Golf Q & A: Detroit Lion TE Brock Wright
With Tom Lang
Going into his 5th season with the Lions Wright was an undrafted free agent after the 2021 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He grew up in Texas. He has 9 career TDs (2 last year) with Detroit and stands in at 6-foot-5, 254 pounds. His golf handicap is 9.3.
“I think people call that the hacker range, where you don’t get too frustrated with your scores and you can play with anybody,” Wright told me. “I joke with my friends that you can go out and shoot a 93 one day, and a 77 the next. That’s what makes it fun in the money games, because there’s no tellin’.”
Q: Do you recall when and how you fell in love with the game of golf:
A: “I grew up playing with my dad and brother a little bit. Dad’s a good golfer. But I’d say I didn’t really fall in love with it until my senior year of high school. I finished the football season, and I was going to graduate early. I tested out of some classes, so my schedule was super light. So, when football season ended I started playing a bunch with our (high school) kicker, Laurence Crea, who played golf at Prairie View A&M and then Houston. We went out almost every day and he’d give me lessons.
“We were lucky at Notre Dame; there’s an awesome little 9-hole course on campus. I think it was $8 as a student, maybe $15 if you wanted a cart. We’d finish up workouts and go out there every single day. Once our game got in a good place, we went across the street to play Warren, where they played a PGA Sr. Open. So, we were lucky, we had some really good golf in that pocket in Indiana.”
Q: Do you see similarities between golf and football?
A: “Definitely, and I’d say the most difficult thing about both golf and football when it comes to the mental game, is being able to refocus. After every shot in golf, you have to do it, and after every play in football. So, it’s kind of a beautiful-difficult combination of remembering what you did wrong and diagnosing it and not allowing it to negatively effect you but instead allow it to enhance your performance the next time. So, it’s very similar when it comes to mentally refocusing.”
Q: Many people call football the ultimate team sport; and the closest comparison in golf would probably be the Ryder Cup. What are your thoughts?
A: “I love the passion that the golfers play with. That much is obvious and it’s great seeing the guys interact with the fans. Even watching the President’s Cup last year, where Scottie (Scheffler) and Tom Kim are buddies and they are talking trash. So, it’s cool to see how that’s a little different from the normal game, but then I like seeing the guys who are not necessarily having the best season, going into team or match play, where they just light it up.”
Q: Do you have a golfing dream experience you’d like to make happen some day?
A: “I have a bunch. I still haven’t gone over to the Mother Land, that Scotland, Ireland trip. I’d love to go to the Old Course, Carnoustie, all of those. That would be No. 1 on the list. If we’re talking here in the U.S, we’re talking the big three like Augusta, Pine Valley or Cypress Point.”
Q: Do you have any golfing pet peeves?
A: “Slow play is the obvious one. Growing up with my dad, and he’s a super-fast golfer, we’d get done in three hours, easy. There’s a few courses I’ve vowed never to go back to because of slow play, and I don’t think I ever will.
Q: Do you have any golfing superstitions?
A: “I do have a few. I do things like an adjustment of the left sleeve before I putt. I try not to drink too much caffeine before a round. That will get me jittery and then my tempo is all off. If I’m playing with a certain marker, like a penny, and I’m rolling it well, and it’s on heads then I’m keeping it on heads. And if I’m not making putts, I’ll turn it over to tails. And I’d say I have flipped it over to the other side more times than I’d like to admit.”
Q: What do you like about Michigan, or golf courses in the Midwest, compared to other parts of the country?
A: “There’s a really awesome variety in style of golf courses. For example, my favorite courses around the Detroit area, like Oakland Hills, both courses, or Meadowbrook. I love how well groomed they are, tight fairways, the rough is challenging but then there’s great undulations and elevation changes throughout the courses. Then for great public courses like Shepherd’s Hollow, it’s an extremely hard course but it’s got some funky target golf type shots. Kind of like the TPC (of Michigan) across the way from our practice facility. Or you go to Arcadia Bluffs, and you have that coastal vibe. So, it’s the variety of golf, but then also how much care they put into the courses.”
Q: Any closing thoughts?
A: “Golf is just a passion of mine and right now it’s a hobby for me, but it’s always going to be one of my favorite things to do in life, and after football, who knows. It could be the next step for me to try to pursue something in the golf world. But I just like being around the game.”
