The Dave Pasch Podcast - Jason Wright

You know, I often get asked who are your favorite all time Cardinals that you've covered, and my answer usually starts with the players you would expect, like Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Quan Bolden and Adrian Wilson. But I have a couple other players that I often bring up, not necessarily because of what they did on the field, but because of the type of people they are. One

of those is the late Quami Lasseter. My first year as the Cardinals announcer was two thousand and two and I hosted The Big Red Rage and Quami was my co host and was back when the Cardinals weren't a great team nowadays, especially during the playoff run in two fifteen in the Super Bowl run in two thousand and eight, Big Red Rage would be live and fans would be lining up to see the announcers and get autographs from

their favorite player. But back when Kwamy and I were doing the show, we were sitting in a restaurant at a corner table, just the two of us. I think people just wondered, what are those guys doing over there? So Kwamy and I became good friends, and we stayed that way until his untimely death in two nineteen at age forty nine. Another player that's high on the list is Jason Wright. Jason came to the Cardinals in two thousand and nine from the Cleveland Browns and he served

as a team captain. Right was the perfect signing to boost locker room leadership, and it paid dividends as the Cardinals accomplished a rare feat that year. If you recall back in two thousand and nine, not many teams had made the playoffs, even made the playoffs the year after losing the Super Bowl, But the Cars accomplished that feat in two thousand and nine, and Wright's leadership was a big reason why. That leadership led to some unique opportunities

in the business world. Once Wright retired and Jason now runs one of the biggest brand names in all of sports, the Washington Football Team. So Jason talks with us about his path from an NFL player to an NFL team president, the timing of when we can expect a new name for the team, his fondest memories of being a cardinal, and his skills as a singer, which nobody knows about. So here's the president of the Washington Football Team, the groundbreaking President. More on that in just a second with

Jason Wright on the Day Pash podcast. Jason is so great to catch up with you, man. I'm such a big fan. You're one of my all time favorite players. When I get asked a lot, hey, who's your favorite cardinal? I have a long list, but you're up there, man, not just because of you as a player, but you as a person. And we'll get into that a little bit later. But the first thing I want to ask you is how did being a player prepare you for

being a president? Well, first, thanks for having me, and thanks for having me on the list, because you probably get a bunch of cricket eyes when you mentioned me on the list of partners like ooh, but I appreciate that there's myriad ways that being a player prepared me for this. I actually think that being a player prepared me for business written large, and then that's applied to being the president of the team, which is, you know,

running the business operations of the team. And I think there's a couple of things that are really critical that I carried over into my business career. The first was just the ability to have hyper focus when needed. It's something that happens uniquely in high level college and professional athletics. I think entertainers and musicians can get in this space too, and pretty much any profession can, but it happens a

lot in pro football. Is that for a finite amount of time, whether it's training camp or a lead up to a game where you're playing a particularly new or a different role, it requires your ability to quickly learn something really new, very quickly, completely immerse yourself into something and almost be able to tune out all the other noise outside of you and have that space of hyper focus.

And I think it's a really hard for a lot of people to do, to work with that intensity at a sustained level, but it's something that athletes develop and can do and so that's helped me a ton coming into this role. I think probably more importantly is as a pro athlete, you learn how to fail and maintain your confidence. You know a lot of people when I went to business school and when I started at a professional services firm, a lot of those folks had been

a students their whole lives. They had always been great at everything they've done, and they never measurably failed at anything. You know, I can think back to when I was with the Cardinals and tried to pick up a kickoff against the Seattle Seahawks. That hit my toe, went thirty yards in front of me and got recovered by the Seahawks. And you know, I don't think our fans were that happy with that, the coach were happy with that, and

it cost us some moments him in the game. You know, I have failed on a big stage in a very overt way. But I came back from that reminding myself that I was good, that I belonged, that I had the capability to do it, and the next time I got out there to do it, I did it right and I did it well. And I think that's a muscle you build working in professional athletics that you don't build other places, and so those of both helped me a ton. You sound like a president. I mean, you

sound exactly. I remember when you got the job and I was telling you. Probably remember my partner Ron Wolfley. I was telling Wolf, Yeah, Jason Wright, who was that I was telling? I was telling Wolf, Jason writes a new president and washing football team. He looks like, hmm, Jason Wright. Interesting and then he thought of goes, wait that Jason Wright like he couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that basically you went from being an NFL player and within a decade to running an NFL team.

I'm curious how much do you talk football versus how much do you talk business? Yeah? I talk business ninety eight percent of the time. I think, you know. I have a weekly touched point with coach Rivera, and most of the time I'm talking to Ron about business stuff as well. And thankfully I have a head coach who's actually very business savvy as well, the general manager, Martin Mayho. It's very business savvy. So when I have campaigns and things I need to pitch to them, investments that I

need to ask them about, they get it. And they speak the language. You know. Every once in a while Ron might ask me about a running back, but most for the most part, I'm talking business. But it does being a player and having a lens for football does inform some of the decisions we've made. You know, we have practice fields here that you know, in my opinion, probably needed renovation many years ago, but for whatever reason in the budgeting process could never make it above the line.

It took me all of ten minutes walking the field with Rob Rogers, one of the spts on coaches side, to see that after rain it was just saturated to a level where I wouldn't be comfortable playing at full speed as a player. I could see there being a higher proportion of injuries. I could see timing being off because guys aren't practicing at full speed, more time on the indoor during the year, because you don't want to be on that field when it's wet and that has

wear and tear on guys bodies. And so for me, I was able to do the return on investment calculation really quickly in my head and say, what you're going to get back from player productivity well outweighs a couple million dollars that we're going to spend on this so greenlight that and same thing with our field at FedEx Field. So there are things that my experience as a player does inform on the business side. But I'm not talking

about the roster ebber as coaches will House. We had Michael Bidwell on the podcast recently and we were talking about the transformation of the Cardinals and what that looked like from an organizational standpoint, and the stadium was a big reason why and getting that revenue to be able

to compete at the highest level every single year. I'm curious, Jason, because obviously before you took over, even though the Washington football team had great history an iconic franchise in the NFL, there were obviously there was a lot of negativity surrounding the team. So what were and are some of your biggest challenges that you've had to face in terms of

changing the perception of the Washington football team. Well, I think the first thing that we had to address was who do we Who do you have in the boat growing with you to your destination? Right? We had to look around and be very objective, not in any sort of personal way, but look at what we want to accomplish, which would become the best place to work, not just in the NFL, but of all media, sports and entertainment,

So a very healthy organizational culture. We want to become a top financial performer in the NFL, and in order to do that, short of having a new venue, you need some really innovative thinkers that probably come from outside the NFL, cross pollinated with people who do have sports experience to get that done. We want to be data first and digitally oriented, so that means we need investment

in technology and innovative thinking. We need something that's a local and authentic game day experience, so you walk into our venue or you interact with our team, and you

don't feel like it's interchangeable with any other team. And so when you think and we need to find a new venue to be a new home that opens up in twenty twenty seven, and so as you think about our big business goals, it really comes down to the people that you have on the leadership team and the layers below that who are going to get you there. And so a ton of my focus was on getting the right diverse set of perspectives in the room that

would allow us to get to those goals. And diverse demographically is very important because when you do have gender diversity, racial diversity, sexual orientation diversity, you get two better decisions because people bring unique perspectives from those backgrounds. But also I want a vocational diversity. I wanted people from outside of sports. I wanted people who had come through different educational backgrounds so that we have real cross pollination of

thinking here. And once you get the people in and they have shared values day, then they start to set the culture and the transformation on your behalf, and then we can get all these major projects done, including the most near term one, which is a major rebrand. Speaking of that, what is the timing, Jason on the naming of the team. Yeah, we will announce our name and brand and identity and all of that in early twenty twenty two. Okay, any hence on finalists that you can

share that nobody else knows? And I figured, man, and I'm sure you haven't gotten any emails or calls or texts from fans, friends, colleagues with suggestions. I'm sure you never get that. No. Literally, walking down the street in DC, people yelling their favorite name or telling me to release the name or asking me what the name is? Literally what happened? That's my life right nowadays. How rewarding was

last season? I remember texting with you after the game against Tampa Bay and the playoffs, and look, you guys

were in that game. How rewarding was twenty twenty given that it was your first year in the role, what you were tasked with doing in terms of changing the perception of the franchise and making the postseason, it was incredibly rewarding, not because of anything I did, but because of the benchmark that coach set by showing what's possible in a short amount of time in transforming culture and

the performance of an organization. You know, Coach had a clear plan that was focused on people and values and bringing in the right folks and letting the other folks walk who don't fit that vision and being bold about that, and it paid dividends way earlier than expected. You saw young guys play at a very high level. You saw culture coalesce, and even right now when I watched them practice, David reminds me of the best teams I was on,

including my first year there in Arizona. You know, the year after the Super Bowl where you'd feel like you have a cohesive culture, guys are competing very well in practice, the pace of practice is high, and Coach was able to do that really quickly, and so it was rewarding in the sense that not only did we get to see the payoff for Coach in a particularly challenging and inspiring year for him personally, but it also inspired and galvanized my team to say, no, you can see results soon.

This doesn't have to be a three to five year journey, even though you know our results will probably come in that timeframe. We can see change now, and I believe we've done that. On the business side, you know, it feels like a very different organization now than it did a year ago, and that's something for us to be very proud of, and Coach sort of set the mark for that in as well as the team did. Is really representative and emblematic of who we want to be

as the rest of the business. You mentioned two thousand and nine when you came to the Cardinals. What were you thinking after the team had gone to the Super Bowl and what was that year like Because the Cardinals were one of very few that lost a Super Bowl and made it to the playoffs the next year. I mean, there a been a lot of teams that had done that, unto Arizona did that. No nine, No, that's right. I'll tell you what I thought go on Arizona was like,

I'm gonna get me a super Bowl rank. I'll tell you that. That's what I thought. That was what was in my mind. Now that I did not pan out, but that was my goal was to go to a team that was at the CUSS. And you know the way that coach Wiz and the team, you know, articulated my role and it panned out this way is look, there's there's a spot role for you to play as a third down back. We want you to be a leader on special teams, but we want you to be a leader in a stabilizing force in the locker room.

And you look at the way they constructed that team. Lots of great young talent and then veteran leaders strategically

placed across different rooms in that organization where needed. And that, you know, for me, was the most enjoyable experience that I had because it actually, as much as I want to say I was a baller on the field, it actually played to my strengths more than anything, you know, to be a visible leader, to help guys with their off the field stuff so they could be focused on the field, to be a stabilizing and calming force end game,

which just hitting the fan. And I really really enjoyed the leadership mandate that Coach Coach Ways, Coach Spence and the rest of the folks gave me. Speaking of leaders you got to play with Kurt Warner in his final season. It ended unceremoniously, of course, in the bounty Gate game in a playoff game in New Orleans. Was there any particular takeaways Jason you have from your time being around Kurt Warner? Yeah, being around Kurt, I mean it transforms

you know this spending time with Kurt. You don't you don't leave the thing after having interacted with them. And I It's hard for me to articulate, but the way that I've described it to people over the years is that there are a few people who actually are who they say they are in every setting, and the level of authenticity that exists with Kurt from what he says in an interview to how he is at church, to how he is with his kids, to how he is on a pick up basketball game to how he is

walking down the street. There is no shift or shadow with him. I can't say that about me. I'll adapt to my environment to survive. Kurt doesn't have that bone in him. He is who he is. And that level of authenticity is inspiring because it requires confidence. It requires deep belief in who you are and what you think to be able to be that consistent. And I think if we all did that, we'd be a better society

rit large. And I think what that brought to the team at the time was a bit of a standard setting measure that ensued we were always going to be of the highest quality, of the highest excellence. Because Kurt wasn't going to play with you on the field, even though he's gonna love you off of it. You've got to play with Larry Fitzgerald in the prime of his career. He was coming off the greatest postseason a receiver had ever had. What was that like playing with Larry at

the height of him being Larry. Well, if you talk about someone who is when I was talking about earlier, that ability to be hyper focused and to completely invest in your craft, I haven't seen anyone do that to the degree that Larry has. You know, people talk about quarterbacks being the people first, people in, last, people out,

most dedicated to the details of their craft. I mean, Larry worked harder than anyone else, and he's the rare combination of where high talent, high work, ethic, and the personal integrity to back it all up all come together. You usually get people that spike on one of those, but not all three. And playing with him was inspiring when never got I mean we were the same draft class, although I was undrafted, let's be clear, we're the same

year coming out of college. And so to see someone of his caliber perform at that level and do the things that he did in practicing out of it just kind of in awe of it, and you knew you were witnessing something very special. And I'm most proud of the man that he's become over time because all that time that I watched him playing and watched his play elevate on the field, I also watched him evolved as a person and developed new thoughts and ways of thinking

and ways of living. And he's just he's a remarkable man that we should all be proud played for the organization. Well. One of the reasons I mentioned earlier that you're high on my list when people ask me favorite cardinals is because you know, I got to know you on a personal level, enjoyed spending time with You're You're just a

great dude, and I remember. So I don't talk about this publicly, but one of the things that Ron Wolfley and I do every year, although we haven't able to do it with COVID, is we go do prison ministry down in Florence with a church group, and you came with us at least once. And I remember you gave your testimony, which was incredible. But also you would sing. You would be singing warship songs. Did people in Washington know that you're probably the best singer in the nation's capital?

They do. Not. You gotta bust it out, man, sing the national lanthem or something so everybody can see it. Nope, nope, no need, Nope, dope, We're good. We have enough going on here. No, thank you, but seriously, though, thank you, thank you at the same time. But that's something though I know that you're very skilled at When did that start? How did that come about? Your ability to sing? Well? I actually started out before I was an athlete. As

a musical theater kid. My parents had put me in you know, singing and acting lessons when I was young because I expressed an interest and I was good at it. And I actually from age about six to about twelve, I traveled with the musical theater company down in southern California. And so singing has always just been a way that I felt like my true self and expressed myself and actually helped me become a good athlete because the pressure of performing on stage and this is like, you know,

paying adults, you know, go into these plays. I was like the kid role in an adult play. You know, paying adults. You know, they want they want their money's work. Okay, so you got to you gotta be on point. And so it taught me how to be disciplined while still expressing something that's an artistic craft that comes from your talent. And and as that evolved over the years and I'm pivoted away from that and into athletics, it became the main way that I love to express my faith and

express my creativity. Every once in a while, I just catch me singing at the top of my lungs in the house, and I feel like my full self in those moments, so it's a good thing. Last question, I'll let you go because I know you have presidential things to do, but you're the first black president in the history of the NFL. Most players think about coaching or going into upper management. There are players nowadays, especially in the NBA, that have so much money that they're becoming owners.

They're becoming owners, why while they're still playing like Jannis just did with the Brewers Chris Paulas talked about doing when he retires. Do you think we will see more players, Jason? Do you think that maybe you have started something players going into the business world and becoming presidents of NFL teams NBA teams. Yeah, I do think role modeling matters. Right. As much as I wanted to downplay this when I

first took the role, I do think you're right. I do think it will open up people's aperture, and maybe not necessarily the players, because maybe the players have always thought about it, but it'll open up the eyes of decision makers in so far as I do a good job here to look at a different profile than they might have looked at before and when filling these roles, And you know, I felt emboldened to take this role because I had visible role models, in particular black male

role models across my time in the NFL. You know, I had a black quarterback in Atlanta. I had a player personnel there was Ray Anderson, a black man. I had a black head coach in Cleveland, Romeo Cornell, black offensive coordinator. There. When I got to the Arizona, Jim Manager was Rock Gray's black man. And so I saw blackmail talent thriving outside of the lines, outside of the traditional hash marks. And you know that gets in your head and you sort of start to believe all things

are possible for folks that look like you. And there's probably a little bit about of me being in this role. You're the best man. Appreciate the time. I'm so happy for you. Excited to see not only what twenty twenty one looks like for the Washington football team, but once the rebranding starts with a new name in twenty twenty two and with coach Rivera and players you got there, Chase Young as a stud Excited to see what you

guys do this year and beyond. Jason, Thanks Dave, and you know we don't play all this year so y'all can go ahead and go seventeen to no and we'll meet you in the playoffs. Sounds good Man seeing the NFC championship. Thanks Jason B. Great to catch up with Jason and talk about his groundbreaking role as the first black team president in the history of the National Football League.

He's the team president of the Washington Football team and he embraces the position he's in and understands that he's a role model for many others and he hopes to pave a way for others to have the opportunities similar to what he has there in Washington, DC. Also cool to hear some stories of his playing days with the Cardinals, his time with Kurt Warner, also how he saw Larry Fitzgerald not just have great seasons as a player, but how Larry grew as a man while Jason was a

member of the team. The Dave Pash Podcast is presented by bet MGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals and Hila River Hotels and Casinos. You can keep up to date with what's going on with the Dave Pash Podcast future guests, and also relive some of the best moments from previous shows by following us at Pashpod on Twitter. That'll do it for today's edition. Thanks again to Jason Wright, president of the Washington Football team, for joining us on the Dave Pash Podcast