The Cincinnati Bengals recently witnessed perhaps the most bizarre, abrupt departure from their training camp in franchise history. Cornerback Ceyair Wright doubles as an actor who once starred alongside LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy, yet he was also good enough as a college football player that he earned an invitation to Bengals camp as an undrafted free agent.
With the first week of the preseason barely in the rearview mirror and the defense looking as deep and strong as ever in the Joe Burrow era, Wright opted to put his football career on hold in favor of a film acting role.
Head coach Zac Taylor spoke about the call Wright made to the team to break the news, via BengalsTalk.com's James Rapien:
"I know it was a difficult decision for him. I think two things he's really passionate about were colliding, and he decided to pursue this opportunity. He’s a great kid, comes from a great university, and we wish him the best. He was fun to be around. He really competed hard for us. It was fun watching him play. I thought he was ascending as a player, but obviously he's chosen to go a different path."
Wright isn't wrong for choosing 'big' movie role over Bengals training camp
KPRC2's Aaron Wilson broke the news of Ceyair Wright's leap from chasing a roster spot in Cincinnati to returning to Hollywood for a "lead role in a big movie that he couldn't pass up."
Another key bit of context: Wright's rights are still with the Bengals, as he moves to the reserve/left squad list. Once filming on that project is completed in late October, he can return to Cincinnati, and Wilson indicated he's "not giving up football."
Wright's last major acting gig was a 15-episode run as Zeke in grown-ish, a spin-off TV sitcom of ABC's black-ish. Safe to say if you're leaving the NFL film room for a film set, you've probably gotten a pretty big break!
I've scoured Wright's IMDb and IMDb Pro. There's no indication as to what film he's just signed on for. An announcement should be coming any day now. One thing I will say: Wright's IMDb Star-O-Meter skyrocketed from the 236,000 range to 4,407 within the last week. This tracks how often Wright's page is searched and visited within the industry.
In other words, we've got a potential Hollywood star on our hands, Who Dey Heads!
Ceyair serves as an inspiration to those who dream big (or want to)
Believe it or not, I myself am in the process of pursuing acting. This is a dope day job, don't get me wrong, but Ceyair Wright is kind of living my dream. My last audition was for a new Netflix show, and so as not to jinx it, I don't want to say which actor I'm playing opposite of. Suffice it to say, it'd be an absolutely mind-blowing little stint on set.
I got a callback not long ago for an NBA 2K27 commercial where I would've costarred with an unspecified 7-foot superstar (not Victor Wembanyama, I asked). Thisclose, y'all.
Most of my auditions are for commercials, TV shows, and voiceovers. We're close to something big! But not there yet. Not at all trying to overplay my hand or pretend like I've ever, you know, shared the screen with LeBron James or anything like that like Wright has.
It's just neat to see Wright live his best life and, at 23 years young, have the talent to hold his own on a major movie set and be athletically gifted enough to have a shot at playing in the NFL.
I'm inspired. I hope others are inspired by Wright's story, too. He's proof that you can chase down more than one massive dream in your life.
Obviously, Wright has uncommon athleticism and got into acting from a very young age, which has helped him in his ambitious pursuits. You still have to give him credit for making all that happen, though. When it comes down to it, Wright has to deliver the goods in an audition to book a role, and he has nowhere to hide when the game tape is playing.
One clear common thread between football and acting in a movie: The film doesn't lie.
We've seen NFL stars make the transition from the gridiron to Hollywood with varying degrees of success. For some reason, Brett Favre in There's Something About Mary springs to mind first. Now I can't stop laughing.
Wright is a totally different sort of story. He didn't have clout as an athlete that he used as leverage to score movie roles. He has bicoastal representation and already was on that path as a kid. It just so happened that he's great at football, too!
All the best to Ceyair Wright. Would love to know what he's shooting for. From the sounds of it, we'll all find out together soon enough.
Until then, we'll await Wright's return to the practice squad. Don't forget about us, Ceyair!
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