Bobby Wagner

At 33 years old, Bobby Wagner has this physical status:

High school career

Wagner attended Colony High School in Ontario, California, where he played high school football for the Titans. He recorded 125 tackles (92 solo, 33 assists), with four sacks as a senior. He also played tight end, with 37 catches for 595 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was named in all-CIF Central Division as well as all-Mount Baldy League awards. He received second-team California Division 2 all-state honors for his efforts to lead the Titans to a CIF division championship and was named to the All-San Bernardino County team.

Wagner's only request came from Utah State, which he accepted as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com.

College career

Wagner attended Utah State University from 2008 to 2011. During his career, he was a four-year starter with 445 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and four interceptions. After a career of 147 tackles, four sacks, and two interceptions, Wagner was the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2011.

Professional career

Wagner had accepted his invitation to play in the 2012 Senior Bowl on January 14, 2012. In 2004, he became the first Utah State player to play in the game since Chris Cooley. Wagner, Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier's North team, defeated the South 23-13 on January 28, 2012, had 22 combined tackles and an intercept. He was named the Senior Bowl MVP and was also named the North's Most Valuable Player. Wagner received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine but was unable to attend due to his illness. After completing all of the combine drills, Wagner attended Utah State's pro day and impressed scouts and team leaders. He demonstrated his versatility and athleticism throughout his workouts and helped to solidify himself as a top linebacker. His 40-yard dash and broad jump would have ranked first among all linebackers in the NFL combine, and his vertical would tie with Cal's Mychal Kendricks for first. His broad jump was five inches better than any linebacker at the combine, and he would have ranked third among all positions. Wagner was expected to be a second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts at the conclusion of the pre-draft process. NFLDraftScout.com ranked him as the fourth best outside linebacker in the draft.

In the second round (47th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks selected Wagner. He is Utah State's 11th highest draft pick and the first since Rulon Jones in 1980. In the fourth round, the Seattle Seahawks also drafted Utah State teammate Robert Turbin.

Wagner was signed by the Seattle Seahawks to a four-year, $4.30 million deal with $2.51 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.57 million.

Wagner debuted in training camp against Barrett Ruud and Matt McCoy, who were competing for the vacant starting middle linebacker position. Despite Ruud's efforts to replace David Hawthorne, an injury ruled him out during scheduled team meetings, giving Wagner valuable time with the first team defense. Wagner, along with outside linebackers K. J. Wright and Leroy Hill, were among head coach Pete Carroll's favorites to start the regular season.

During the Seattle Seahawks' season-opener against the Arizona Cardinals, he made his first career appearance and first appearance in the Seattle Seahawks' season-opener. In Week 5, Wagner had five combined tackles and made his first sacking of Cam Newton, the Seahawks' 16-12 victory. In a 24–23 victory over the New England Patriots, he had a season-high 14 combined tackles. During a 24-21 loss, Wagner recorded nine combined tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted his first career pass off Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill. In a 58–0 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, he collected eight combined tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted two passes off of John Skelton on December 9, 2012. Wagner's rookie season featured 140 combined tackles (87 solo), four pass deflections, and three interceptions. In 16 games and 15 starts, there have been two sacks. Pro Football Focus named him as the second best inside linebacker in 2012 and the best rookie linebacker of the season.

With an 11–5 record and a playoff berth, the Seattle Seahawks finished second in the NFC West and landed their second playoff berth. During a 24-14 victory over the Washington Redskins in the NFC Wild Card Round on January 6, 2013, Wagner played in his first career playoff game and collected nine combined tackles. In the Divisional Round, the Atlanta Falcons defeated them.

Under new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Wagner remained the starting middle linebacker for the 2013 regular season. The Seahawks defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle's former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley 45–17, who became the Jaguars head coach in 2013. He had nine combined tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted Chad Henne on September 22, 2013, on September 22, 2013. After suffering a high ankle sprain, Wagner missed his first two games of his career (Weeks 6–7). During a 27-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wagner had 11 combined tackles and was credited with 1.5 sacks on Mike Glennon. During a 27-9 victory over the St. Louis Rams on December 29, 2013, he had a season-high 12 combined tackles. In 14 games and 14 starts, he had 120 combined tackles (72 solo), seven pass deflections, five punts, and two interceptions. Regardless of rank, Pro Football Focus named Wagner as the 61st best player in the league in 2013.

With a 13–3 record, the Seattle Seahawks ended the season undefeated in their division. During a 23–17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on January 19, 2014, Wagner took the NFC Championship for the first time and recorded 15 combined tackles. As the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-08 and won Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, Wagner played in his first Super Bowl and made ten combined tackles.

In 2014, Wagner, K. J. Wright, and Bruce Irvin were among the starting linebacker corps. During a 36-16 victory on Thursday Night Football, Wagner began the Seattle Seahawks' season-opener against the Green Bay Packers, totaling 14 tackles for the season's first 14 games. Since suffering turf injury, he missed five games (Weeks 7-11). During a 17-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on December 14, 2014, Wagner played his fourth game with at least ten combined tackles and fired Colin Kaepernick. Wagner had 104 total tackles (67 solo), nine tackles for a loss, three pass deflections, and two sacks in 11 games and 11 starts in 2014. Despite missing 5 games, he was selected into his first Pro Bowl and was named First Team All-Pro. For the third straight season in a row, the Seattle Seahawks' defense came in first in points allowed, making Wagner a key starter on the top defense each year of his career so far. Tony Dungy was named as the Seahawks' top MVP for his season of play, largely due to Wagner's giving 20.4 points per game without him and 6.5 points per game in the six games after he returned from an injury.

After defeating the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round and then the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship on February 1, 2015, the Seattle Seahawks participated in Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015. In the Seahawks' 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots, Wagner had 12 combined tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted Tom Brady's pass attempt. For the first time in his career, Wagner made the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014. He earned enough votes from his NFL colleagues to finish 69th in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014.

Wagner was signed by the Seattle Seahawks to a four-year, $43 million contract extension, which includes $19.97 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $8 million.

Under new defensive coordinator Kris Richard, Irvin, Wright, and Wagner remained the starters under new defensive coordinator Kris Richard. During a 27-24 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on October 11, 2015, Wagner combined tackles, a pass deflection, and a fumble revival. Michael Bennett, the Bengals' running back, was forced to fumble in the third quarter, which Wagner recovered and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. Wagner was unable to participate in the Seahawks' Week 6 loss to the Carolina Panthers due to a pectoral strain. Wagner missed 11 combined tackles, deflected a pass, recovered a fumble, and scored his second touchdown of the season as the Seahawks lost to the Arizona Cardinals 39–32. K. J. Wright sacked quarterback Carson Palmer for a nine-yard loss and jarred the ball loose, resulting in a fumble. Wagner recovered the ball and returned it for a 22-yard touchdown. In Seattle's 39–30 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 29, 2015, he tied his season-high of 12 combined tackles and deflected a pass.

He finished the 2015 season with 114 combined tackles (67 solo) and seven pass deflections, and was credited with only half a sack in 15 games and 15 starts. This was his first and only season without a single sack. Wagner finished second on the team in tackles, two behind leader K. J. Wright. He was selected to the 2016 Pro Bowl and was named to the Associated Press All-Pro second team. In 2015, Pro Football Focus named Wagner as the 30th best linebacker. Bruce Irvin was ranked sixth best linebacker by PFF, while K. J. Wright was ranked 15th in his teammate's rankings. Wagner did not make the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015 and said on Twitter it was disrespectful.

With a 10–6 record, the Seattle Seahawks finished second in the NFC West, finishing second in the NFC West. In the NFC Wild Card Round, the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Minnesota Vikings 10–9, and then lost 31–24 to the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round, with 13 combined tackles. Wagner played in his first Pro Bowl game and added ten combined tackles to help Team Irvin beat Team Rice 49-27 to win the 2016 Pro Bowl.

Following Bruce Irvin's release from his free agency to the Oakland Raiders, Wagner and Wright returned to their respective starting positions in 2016.

During a 37-18 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Wagner recorded six combined, two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Blaine Gabbert. In Seattle's 31-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills, Wagner had a career-high 16 combined tackles. He set the single-season franchise record in combined tackles against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 16 after defeating Terry Beeson's record of 153 tackles. In a 25–23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on January 1, 2017, Wright had 12 combined tackles, a pass deflection, and fired Colin Kaepernick twice. Wagner played in 16 games and 16 starts during his third season as the Seahawks' top tackler. He was also in charge of tackles in the NFL for his third straight Pro Bowl appearance and was named First-Team All-Pro. The Seahawks won the NFC West after finishing 10–5-1. In the Wild Card Round against the Detroit Lions, he had ten total tackles in the 26–6 victory. He had eight combined tackles against the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round loss. He was ranked 39th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017. Wagner earned a final grade of 90.8 in 2016, finishing third among linebackers behind Jerrell Freeman (93.9) and Luke Kuechly (93.1).

During a 12–9 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on September 17, 2017, he had seven combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first interception of the season. Wagner's season-high 12 combined tackles, deflected a pass, and suspended Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins for his first safety of his career in the Seahawks' 17–14 loss on November 5, 2017. He ended the 2017 season with 133 combined tackles (97 solo), six pass deflections, two interceptions, 1.5 sacks, and a safety in 16 games and 16 starts. Wagner was named to his fourth straight Pro Bowl on December 19, 2017. The Seattle Seahawks finished second in the NFC West with a 9–7 record, but for the first time during Wagner's tenure with the organization, they did not qualify for the playoffs for the first time. Wagner received an overall rating of 96.7, the highest grade among all linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus. He was ranked No. 1 in the world of No. 1. 21 by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

Wagner was the recipient of the 2017 Steve Largent Award, which is given to the team contributor best exemplifying the spirit, dedication, and integrity of former Seahawk wide receiver Steve Largent.

In a 43–16 home victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Wagner compiled 12 combined tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 takeaways near the goal line on December 2. Jeffery Wilson's fumble was recovered at the Seahawk 5-yard line in the second quarter and returned it 11 yards to the 14 yard line for his first takeaway. He intercepted a pass from Nick Mullens at the 2-yard line and ran it back 98 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, his first career pick six, setting a new Seahawk franchise record for longest play. Wagner was a member of several key third and fourth down stops against the Minnesota Vikings on December 10, as well as blocking a field goal by kicker Dan Bailey. The block was tense, with the NFL eventually determining he should have been suspended for a foul after using his teammates for leverage. Wagner and colleague Michael Dickson were voted first-team All Pro along with teammate Michael Dickson. The Seattle Seahawks finished second in the NFC West and made the playoffs as the No. 2 in the NFC West and the No. 1. 5-seed. He had five total tackles against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round.

Wagner signed a three-year, $54 million deal extension with the Seahawks through the 2022 season, making him the highest-paid middle linebacker in the league. Wagner played a team high 18 tackles against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 of the 33-27 loss. In Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens, Wagner had a team-high 13 tackles. Wagner was fired on Matt Schaub in Week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons and recovered a fumble from Devonta Freeman in a 27-20 victory. Wagner had a team high 11 tackles and sacked Jameis Winston once in Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who beat them 40-34. Wagner made his first interception of the season in Week 15 over the Carolina Panthers, after winning by Kyle Allen during the 30-24 victory. During the 27-13 loss, Wagner sacked Kyler Murray for a team high 13 tackles and sacked him once.

During the 37–27 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Wagner had a team high 11 tackles and fired Jimmy Garoppolo twice. Wagner was named National Defensive Player of the Week by the NFC on Tuesday, November 4, 2020, for his appearance in Week 8.

Wagner led the team in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams with 16 tackles (11 solo) and sacked John Wolford once during the 30–20 loss.

Wagner was voted second-team All Pro in the 2021 season, snaping his five-season streak of first-team All Pro picks.

Wagner was cut after ten seasons with the Seahawks on March 9, 2022.

On March 31, 2022, Wagner signed a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams worth up to $65 million.

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