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Florida State University wide receiver Winston Wright Jr. was where he wanted to be last weekend, coaching children at a football camp in his hometown of Savannah.

“My favorite memory is just going through these drills with these guys and being able to run, smile and just play football and be on the football field,” Wright, 22, said during the July 14-15 camp at the site of some of his youth games, Floyd E. Morris Field in Daffin Park. “I just love everything about football. I don’t know where I’d be without football.”

A year earlier, Wright couldn’t play football.

In July 2022, he was supposed to participate in the second annual Pups Day Out youth football camp headed by longtime friend and fellow Savannahian Nolan Smith, then a University of Georgia linebacker and now a rookie with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.

Wright had transferred to FSU in January 2022 after three productive seasons at West Virginia. But in March 2022, while visiting Savannah during spring break, Wright was injured as a passenger in a two-car accident.

“I broke my right fibula,” recalled Wright, who underwent surgery on the calf bone and then physical rehabilitation, missing his first Seminoles spring practice and summer activities, including the Savannah camp.

“It took six weeks just for me to stand up and start walking,” he continued. “Around this time, we were about to head to (FSU fall) camp, I started doing little things like jogging around and stuff like that. I sat down with my coaches. The best decision for me was to sit (out) a year and be fully healthy – not be 80 percent but 100 percent. I feel it worked out and it’s going to pay off well.”

Wright missed the 2022 season with his new team but thought he was close to 100 percent when it ended. He went through winter conditioning, and his dedication in the weight room helped the 5-foot-10 Wright bulk up from 183 to 192 pounds.

“When I really knew I was 100 percent was in the spring (of 2023), just me doing things I normally do when I get the ball in my hands,” he said. “That’s what made me tell myself I’m back.”

His father, Winston Wright Sr., said FSU’s spring practice “was about getting back in true football shape and running around and trusting his body. Toward the end of spring, he was almost 80, 85 percent. Now he’s back to 100 percent. No limitations.”

Wright Sr. has been calling his son “Champ” since he was born and never by Winston. He credits his son’s “mindset and the city of Savannah” for coping with adversity.

“With our mindset that we’ve got to make it happen, however the chips fall,” said Wright Sr., noting that Champ and Smith, who partnered in the third annual event, are giving back to the community’s youth.

“A tribute not only to him but where he comes from,” Wright Sr. said. “The city of Savannah is a great place to be. Our football is underrated but it is highly appreciated.”

His son touched on the theme as well of a “small, overlooked” city for football talent trying to build a name. With Smith, a UGA star selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and Wright Jr. joining forces with fellow Savannahian Kalen DeLoach, a standout linebacker at FSU, they certainly are bringing attention to the Hostess City.

Champ lived up to his nickname at Memorial Day School, where the Blue Thunder won two GISA state football championships during his career as part of a dominating run under then-head coach Michael Thompson.

Wright as a senior played football, basketball and track, a spring sport for which Memorial didn’t truly have a team. He still won state titles in the 100- and 200-meter runs – setting a GISA state record in the latter (22.22 seconds).

He collected numerous honors, including becoming the first Memorial Day representative to win the Ashley Dearing Award as the most versatile high school male athlete in Savannah in May 2019.

Wright’s prowess in football earned him a scholarship to West Virginia of the Big 12, a Power 5 conference. He was second-team all-conference as a sophomore, and honorable mention as a junior.

He also was first-team honoree on the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 team with a grade-point average of 3.20 or better.

Wright led the Mountaineers that season with 63 receptions for 688 yards and 52.9 yards per game, along with five touchdowns. He was the top kick returner with 618 yards and a 26.9 average which ranked fourth in the Big 12 and 19th in the nation. His 217 kickoff return yards against Maryland, including a 98-yarder, were a program record for a single game.

For his three seasons, Wright caught 129 passes for 1,338 yards and seven touchdowns, and returned 50 kickoffs for 1,236 yards, a 24.7 average and two TDs.

He said he gets asked a lot why he transferred after his junior season. 

“People are thinking something happened at West Virginia,” Wright said. “I loved my time there. I was a great player there. I met great people that I will forever love or have love for. 

“It was a decision that I came upon at the end of the year. I was thinking about entering the draft. My draft grade was Day 2. I felt like a new start, closer to home, and to play in another division and to showcase my abilities in the (Atlantic Coast Conference).”

After waiting an extra year for his redshirt senior season, Wright is excited to go back to Tallahassee and play for the Seminoles.

“First off, I’m going to be grateful to play football again,” Wright said. “Just get back to the basics of what I was doing, show the country that I still can make plays at a high level and have fun.”

He also was happy to finally coach the youngsters and impart some wisdom about working hard in academics and athletics.

“I just hope they take the little details they need to go to the next level,” he said. “It’s not all about who’s the fastest, who’s the strongest, who’s the biggest. I was none of that. I just kept working, I kept my head down and kept my faith in God. I want the young guys to do the same as me.”

PHOTO CREDITS:

Nathan Dominitz for the Prep Sports Report from Pups day Out Camp 

Head Shots from FSU Athletics Department

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