Portrait of Rayfield Wright

Birthday profile

Rayfield Wright

Rayfield Wright, American football player and coach (died 2022)

Born
August 23, 1945
Died
April 7, 2022
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1945

About Rayfield Wright

Larry Rayfield Wright (August 23, 1945 – April 7, 2022) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2006. Nicknamed "Big Cat" for his nimble feet, Wright played on five NFC Championship teams that advanced to the Super Bowl (1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, and 1978 seasons), winning twice. He also participated in the Ice Bowl against the Green Bay Packers for the NFL championship in his rookie season in 1967. == Early life and college == Born and raised in Griffin, Georgia, and raised by his mother Opel Wright, he attended Fairmont High School, which was merged with Griffin High School. He was a letterman in basketball, but he was unable to make the high school football team. Wright went to nearby Fort Valley State College to play college basketball, where he was a standout player. The following summer, head coach Stan Lomax made him quit his summer job at a mill to get ready to join the Wildcats' football team. Lomax tried Wright at free safety, then used him as a punter, defensive end and tight end. The coach also became a father figure to Wright.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Rayfield Wright timeline

  1. In his third season in 1969, Wright got his first chance as a starter after Ralph Neely was sidelined by injury.
  2. Wright's performance was so strong that he won a starting role as right tackle before the first day of training camp in 1970.

The world when Rayfield Wright was born

Rayfield Wright was born in 1945. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1945

  • #1 song"Sentimental Journey" – Les Brown & Doris Day
  • Top movieThe Lost Weekend
  • Best-selling bookAnimal Farm – George Orwell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentDetroit Tigers win the World Series
  • Top headlineWorld War II ends after atomic bombs dropped on Japan
  • Technology milestoneAtomic bomb developed and detonated (Manhattan Project)
  • Defining fadV-J Day celebrations
  • Notable inventionMicrowave oven (accidental discovery)
  • World population2.40 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt / Harry S. Truman
  • Sports championDetroit Tigers (World Series)
  • U.S. population139.9M

1945 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Rayfield Wright's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19452026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,900$435,000
Average income$4,100$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.30$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population139.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, NFL, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.