- Category:
- Richest Athletes › NFL Players
- Birthdate:
- Jul 23, 1989 (35 years old)
- Birthplace:
- Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
What is K. J. Wright's Net Worth and Salary?
K. J. Wright is a former professional football player who has a net worth of $20 million. K. J. Wright played as a linebacker in the NFL from 2011 to 2021, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. With the team, he won Super Bowl XLVIII and appeared in Super Bowl XLIX the next year. Wright played one season with the Las Vegas Raiders before retiring from the NFL. During his NFL career, Wright earned $49.1 million in salary alone
Early Life and High School
Kenneth Wright Jr. was born on July 23, 1989 in Memphis, Tennessee. As a teenager, he attended Olive Branch High School in Mississippi, where he played football and basketball and participated in track. In his senior season on the football team, Wright posted 91 combined tackles.
Collegiate Career
For college, Wright committed to Mississippi State University. He played four seasons with the Bulldogs football team from 2007 to 2010, finishing his collegiate career with 258 combined tackles and 14 sacks.
Seattle Seahawks
In the 2011 NFL Draft, Wright was chosen in the fourth round by the Seattle Seahawks. He subsequently signed a four-year contract with the team. In his rookie season, Wright recorded 65 combined tackles and two sacks in 16 games and 12 starts. The next season, he posted 98 combined tackles and a sack in 15 games and 15 starts. Finishing with an 11-5 record, the Seahawks advanced to the playoffs, where they defeated the Washington Redskins in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional. The team made it all the way in the 2013 season, finishing atop the NFC West with a 13-3 record and defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship. In Super Bowl XLVIII, Wright made seven combined tackles as the Seahawks routed the Denver Broncos 43-8. Later in the year, he signed a four-year contract extension with the team. Wright and the Seahawks went on to have another excellent season in 2014. Starting in all 16 games, Wright recorded 107 combined tackles as the Seahawks finished atop the NFC West for the second consecutive year. The team again won the NFC Championship en route to a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. However, this time, the Seahawks were defeated by the New England Patriots 28-24.
Despite getting ejected from a game early in the season for getting into a physical altercation with Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers II, Wright had the most productive stretch of his career during the first half of the 2015 season. Over eight games, he recorded 58 combined tackles. Wright finished the season with 115 combined tackles as the Seahawks once again made it to the playoffs. Ultimately, the team lost to the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round. In the 2016 season, Wright posted 126 combined tackles and a career-high four sacks as the Seahawks finished atop the NFC West. For the second consecutive season, the team lost in the Divisional Round, this time to the Falcons. The Seahawks went on to miss the playoffs entirely in 2017. In 2018, Wright missed a major portion of the season due to arthroscopic knee surgery, which limited him to just five games. After re-signing with the Seahawks on a two-year contract extension, Wright came back strong in 2019, recording a career-high 132 combined tackles. In his final season with the Seahawks in 2020, he posted 86 combined tackles and two sacks, making it his first season in four years with a sack.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Las Vegas Raiders
In September of 2021, Wright signed a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. That season, he had eight starts in 17 games, and recorded 51 combined tackles. The Raiders advanced to the playoffs, where they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round.
Retirement
In the summer of 2022, Wright signed a one-day contract with the Seahawks to officially retire from the NFL as a member of his original team.
Personal Life
In 2015, Wright got engaged to his girlfriend Nathalie. They married in 2017. The couple has a daughter named MacKenzie and two sons named Kameron and Kaleyus.
