A Figure Close to Nahshon Wright Surprised Everyone by Publicly Praising a Bears Cornerback’s Game. DH

It’s not often a player makes a big play to help win a game and then the player he grew up idolizing was there afterward to congratulate him, but it happened to the Bears’ cornerback.

Even after his big play in stopping the hated and despised tush push on national TV Black Friday, Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright didn’t hear from anyone out of the ordinary.  

That is, with one exception, and it meant a lot.

“Nah, no one, no one, I don’t think I got anyone that reached out that was different,” Wright said. “But I did—Richard Sherman did come up to me after the game and kind of gave me my props, and that’s someone that I watched growing up, someone I watched in college a lot. So that was definitely cool.

“I told my mom about it, so yeah, it was definitely cool for sure.”

Sherman, the former standout cornerback from Seattle, was working the game for Prime’s crew.

“He was just like, ‘man, you’re playing good ball,’ and just he told me to keep listening to (Bears DB coach) Al (Harris), and then I told him it was an honor, and he was like, ‘No, it’s an honor to watch you play,’ ” Wright said. “So, it was definitely cool.”

Wright, named NFC Defensive Player of the Month on Thursday, had studied Sherman’s game tapes partly because he could relate. As a 6-foot-3 cornerback, Sherman was a rarity in his career. Wright is 6-4 and it’s still uncommon to have cornerbacks that tall.

“Yeah, for sure. I mean, I watched his tape just because, one, my time and era, like just watching football, it was the Legion of Boom,” Wright said. So it’s Earl Thomas, Cam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Brandon Browner, and those guys. I definitely watched it, and then when I got to college, I kind of wanted to watch someone who was similar to me in size and just see how he moved and things like that.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I watched his tape just because, one, my time and era, like just watching football, it was the Legion of Boom. “So it’s Earl Thomas, Cam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Brandon Browner, and those guys.

“I definitely watched it, and then when I got to college, I kind of wanted to watch someone who was similar to me in size and just see how he moved and things like that.”

Sherman made 37 career interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and five forced fumbles in his career. He never made a tush push stop like Wright did, by knocking the ball out of Jalen Hurts’ hands and falling on it.

“Honestly, it was like 100 percent spontaneous—no, maybe like 99.9, but it was just kind of like my instincts kicked in to just try to get the stop,” Wright said. “And in doing so, I was able to get my hand under the ball and then rip it out.”

Wright is putting himself in a position where he could possibly earn a long-term contract. That could be tied in with what they feel about Tyrique Stevenson’s future, as well. Wright will know who to credit most, besides himself, if he does get an extension—and it’s not Richard Sherman.

It’s Harris. It was Harris is who coached him three years at Dallas, then urged the Bears to bring him aboard after Minnesota had him part of last year.

“Crazy, just because of the fact that he’s always believed in me and that goes a long way,” Wright said. “I texted him yesterday and I just told him like I appreciate him more than he knows, just because teams gave up on me in a sense, and it’s cool to have someone like that who believes in you.

“I’ve been on … this is now my third team and he’s still been there every step of the way, checking on me, so it’s definitely been a crazy journey that we’ve been on and I hope to continue to be with him and finish out my career with him maybe or however it may shake out. But yeah, it’s definitely been crazy.”