Nahshon Wright grew up enamored with defensive highlights, specifically compilations of Tyrann Mathieu flying around the football field and wreaking havoc on opponents while at LSU.
Wright was a junior high school-aged student-athlete, so his admiration of The Honey Badger was far from unusual. It was odd, however, that Wright, who primarily played wide receiver at the time, preferred hearing the thud of a big hit over the crowd's roar after a touchdown.
"For me, defensive highlights have always been the most exciting ones, because of the hits, the interceptions," Wright told ChicagoBears.com, "because interceptions, they don't happen as much as touchdowns happen. So, when they do happen, it's big."
Wright's childhood affinity for defense, despite his years-long training on the opposite side of the ball, made for a smooth and exciting transition from wide receiver at James Logan High School to Laney College cornerback. Wright felt the only challenge in his position change was getting comfortable moving backwards as opposed to running forward.
What Wright could never have predicted at the start of his collegiate career in 2018 is that seven years later, his highlight reel could be likened more to a receiver's than a defensive back's with how often the ball has been in his hands this season.
Thanks to his five takeaways during the Bears' 5-0 stretch in the month of November, which increased his league-leading total to eight, Wright earned himself NFC Defensive Player of the Month Thursday.
"It means a lot, just to be recognized around the league," Wright said. "It definitely means a lot coming from the journey that I've had."
Wright's lengthy frame and obvious athleticism piqued the interest of Bears fans during training camp this summer while running with the first-team defense in place of the injured Jaylon Johnson, but it wasn't until Monday, Sept. 8 at Soldier Field that he received national attention.
On a third-and-8 play in the third quarter of the season opener against Minnesota, the Bears rushed seven defenders and dropped into Cover-0, forcing Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy to make a quick throw toward receiver Justin Jefferson.
Initially, Wright used his past seven years of defensive back training to jump Jefferson's route and interfere in the passing lane. But as the ball flew through the air, instincts took over.
Suddenly, he was a teenager back at James Logan, hauling in the pass and running 74 yards toward the end zone for six points. But as he crossed the goal line, and the cheers of thousands of Bears fans flooded his ears, Wright remembered why he loved those defensive highlights so much.
"It's crazy, when you pick the ball, everything kind of zeros out," Wright said. "You don't hear nothing. I think once I got to the end zone, everything kind of hit me. It was electric."
In his first game as a Bear, Wright had recorded the first pick-6 of the NFL season and his first interception since Dec. 29, 2022, during his second year in the league. A career-defining moment defined by firsts can now be better described as the first of many.
"The first person that greeted me on the sideline after that pick-6 was coach Al [Harris]," Wright said. "And we got this little two-hand handshake that we do, and then we give each other a hug. And he just tells me he's proud of me.
"And he does it every time now."
Since the season opener, Wright and Harris — the Bears defensive backs coach and 15-year NFL veteran who coached the cornerback in Dallas — have met each other on the sideline for that handshake at a consistent rate.
In the past five weeks, Wright has intercepted Joe Flacco to seal a 47-42 comeback win in Cincinnati, recovered a Jaxson Dart fumble that energized the Bears on their way to a 24-20 victory over the Giants, made acrobatic interceptions in wins over the Vikings and Steelers and, last Friday, forced and recovered a fumble on the Eagles' highly-successful tush push play to help preserve the Bears' third-quarter lead.
That takeaway in Philadelphia, which proved to be pivotal in the Bears' win over the defending Super Bowl champions, made him the first Bears player to create takeaways in five straight games since at least 1970. It also earned him a game ball in the postgame locker room celebration from coach Ben Johnson, who admitted Wright "should've had it for the last three weeks."
Sharing that moment with his Bears teammates, coaches and staff meant more to Wright than the actual game ball itself, which is currently stacked on a few other footballs in his closet and will eventually live in his man cave inside the house he's building in California.
Rather than reveling in his own success while having the floor in the middle of the Philadelphia locker room, Wright used that opportunity to express gratitude for those who brought him to Chicago and have lifted him up since April.
"It was more so a chance for me to thank people like Ryan Poles and the coaching staff and the players," Wright said. "I hadn't got a chance to actually tell Poles, 'thank you,' because Poles was the one who basically okayed me coming here. I hadn't had a chance to tell him thank you, so that was my chance to tell him, 'thank you,' tell the coaches, 'thank you' and the players, like I said, for trusting me and just embracing me coming in here and playing with them."
Now 12 games into his fifth NFL season and first in Chicago, Wright is beginning to reflect on how his career trajectory flipped from practice squad player to Pro Bowl candidate within the same calendar year. Between a rigorous offseason training plan, a reunion with Harris and unconditional support from his family, Wright found the perfect recipe for a breakout season.
Drafted by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Wright played in Dallas under Harris — making 32 appearances with six starts — until just before the start of the 2024 regular season, when he was traded to the Vikings Aug. 9, 2024. Just 18 days later, he was released by Minnesota and later signed to their practice squad, where he remained for the majority of the 2024 season.
That transition for Wright was admittedly difficult. His NFL future felt uncertain. And he had made the move to Minnesota alone — his fiancée, Amanda, and their two daughters, Avani and Mayari, stayed back in Dallas.
It was Harris who helped Wright stay grounded. Through their years in Dallas together, the pair became like family. In 2021, after the birth of Wright's oldest daughter, Avani, whom Harris still calls, 'baby,' the coach gifted her a set of golf clubs to use once she grew up. Harris, who has four kids who golf, was already helping Wright plan for his new family's future.
"It may be a little different now, but I know back in 2021, he was saying for women's sports in college, golf has the most unclaimed scholarships," Wright said. "So, he wanted me to take advantage of that. He was like, 'The money that you put up for your daughter, if she gets a full scholarship, she can just have it to buy a house, car, whatever it may be.'"
Despite being hundreds of miles apart and with different teams, Harris would check on Wright often during the 2024 season. The cornerback continued to lean on the coach for football and life advice.
"There's a couple guys that I've coached that — you see all the guys as players and you're close with them — but that I'm extremely close with, like family members," Harris said. "Shonny's one of them. Just from day one, he was a guy I stood on the table for during the draft, and when he came in, just from how he was then 'til now, it's night and day, but I saw it building.
"I saw it developing, and we always talk about, 'just stick with it. Stick with it. Stick with it, stick with it.' I just see him almost like a son."
Wright felt disappointed in how his 2024 season unfolded. In years past, Wright would head back home to California at the beginning of the offseason, take a month off, then train at Laney College. The 2025 offseason needed to be different.
"Man, I pushed myself," Wright said. "Literally the minute I got home, I trained. I hit the ground running. I trained five days a week. I actually went to Santa Ana where I did my combine training. So I was familiar with them, and they pushed me to a whole other limit.
"Like, they pushed me past limits that I wouldn't have pushed myself just working out by myself. I didn't take any time off. And it's paying off."
April 8 was when Wright could finally exhale again, even if it was just for a second. He flew to Chicago and traveled up to Halas Hall for a physical, to meet with the Bears' staff and sign a one-year contract. Before he left to go back to California and pack up his essentials to prepare for the Bears' offseason program, he made an important stop.
"I went up to Al's office, and he just gave me a hug," Wright said, "and just let me know, 'you just gotta come in and work. Just prove yourself. They're gonna give you an opportunity.' And that's all I could ask for is an opportunity, especially coming off a practice squad, was just an opportunity to prove myself, and it just so happened it worked out the way it worked out.
"And man, the rest is history."
While Wright felt a sense of comfort in reuniting with Harris, whom defensive coordinator Dennis Allen had hired just two months prior, he knew nothing about the next few months would be easy. The Bears' cornerback room was stacked with Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson and emerging young players including Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith. He'd have to fight tooth and nail for a roster spot.
Wright would also have to once again say goodbye to his family for an extended period of time after having spent the past three months trying to make up for their separation in 2024.
When asked to reflect on how much his family has contributed to his breakout season, Wright spoke for more than five minutes.
"Man, they've meant everything," he said. "They've been through the ups and downs with me, especially my lady. Even when I came here in the offseason, she stayed home, so just being without me, and being with my daughters by herself, or having to have help from her mom and my mom. As a father, you want to be there as much as you can, but she understood what I was going through and what I was trying to accomplish.
"I haven't personally had the chance to sit back and just take it all in, but now that you're asking the question, my fiancée doesn't get enough credit for what she's done, and what she's meant to this process. She's been like my backbone.
"And my kids, they mean everything. Probably the reason why I'm still doing this, quite honestly, just being what I've been through, just knowing that they need me."
After a short break at home between OTAs and training camp, Amanda, Avani and Mayari traveled back with Wright to Chicago in hopes of spending the entire season with the Bears.
Amanda and the girls came to training camp most days. Wright would often be seen playing with his daughters, even after a long, grueling practice in the summer heat. When it came to spending time with Avana and Mayari, the fatigue didn't faze him. During off days, the family would try to plan an activity, something as big as driving into the city to visit the Museum of Ice Cream or as simple as going to the local park.
Now, Wright takes his family onto the grass at Soldier Field after each home game, watching Avani and Mayari run around the same place he just competed on.
Even during a season full of team and individual success — the Bears currently sit atop the NFC at 9-3 — those postgame moments with his family, when Soldier Field is dimly lit, eerily quiet and almost empty will be some of Wright's most cherished memories from the 2025 season.
"Just having them here, it gives you a sense of motivation," Wright said. "I want my kids not to have to worry about anything. I want them to be able to go to school, have the best education. So just having my family here and them just going through this season of life, season of football with me, it's been everything."
