In the mass of bodies, Nahshon Wright saw a sliver of dark brown leather.
“I just saw him holding the ball out with two hands,” Wright said.
Jalen Hurts pushed his way into the pile on the Philadelphia Eagles’ infamous Tush Push play. The Eagles needed a first down and were just 11 yards from regaining the lead on Black Friday in a game that felt as if it were about to turn in their favor.
Then the unheralded Chicago Bears cornerback, who wasn’t even supposed to be a starter this season, flew around the pile and ripped the ball from Hurts’ hands. Wright somehow worked his way to the bottom of the pile to recover the fumble.
Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright (26) celebrates his fumble recovery against the Eagles in the third quarter Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears took over and drove downfield for a touchdown that extended a one-point lead to eight. The Bears went on to close out a surprising victory over the defending Super Bowl champions at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“That was one of the turning points in the game right there,” coach Ben Johnson later said. “They’re in scoring range and a high-percentage play for them, and yet he was able to get the ball away from them.”
The Tush Push play marked Wright’s third fumble recovery and his eighth takeaway this season, counting his five interceptions. He has been a difference-maker for the Bears in 2025 — and far and away the biggest difference-maker nobody saw coming. He started the season as a backup and got a chance only because of injuries at cornerback.
Perhaps most telling about the Eagles game was not Wright’s takeaway, but rather the fact he played the entire game — 100% of the defensive snaps — despite veteran cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon returning from injuries.
Days earlier, when asked about the possibility that Wright’s playing time might diminish when those guys returned, Ben Johnson was blunt in his assessment of Wright: “He’s done a phenomenal job. I think he has certainly earned play time.”
In a matter of months, Wright has gone from the relative obscurity of a backup defensive back on a team that finished last place in the NFC North a year ago to an indispensable starter on a team that is 9-3 and leading the NFC.
“I think when it’s all said and done, I’ll be able to look back and give myself a pat on the back,” Wright said. “I mean, obviously I’m proud of what’s been going on and what’s happening for myself, but it’s so week to week I haven’t got to kind of soak it all in yet.”
‘All the work we put in’
Cornerback Nahshon Wright celebrates after the Bears defeated the Steelers 31-28 on Nov. 23, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Al Harris is the reason Wright came to Chicago. Harris was the defensive backs coach when the Dallas Cowboys selected Wright with a third-round pick in the 2021 draft.
Wright entered the NFL after two years at Oregon State and one year of junior college football at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. His predraft scouting report on NFL.com included comments like “speed is lacking” and “very thin frame” with a projection that suggested he’d be a seventh-round pick or go undrafted. Instead, the Cowboys took him with the 99th pick.
Harris, now the Bears defensive backs coach, worked with Wright every single day after practice during those early years in Dallas. Wright hardly played for the Cowboys defense back then. He was stuck behind Pro Bowl corners Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.
Behind the scenes, Harris and Wright worked every day, particularly on tracking the football and on press coverage. Wright said it was hard to put in the work but not see any playing time on defense. He remembered a game against the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, when he was sidelined by an injury, that Harris reminded him to make the most of his next opportunity.
“It’s just crazy to think that we had that talk two, three years ago and now it’s kind of happening,” Wright said.
Those were valuable years, despite the lack of playing time. Harris and Wright built a rapport. On top of that, Wright watched first-hand what it took for Diggs and Bland to develop into Pro Bowl selections.
“He’s seen these guys become All-Pro, Pro Bowlers, lead the league in interceptions,” Harris said. “So he knows the message. He knows the teaching. Just to his credit, from when he got in the league as a rookie and to now, his movements are night and day, the understanding is night and day. He’s more confident.”
The Cowboys traded Wright to Minnesota in August 2024, swapping him for cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. Wright spent the 2024 season on the Vikings practice squad. Even so, he kept in touch with Harris last year.
When the Vikings released Wright in April, Harris was the first person to call. Now, Wright has been thinking about that conversation two years ago, when Harris told him to make the most of his next opportunity.
“It didn’t happen in Dallas,” Wright said. “It didn’t happen for me in Minnesota. It just so happened to happen for me now and I’m with Al. So it’s crazy when you think about it — all the work we put in for those years.”
Wright signed with the Bears on April 8. At the time, it was a free-agency footnote. Cornerback was one of the deepest positions on the Bears roster. Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson and top backups Terell Smith and Josh Blackwell all returned from the 2024 roster.
Wright’s path to significant playing time looked unlikely.
‘Stay locked in’
For veteran safety Kevin Byard III, Wright was anything but a footnote.
“Shonny was a third-round pick, so obviously the talent was always there,” Byard said.
The NFL is a league of attrition. The teams that catch some luck in the injury department often are the ones playing into late January. A backup never quite knows when his big break will come.
Jaylon Johnson missed the preseason after injuring himself in preparation for training camp. Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury in August. Gordon tweaked his hamstring ahead of Week 1. Wright found himself in the starting lineup for the season opener against his former team, the Vikings.
“Just stay locked in because you never know what could happen,” Wright said of his mindset.
Early in the third quarter, Wright lined up against Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson — a player he matched up against all the time when he was on the Minnesota practice squad. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy looked left the whole way and Wright followed the QB’s eyes. He jumped in front of Jefferson’s route and grabbed an easy interception.
There was nothing but green grass ahead of him, and he ran 74 yards for a touchdown. It was his first interception in three years and just the second of his career.
A week later, Jaylon Johnson returned from a groin injury and started, pushing Wright back to the bench. But Johnson wound up reinjuring himself in the Week 2 loss in Detroit. The Pro Bowl corner needed core muscle surgery and would be out for an extended period. Wright was thrust back into the starting lineup and has never left.
When Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels fumbled a handoff late in a Week 6 game at Northwest Stadium, Wright was there to scoop up the game-altering fumble recovery. A week later he had another interception against the New Orleans Saints.
He had three interceptions in November, plus two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble (one being the Tush Push play in Philadelphia). That earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors.
Little by little, week after week, Wright has put his stamp on a Bears defense that leads the NFL with 26 takeaways. Wright’s five interceptions rank second in the league behind only Byard’s six.
His production has blown away even the most optimistic of expectations.
“What I saw was, each and every day and each and every week during training camp, I saw a guy that continued to get better,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “And I’ve said this before, anytime you’ve got a guy that’s got talent and intelligence and they’re willing to work, those guys get better. And that’s exactly what he’s done.”
‘I’ll always remember him’
Bears defenders gather around cornerback Nahshon Wright (26) after he intercepted a Vikings pass in the end zone Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Wright and his junior college football coach, John Beam, were standing in Endless Supply, a shoe and apparel store on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. It was Oct. 18, the night before the Bears-Saints game at Soldier Field, which would feature Wright playing against his brother, Saints cornerback Rejzohn Wright. Both Wright brothers played for Beam at Laney College in Oakland, Calif.
Beam starred in Season 5 of the Netflix series “Last Chance U.” One episode featured the Wright brothers discussing the death of their father, Jamal Wright, who was shot and killed in December 2017 in San Jose, Calif. In the aftermath of the shooting, Beam was there for the boys.
In the episode, Nahshon Wright recalled Beam telling him, “Everything you do, do it for your dad.”
On this October evening, Beam and Wright were standing in Endless Supply shopping, but mostly just catching up. They had a big group of family, Wright’s fiancée and daughters, his mom, Rejzohn’s wife and his in-laws. As the family walked up and down the Magnificent Mile — Beam wanted to get his steps in — Beam and Wright caught up on everything: life, finances, football.
It was at Endless Supply that a group of young men approached them.
“What do we know you from?” one of them said.
He was talking to Beam, unaware that the taller guy was a starting cornerback for the Bears.
“They ended up taking a picture with him and not me,” Wright recalled with a laugh. “On the walk we were joking about that: ‘You’re more famous than me, and I play.’”
Laney Coach John Beam speaks before the Oakland Athletic League football championship game on Nov. 25, 2023. (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group/TNS)
Wright’s journey to Laney was a roundabout one. Initially, coming out of James Logan High School in the Bay Area, Wright didn’t want to go to Laney, despite the fact it was just up the road in Oakland. He first went to San Francisco City College, then transferred to College of San Mateo.
When his 1998 Acura couldn’t handle the commute, he finally wound up at Laney with Beam. It was in the aftermath of his dad’s death that he grew close with the coach.
A week or so after his dad’s shooting, Beam was at Wright’s front door, getting him out of bed.
“Beam stepped in,” Wright said. “He stepped in as a father figure, father role. He did a lot for me and my brother, my family.”
The Wright brothers won a state championship with Laney in 2018. Nahshon transferred to Oregon State in 2019. Rejzohn was still at Laney in 2019, the season that was featured on “Last Chance U.” Even after he left Laney, Nahshon kept in touch with Beam weekly.
Just a few weeks after that walk on the Magnificent Mile in October, Wright saw a text from a friend after the Bears wrapped up practice. Beam had been shot on the Laney campus, where he had transitioned to the role of athletic director.
A chill went through Wright’s body when he saw the text, the same chill he had experienced when his dad died. Something he hoped he would never experience again. Beam died a day later, on Nov. 14.
The news of Beam’s death was everywhere. Beam, who was 66, left behind his wife, Cindi, their two daughters and two grandchildren. The mayor of Oakland called him “a giant” in the community. A 27-year-old man was arrested and charged with Beam’s murder.
Wright tried to process what happened to his coach and prepare for a football game just days later in Minnesota. This time, he leaned on Harris.
“He was calling me by the hour just to check on me,” Wright said.
“We talk outside of the building,” Harris said. “Even when he was in Minnesota, we still stayed in contact, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be about football. It could be the kids. All of that. When that happened, I felt for him because I knew how much that guy meant to him.”
Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright receives a hug on the sideline from defensive backs coach Al Harris after his interception in the second quarter against the Vikings on Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Fittingly, Wright grabbed another interception that weekend in Minnesota. When he caught the football in the end zone, the emotions hit him and he fell to one knee. On his way back to the sideline, he stuck out his thumb and pinky finger in a “hang ten” hand signal that Beam used to make whenever he took pictures with people.
Wright also shared a big hug with Harris.
“Every week I do get reminded of Beam, and every week I write his name on my tape,” Wright said. “I’ll always remember him. I’ll always take him into every game.”
‘Teams gave up on me’
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler chases Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright after Wright intercepted Rattler’s pass in the second quarter on Oct. 19, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
This season has bucked trends for the Bears. The team is 9-3 for the first time since 2010. The defense leads the NFL in takeaways for the first time since 2018.
The Bears have done it with a number of contributors over the weeks. None is more surprising than Wright. In Harris’ eyes, this is kind of like Wright’s rookie season — at least in terms of playing time. He has watched Wright’s confidence grow with each passing week.
When Wright showed up at Halas Hall for training camp, his only goal was to make the 53-man roster. After the Eagles game, Amazon Prime Video analyst Richard Sherman — the longtime Seahawks and 49ers cornerback — came up to Wright and told him he was playing at a high level. When Wright was growing up, Sherman was the most famous cornerback in the league.
“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.”
It has been a long journey for a player who didn’t even know if football was still in his future when he first enrolled at Laney College all those years ago. Wright wasn’t playing back then, so he got a job at Foot Locker on the side. But the coaches in his life — Beam and Harris — always have seen a potential that’s now playing out on a national stage.
Wright hasn’t had time to process what this year might mean for his career moving forward. There have been incredible highs and incredible lows on and off the field.
“It’s definitely emotional, just the journey for myself,” Wright said.
After the Eagles game, Sherman also told Wright to keep listening to Harris. That bit of advice was something Wright already knew.
“He’s always believed in me and that goes a long way,” Wright said. “I texted him (Wednesday) 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.”
The Bears aren’t giving up on him.
“To see him have the success that he does really warms my heart, it really does,” Harris said. “Because I know what he’s been through. I know how hard he’s worked.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/06/chicago-bears-nahshon-wright-breakout-season/
