Ryan Dunleavy

Staff writer

PISCATAWAY – Tim Wright used to set up an impromptu barber shop in the Rutgers football locker room.

Now, three years into his NFL career, he is close to owning a real one on the school’s campus.

Back at his alma mater Wednesday as a spectator at Pro Day, Wright said that negotiations are underway for him to open a barber shop in Piscataway before the end of the NFL offseason.

“I definitely plan on doing that pretty soon,” said Wright, sporting a fresh haircut he gave to himself the night before. “It’s a spin-off to one of the things that I love to do.”

By Wright’s redshirt senior season in 2012, appointments were booked in advance for reasonably priced haircuts from the well-liked wide receiver.

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“I cut everybody,” Wright said. “I had coaches, players, training staff, equipment staff, everybody. Their kids as well.”

The Neptune native had a true barber’s chair – reportedly purchased by then-coach Kyle Flood – set up in the bathroom of the team locker room inside the Hale Center.

Even then, when the barber shop was just a dream, he had the name picked out: The Wright Cut.

“I cut over 300 people at Rutgers University, so why would I go anywhere else?” said Wright, who still lives in Monmouth County. “Why would I go to any other city? Here is where it’s at.”

Wright, 25, finished last season with the Detroit Lions but could be on the move for the fourth time in his young career during free agency. Originally signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Greg Schiano’s coaching tenure, he won Super Bowl XLIX with the New England Patriots.

“I think bouncing around is like a little story of my life,” Wright said. “There are a lot of aspects and a lot of layers in my life.

"Everywhere I’ve been has made me who I am today, made me the player I am, the professional I am, the business man I am today. I have no regrets over where I’ve been and what I’ve experienced and the relationships that I’ve developed.”

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While Schiano gave Wright his first chance in the NFL, he never gave him a chance as a barber at Rutgers or in the pros.

"The grind in camp was grueling," Wright said with a laugh. "He used to come up to me and be like, ‘Keep your clippers ready.’ But he had a guy before I got here."

One of Wright’s loyal customers at Rutgers, fullback Michael Burton, was a rookie with the Lions last season when Wright was acquired in a trade.

“I went to him one time, and after then I went to him the rest of the time he was at Rutgers,” Burton said. “After he left, I had to go back to my old spot, but when I found out he was coming to Detroit I was like, ‘Oh, I might be able to start getting my hair cut by him again!”

Wright’s passion for cutting hair was born out of a more traditional art form – a childhood interest in drawing.

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“The concept was a pencil and a piece of paper and I used to express my artistic ability,” Wright said. “There came a time where I had a lot more responsibility on my plate, so I figured out how can I still express myself on that side with a hobby that I love to do?

“I put down the pencil and picked up a pair of clippers. I put down the paper and grabbed a head and just started cutting away. It became 13 years of a career.”

In the long term, Wright sees "The Wright Cut" becoming more than a local small business. He envisions it becoming part of the community fabric aligned with the mission of his foundation.

The Wright Way Academy is designed to help underprivileged children intertwine the worlds of athletics, academics and quality of life.

“I just want to put down a place where everybody can actually enjoy the communion that we have, and the conversations, the learning experience, the mentorship," Wright said. "That’s everything that’s encompassed under my foundation. That’s what I want to do back in the community at Rutgers."

While Wright declined to disclose the exact location he is targeting, Burton pictures the shop being a big hit.

“He does a great job and it’s definitely his passion, so he’d definitely hire the right people,” Burton said. “You always ask football players: What do you want to do when you are done playing? He knows right off the top of his head. To bring it back to campus, I think it will be huge.”

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com