William Michael Wright, who graduated last month from Hereford High School where he was a star varsity football player, was killed Saturday in an automobile accident on Interstate 83. The Hereford resident was 18.
Mr. Wright was driving north on I-83 when his 1987 Chevy Blazer left the road, hit an embankment and overturned. He was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
Born in Columbia and raised in Hereford, he began playing football as a youngster for the Hereford Recreation Council.
At Hereford High, he had played fullback on the junior varsity and varsity teams.
Mr. Wright, at 5 feet 10 inches and 230 pounds, was a formidable presence on the football field.
Steve Turnbaugh, football coach at Hereford since 1994, recalled him as a consistent and hard-working player, who came into his own his junior year.
"When one of our fullbacks got injured during his junior year, Bill stepped right in, and that's why we won the first round of the playoffs," said Mr. Turnbaugh. "During his senior year, he was our second-leading scorer and rusher."
Mr. Turnbaugh described him as a "fantastic player. He was an extraordinarily strong yet quiet kid who worked hard at football and never let it bother him if other kids got more glory. He was always up to the challenge and had fun when he was in there."
He recalled Mr. Wright's unusual running style that amused his fellow players and fans.
"His feet never left the ground when he ran, and he was constantly being teased about it. He used to say, `That's all right, I don't have far to go if I get knocked over,'" said Mr. Turnbaugh.
"His death is a tragedy. His whole life was ahead of him, and now it's been cut short," he said.
To honor Mr. Wright, the Hereford High team will wear a memorial decal on its football helmets during the coming season.
"It will be a decal with `BW' and they'll wear them on the backs of their helmets. ... It was something they wanted to do," said Mr. Turnbaugh.
Mr. Wright worked in the meat department at Graul's Market on Mount Carmel Road, where he was an apprentice meat-cutter.
"He was a workaholic who began working at Graul's when he was 14," said his father, Edward J. Wright Jr. of Hereford.
"I had hired him as a cart boy," said Ken Bullen, manager of the popular north Baltimore County market. "He was a nice kid who was very popular with the customers and well-known throughout the store. Everybody is upset about what has happened."
"He was a well-mannered kid, who was very popular," said his father, who is president of the Long Green Volunteer Fire Co., where his son volunteered at fund-raising dinners. "He was the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back."
Mr. Wright was a communicant of Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church in Parkton, where a Mass of Christian burial was offered yesterday .
He also is survived by his mother, Theresa Ann Wright, two brothers, Edward J. Wright III and James Wright, and a sister, April Wright, all of Hereford; his paternal grandparents, Edward J. Wright Sr. and Ruth Wright of Baltimore; and his maternal grandmother, Estelle Fromm of Baltimore.
