Wright prepared for Hurricane Milton, then the Seahawks as the 49ers' new kicker

SEATTLE (AP) — It's been a hectic week for Matthew Wright. Even for an emergency kicker.

Wright signed with the 49ers on Tuesday after San Francisco lost starter Jake Moody to a sprained ankle in last week's loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He then went 3-for-3 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points in the 49ers' 36-24 win at Seattle on Thursday night.

“I kind of tell myself, 'You've done it a million times, but don't think about it too much,'” Wright said.

It is not the first time that Wright has been called up for a new team at short notice. But this time he had to face a different challenge at the start of the week.

The fifth-year kicker, who has now played for five NFL teams, lives in Tampa, Florida, and when he got the call from his agent that the 49ers were interested, he was busy packing up before Hurricane Milton arrived.

Instead of evacuating with his wife, Kelsey — and nearly everyone else in their neighborhood — Wright ended up leaving Florida a day early. First he flew to the Bay Area and then he traveled with the team to Seattle.

Milton, which made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday evening, killed at least eight people and knocked out power for more than 3 million.

Wright said things “didn't get too bad” in his area, adding that his wife returned from Orlando on Thursday to take stock of the damage and begin repairs.

“The floors got wet,” he said. “We’re going to need some new flooring. But it’s not the worst.”

Wright previously had stints with Pittsburgh (twice), Jacksonville, Kansas City and Carolina. He had a lot of practice coming into a new locker room, getting used to a new special teams team and getting on the field quickly.

“Just try to go out and do what I do,” he said. “Try not to think too much and let my training show on the field.”

Wright opened the scoring Thursday night with a 25-yard kick in the first quarter. He converted from 41 yards and 35 yards in the second half.

He even added a tackle on his final kickoff of the night, throwing Dee Williams out of bounds in the final minutes of the fourth quarter – his first tackle since November 28, 2022. He grimaced as he left the field, but it worked him good. Then changing room.

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