Bobby Wagner ‘humbled.’ Not just by his Seahawks all-time tackles mark, but his seniority
Bobby Wagner is, in his word, “humbled.”
Not just by the Seahawks’ franchise record he now owns for most tackles in a career.
“I hope that number continues to grow as I play here,” the All-Pro linebacker said after his six tackles—plus one sack on a middle blitz—helped Seattle (6-2) beat Atlanta 27-20 on Sunday.
That leaves him with 991 tackles in 7 1/2 NFL seasons, all for Seattle, heading into this weekend’s home game against Tampa Bay (2-5).
“I want to be able to play here for a long time,” he said. “It’s an honor to be able to pass the guys that came before us. I’m thankful for my teammates who helped me, all the D-line.”
Wagner, 29, thanked a 34-year-old former Seahawks defensive tackle for, uh, helping get his career started seven years ago.
“It started with Brandon Mebane talking a lot of trash,” Wagner said, smiling. “He helped me get my first tackle, so I appreciate him.
“Yeah, I’m just humbled.”
Humbled most by coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider drafting him in the second round in 2012 as a middle linebacker out of Utah State supposedly too short to play in the NFL. And then those franchise direction-setters making him the league’s highest-paid inside linebacker. Carroll and Schneider did that not once but twice: in 2015 for his second contract, and again this summer when they gave him $54 million over three years.
Five Pro Bowls, three All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl title later, Wagner is more than the best tackler the Seahawks have ever had.
He and Russell Wilson are the pillars of the franchise into the 2020s.
“I put a lot of value into it. When you are in a business where it’s cut-throat, it’s cool to be able to play with one organization you’re whole career,” Wagner said. “I’ve watched guys like Ray Lewis (all with Baltimore), Brian Urlacher (all with Chicago) and those guys play their careers out with one team.
“It’s a little harder, I think, nowadays because of the way contracts are set up, the way the league is (with unrestricted free agency) to play with one team.
“I’ve still got a long ways to go. I think it’s something that you should be proud of when you are able to accomplish it.”
Asked if he believes he is as good as he’s ever been, Wagner smiled.
“I would like to think so,” he said. “I would like to think so.”
Wagner did more than make six tackles against the Falcons.
His sack pushed the Falcons back from the Seattle 21-yard line and forced them to settle for a field goal that left them behind 24-11 in the third quarter. It came on a middle blitz he’d like to do more of for Seattle’s defense. It’s been relying extraordinarily on its base, 4-3 scheme this season in lieu of a fifth, nickel defensive back against the extra wide-receiver formations rampant across the NFL. The Seahawks may need more of Wagner’s blitzing to help a front four that got two sacks Sunday of 38-year-old Matt Schaub, after one sack in the previous three games.
Wagner also showed why defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. may be hesitant to blitz his star middle linebacker: he’d lose his pass coverage. After Atlanta scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to cut what had been Seattle’s 24-0 lead to 27-17, the Falcons went for a two-point conversion to make it a one-score game. Schaub threw to tight end Austin Hooper running from right to left along the goal line. Wagner, running behind Hooper, reached his left arm, the one closer to the pass, across the tight end and knocked the pass away.
That kept the Seahawks up 27-17 and pretty much finished off any realistic Falcons’ hopes at an improbable comeback.
He also has had some un-Wagner-like moments this season. Sunday, Atlanta’s Brian Hill ran past him and safety Tedric Thompson on a 23-yard touchdown for the Falcons’ first score. Wagner also got taken out by two blockers on a 35-yard catch and run by Hooper on a screen pass the first play after halftime. That was the start of Seattle’s second-half swoon, which turned a 24-0 game into something of a scrap for Seattle against a 1-7 team.
Last week K.J. Wright, Wagner’s linebacker partner for the last eight years, said his best friend on the team was trying to tell him he didn’t know he was on the verge of breaking Eugene Robinson’s record for tackles as a Seahawk.
“I brought it up to him last week,” Wright said. “I was like, ‘Bro, you about to get that.’
“He acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
“I know he knew.”
Sunday, Wagner playfully disputed that.
“I didn’t know,” he insisted. “K.J. told me, and then told me I knew.
“I didn’t know. He came up to me and said, ‘You’re two away.’
“And I’m like, ‘From what? C’mon, bro. I don’t know what you are talking about.”
He does now.
Carroll made a point in his opening remarks during his postgame press conference in Atlanta to single out Wagner’s accomplishment.
“The fact that Bobby set an all-time record, I think, is really worth noting right off the top,” Carroll said.
“He’s got plenty of years left. I don’t know how anybody could ever break that record. I think he’s going to own that forever. That’s amazing that he’s there already.”
His only NFL coach said Wagner’s tackles mark is “just a tribute to the unbelievable player that he is and his discipline, his toughness, his work ethic, everything.
“That’s,” Carroll said, “an incredible number.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2019 at 8:29 AM.
