S1E9: Jason wright

I met Jason Wright before he was the first African American team president in NFL history.

How’s that for a first sentence?

I guided Jason on a hike in the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. I led him and the other guys in the group up the Gold Chord Trail near Hatcher’s Pass, past old, rotting cabins left by wayward adventurers that had sought their fortune during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century. The trail ended at a high alpine lake, tucked into a bowl surrounded by jagged peaks and massive boulders that had, at times, decided to leave those peaks and tumble down to more level ground.

I told the guys to find a spot to eat or relax or whatever. It was raining a gentle, fine mist and the troupe spread out, exploring the lakeside. I sat down and began digging into some snacks.

After a bit, I realized I didn’t have an eye on everyone. I couldn’t see Jason. I was responsible for these guys and I would hate to lose anyone in the Alaska wilderness. These guys were city folk, to a man, and what I had learned in my time in Alaska is that city folk just aren’t aware of some of the dangers, even the ones that a typical Alaskan would call benign.

I began walking the lakeside, dodging over and around massive boulders the size of school buses. As I went, I began to have those fears that one might have, like a parent that has left the front door open and can’t find their toddler. Or a hiking guide who had lost one of his charges.

And then I walked around a particularly imposing boulder and there he was, on his back, eyes closed, breathing, meditating.

And that’s Jason. He is a deep guy. And he works to bring that part of himself to the job, every day. And now he’s been given the toughest job in professional sports: culture change for one of the most storied franchises in the NFL. A new name, a new logo, a new stadium. And the reckoning that is left behind from a team name that read strongly as racist.

Give it a few years. You might just walk around a corner in the new Washington Football Team stadium and find a player or fan meditating. Or the whole team. Or maybe we’ll just find them holding that big, bright Lombardi trophy?

That’s the goal. And I wouldn’t doubt it.