In the 2002 Oregon football media guide, under George Wrighster’s name, it says that the tight end “improved leaping ability with 28-inch vertical jump during off-season testing as well as lower-body strength, bettering squat best 60 lbs. to 405.”
Anybody who saw Wrighster leap over an unfortunate Mississippi State defender for a touchdown last week knows that the vertical-leap number might be slightly unforgiving.
“That figure is wrong,” Wrighster said. “My vertical is bigger than that. It’s, like, 30 (inches), I think.”
The junior from Van Nuys, Calif., needed every inch of that vertical leap to score his second touchdown of the contest on Saturday, and he’s needed every inch of his 6-foot-4, 249-pound frame to handle the full-time duties of being the starting tight end for the Ducks. But it’s a challenge faced head-on by Wrighster, who could become the best in a line of standout Oregon tight ends.
And if it hadn’t been for George Wrighster Sr., George Wrighster Jr. may never have made it to Eugene. Wrighster’s father got all over him after a call from an Oregon coach, who said he was going to send over some Duck information during Oregon’s recruiting period. Wrighster, a top prospect in the nation at that point, got the Ducks’ package but left it in his locker. His father pestered and pestered.
“I didn’t really care,” Wrighster said. “It was from Oregon, and I didn’t know anything about Oregon. They were never on television. The only thing I knew about them was that they played in the Rose Bowl against Penn State in ’94. My dad told me that if I didn’t bring that information home, he wasn’t going to let me drive.
“Then he took my car.”

That did it. Wrighster’s father read him the information, which prompted Wrighster to take his next recruiting trip to Oregon, where he bought into the Ducks’ team philosophy and was sold right away on the program. Still, with offers on the table from “everywhere,” as Wrighster put it, the tight end still needed a sign pointing north.
“I was sitting on the plane (back from the recruiting trip), and I prayed about it,” Wrighster said. “And I shook my head, and my mom said, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ because my mom and dad came on my trip. And I said, ‘I think I’m going to Oregon.’ And she said, ‘That’s what I think, too.’”
For Wrighster, it was a decision well made. After a year of turning heads on the scout team, he spent two seasons sharing time with Justin Peele, who now plays for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. The two tight ends still talk almost once a week, and Wrighster said he is trying to carry on Peele’s legacy as a tough tight end with sticky catching hands.
“Justin’s a great player — he works hard,” Wrighster said. “That’s all you can ask of guys, to give 100 percent. When you give 100 percent and have the talent to back it up, that’s how guys get far.”
Wrighster had enough talent to be a linebacker in high school, and a pretty good linebacker at that. He had 16 sacks, two interceptions and four forced fumbles as a senior. But the junior has never thought about going back to defense.
“I think it helped me out, because I knew what it took to beat me when I was playing,” Wrighster said. “I like playing offense better, though.”
Good thing, too. In his first game as the No. 1 tight end last week, Wrighster caught four passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns. The first touchdown came on a short four-yard strike from Jason Fife, but the second was all Wrighster. Fife faked a handoff and passed it 10 yards across his body to Wrighster on the left side of the field. The tight end rumbled 15 yards before meeting a Mississippi State defender, who went low for the tackle while Wrighster went high for the touchdown.
Wrighster’s obvious connection with Fife is thanks, in small part, to Peele’s example.
“Justin and Joey (Harrington) worked together. I saw them all three summers I was here, working out together to get that chemistry,” Wrighster said. “I did that with Fife and Kellen (Clemens) this summer, along with the other receivers. I catch balls before practice and after practice to improve my hands, because if you’re not trying to improve, then you’re moving backwards.”
Now, Wrighster hopes to move backwards in a different way — back to the Fiesta Bowl, which this year is the site of the national championship game.
To get there, he may need to pull out that vertical leap every now and then. The 30-inch vertical leap, of course.