By Kevin Freeman, Intelligencer Journal
He never threw a pass or made a layup.
Never drew up a play or made a substitution.
But for the past 22 years, when you and I learned about the exploits of Millersville University athletes, chances are Greg Wright was the source.
Wright is leaving his post as Millersville's sports information director in a few days. He leaves behind as much sweat as any Marauder linebacker during August two-a-days and as much passion for the school's athletics as any coach who walked the sidelines.
Wright's job went far beyond disseminating the highs and lows of Millersville's athletes to area news outlets. He poured himself into the job. He was technically sound, making sure every assist or tackle was counted and credited.
For Wright, the job was more than just numbers. He had passion for Millersville's athletes and rooted hard for each team's success.
"He was a leader in his craft,'' said longtime Millersville football coach Gene Carpenter. "The work that he did at Millersville far outweighed the credit that he got for it.''
The job of sports information director has changed greatly since Wright started his work at MU in 1984. There seems to be more work to do and the same amount of time to do it in. In recent years, the strain wore on him and for that reason and a few others, he is changing his career path.
"I started to lose my passion for the job,'' Wright said.
And if there was one thing Wright had, it was passion.
"Greg bled black and gold,'' said former East Stroudsburg SID Pete Nevins.
The excitement for MU athletics wasn't a requirement for the job. But Wright doesn't know how to work without it.
"He was so into everything,'' said Mike Hoffman, the SID at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. "He made it seem like every sport had the same level of importance. That's rare.''
Wright grew up in western New York and graduated from Grove City College. He remembers attending an RPI hockey game and was taken by the "vibrant atmosphere.'' From there he pondered a career that had something to do with student-athletes.
That led to a call to Siena College's SID, who referred him to Dartmouth College. He did an internship at Dartmouth, ''learning the nuances of the business.'' After the Dartmouth experience, he spent two years at Long Beach State.
"I was just about to enroll in a masters program at Northeast Louisiana State when I got a call from Long Beach,'' he said. "I drove across the country in a '61 Plymouth with a bad battery and questionable brakes.''
After a couple of years at Long Beach, Wright moved to Chapman University in California for three years. Then it was back east to Millersville.
"Greg really started sports information at Millersville,'' said Dr. Richard Frerichs, the retired chair of Millersville's Department of the Educational Foundation, who served on the committee that recommended Wright's hiring. "Before him, we hadn't had a real sports information director. He did great things with our Hall of Fame. He did great things with the media in promoting Millersville University athletics.''
In an interview, Wright made sure to thank all the people who were integral to his success at Millersville. Those people included, but were not limited to former women's athletic director Marge Trout, former men's AD Cy Fritz and longtime women's lacrosse coach Barb Waltman.
Of his former colleagues, though, Wright made sure to single out Carpenter, who coached the Marauders' football team for 31 years.
"I tried to conduct my job in the way the coaching staff approached football,'' Wright said.
One thing that made Wright so good at his profession was his memory. When you're so involved, the big events, and even some minor ones, stay with you.
Wright recalled the football showdown between Millersville and West Chester in '86 in which West Chester crossed the 50-yard line only once, on a late fourth-quarter TD that won the game. He remembered Millersville's trip to North Dakota State in the NCAA Division II playoffs and Harry Strausser's roughing the passer penalty, which led to NDSU's go-ahead touchdown.
And there were the basketball memories, particularly Millersville's battles with Gannon College in Erie.
"I was always amazed at his knowledge,'' Frerichs said. "You'd say, "Who holds the record for the most ... ,' and he would say, "That was so-and-so back in '82.' ''
Wright was honored many times for his work. He received the Irving T. Marsh Award in 2004 from the Eastern College Athletic Conference's SIDs for his dedication to and excellence in sports information. This year, he was nominated for the College Division's Warren Berg Award, the College Sports Information Directors of America's top prize.
"Greg always represented his university with class,'' said Tom Byrnes, the SID at California University of Pennsylvania and Franklin & Marshall's SID for from '88 to 2000. "More importantly, he won the respect of his peers because of his hard work, dedication and integrity. He was an outstanding asset and ambassador for MU."
Byrnes knows how much the job has changed. The biggest change came with the advent of the internet. Now, it's not just getting sports info to media outlets, it's getting the info onto the Web site.
Immediately.
"When you have six or seven sports teams competing on a fall Saturday, it takes time,'' Wright said. "My job wasn't done at the final horn. In essence, it was just starting.''
(Sportswriters can relate).
Wright was responsible for reporting on 21 teams. He did have some help, a graduate assistant and some student help. But the work got to be too much. He was being spread too thin. It was taking a toll on him and his family.
For the future, Wright is planning a job as a financial advisor.
Wright leaves a legacy of getting the work done correctly, on time and with passion.
"He made the more cynical of us (SIDs) more enthusiastic when we played Millersville,'' Hoffman said. "Because we knew we would be dealing with somebody who cared that much.''
Carpenter recalled that he was once dubbed "Mr. Millersville.''
"Really, it was Greg who was Mr. Millersville,'' Carpenter said.
Someday, Millersville will see fit to expand the smallish pressbox at Biemesderfer Stadium. When it does, the new pressbox ought to have a name on it.
Wright's name.
It would only be fitting.