SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Blaze head coach Ernesto Purnsley announced Friday the signing of DL Manuel Wright, a member of the Super Bowl XLII Champion New York Giants, who beat the New England Patriots, 17-14, to spoil the Patriots' bid for an undefeated season.
After playing for two seasons collegiately at USC, Wright was a fifth-round pick in the 2005 supplemental draft by the Miami Dolphins of the NFL and spent parts of two seasons with the Dolphins and tallied six tackles, a sack and a pass deflection.
In 2008, Wright (6-foot-6, 335 pounds) played in six games for the Giants and recorded two tackles. Last year, he played with the Spokane Lightning of af2 where he recorded 9.5 tackles, including two for loss, two sacks, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble in 11 games.
In other Blaze news, the team will hold its second open tryout tonight from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Spence Eccles Fieldhouse located at 650 South Guardsman Way on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Check-in and registration begin at 7 p.m. and the tryout will begin promptly at 8 p.m. All positions will be evaluated in running and agility drills (40-yard dash, short shuttle and long jump) on the ProTurf surface.
Registration is available by calling 801-331-7096 ext. 1. The cost is $65 for day-of-event registration.