USF running back Nay'Quan Wright said he knows his life has a purpose. That realization began 12 years ago when he was nearly killed by a stray bullet.
Nearly.
Wright was 11 years old, practicing with the Miami Gardens Cowboys youth football team at Bunche Park, when a dozen drive-by gunshots rang out. "Get down! Get down!'' coaches yelled to the players. Wright hit the ground, but a bullet ricocheted off the sidewalk and through his right shoulder.
While Wright was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, someone called Wright's mother in the confusing haste and said her son was dead.