Wright Up Front

Review: Wright Up Front DeVader, Jeannette. Wright Up Front: Dallas Cowboys Legend Rayfield Wright. Dallas: Emerald Press. 2005 221p, illus. $24.95 ISBN 0-9774401-0-9 This inspirational story of faith and family is a must read for Cowboys fans. At 221 pages, it doesn't take long. Wright's story is dedicated to his mother and grandmother. Others who played an important role in his life include his Scoutmaster, David Walker, and his coach at Fort Valley State, Stan Lomax. The second half of the book includes a heavy dose of the Cowboys, with a chapter for each year of his career with Dallas (1967-1979). I don't know who wrote the actual text of the story, whether it was Wright himself or writer Jeanette DeVader. But the book for the most part is written in the passive voice, which grows wearisome after the first 25 pages. I suspect it is Rayfield himself, because that's how he couched his HOF speech (unless DeVader wrote his speech for him). There's one minor error on page 155, where Wright says that after losing SB V to the Colts, DT Bob Lilly wanted a championship after being with the Cowboys for 15 years. In fact, Lilly was Dallas' first round draft pick in 1961, so by the 1970 season, he had been with Dallas only 10 years (Lilly retired after the '74 season after a total of 15 years). Despite the minor editorial slip and the somewhat distracting passive voice, the book is nonetheless an inspiring read and one I highly recommend to fellow Cowboys fans. Copyright 2005 by Fred Goodwin [email protected]