroics, he was named the Jaguars' new starting kicker, became a key member of the Jaguars' first win in 13 months, and was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week ... all on top of getting the random drug test request from the NFL.
Wright will now move forward as a key member of the 2021 Jaguars, with the team hoping for even more big kicks in his future -- even if it comes with the Myles Garrett treatment afterward.
"Being a UCF alumni and I know those guys and love them so much because being so close back in Florida doing some great things and now we are doing them together. I think they had a picture come out and it kind of made me emotional to see where we come from back at UCF and then taking the same field to get this first W," Jaguars cornerback Shaquill Griffin, a former college teammate of Wright, said on Tuesday.
"This is a guy that is going to help turn this organization around. It is amazing to be a part of you know I root for the guy forever and I know we are going to do some big things together, so it is cool.”
