100% of Seahawks snaps, at age 33. Bobby Wagner, how much longer do you want to play?
Bobby Wagner is 33. He’s playing like he’s 23.
That is, all the time.
In his 12th NFL season, his return one to the Seahawks after they sent him away for a year to the Rams, the six-time All-Pro middle linebacker isn’t coming off the field. He has played 100% of Seattle’s defensive snaps in seven of its nine games. The only exceptions have been when he took the last series off at the end of two blowouts: the team’s 21-point win at the New York Giants Oct. 2 and 34-point loss at Baltimore Nov. 5.
He became Seattle’s full-time starter and played 100% of its defensive snaps for the first time as a rookie in week four of the 2012 season. That was against a team that doesn’t exist anymore (the St. Louis Rams). Since then, he’s played all his team’s snaps on defense in 90% of games over a dozen years. The other 10% of the time he hasn’t played has been because he exited at the end of blowouts. The only exceptions: when injuries sidelined him for parts of 2013, ‘14, ‘15, ‘17 and 21.
He’s devoted to hot yoga. He’s dedicated to eating wisely — maybe one slice of pizza, but only one. His rehabilitation and recovery work begins at the team facility at 5 a.m., including the morning after games.
How much more of a challenge is that recovery to play 100% of snaps again and again, at 33, than it was at 23?
“It’s kinda funny. I feel I get that question a lot,” he said Wednesday, before he headed out to practice for Sunday’s game between the Seahawks (6-3) and Rams (3-6) in Inglewood, California. “I would say I feel the same, but the process is different.
“Like, when I was a rookie I felt I could eat whatever I wanted. I could eat pizza. I could eat junk food. I could eat candy...and be fine the next day. Now that I’m older, I really can’t eat those things. The attention to detail when it comes to the diet and the water and the stretching, all that stuff became important later on in my career. And I’ve put more focus on that.
“That’s what’s helped me keep it the way it is today.”
A better question: How much longer can he do this?
How Bobby Wagner sees his future
The Seahawks signed Wagner back this spring, but for only one year. His contract ends when this season does. He represents himself, without an agent.
So in the coming months coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider are going to have frank conversations directly to Wagner about where — or if — they see him and the middle of their defense for 2024.
Jordyn Brooks, the team’s former first-round pick who’s now 26, has experience starting for Seattle in Wagner’s job, last season. He moved back to weakside linebacker when Wagner returned this spring. Brooks’ rookie contract ends after this season.
The Seahawks’ truest middle linebacker behind Wagner is his backup, Jon Rhattigan, 24. Rhattigan’s contract also ends after this season.
How many more years does Wagner believe he can play?
“I mean, I can do anything I put my mind to, to be honest,” he said.
Wagner is a huge NBA fan of his home region Los Angeles Lakers and of 38-year-old LeBron James.
“I watch LeBron and what he’s doing 21 years into the league, I feel like anything’s possible,” Wagner said.
“It more of a want-type thing.”
Wagner then thought of 41-year-old Seahawks teammate Jason Peters. Wagner reiterated what he said last week.
“At 41, I’m not (playing),” he said Wednesday.
So he says it’s a “want-type thing.” Then: How much longer does Wagner envision he will want to play before retiring?
“I don’t know. I’m taking it year by year. My body feels amazing,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s a lot that goes into every season. I understand teams have visions and things like that.
“So I’m not really looking too far. Just being here in the moment.”
Bobby Wagner’s season
Carroll says this Seahawks defense caters best to Wagner. It has more varied fronts with outside linebackers more as pass rushers and Wagner often responsible for more of the field behind them than the 4-3 scheme Wagner led his first 10 seasons with Seattle.
The result: With five tackles at the Rams Sunday, Wagner will have 100 tackles for the 12th consecutive season. Only two others in NFL history have done that: London Fletcher (14 seasons) and Hall of Famer linebacker Derrick Brooks (12).
Early in his Seahawks career Wagner called Fletcher, the former Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowl selection over his career with the Rams, Buffalo and Washington, for advice on how to play middle linebacker. (That obviously worked). Wagner reconnected with Fletcher last weekend on the field before the Seahawks hosted Washington. Fletcher is one of the Commanders’ radio broadcast analysts.
His fifth tackle Sunday will put Wagner in the company of Fletcher, Hall of Famer Ray Lewis (13) and Brooks as the only NFL players with at least 12 seasons with 100 tackles. And odds are, Wagner is going to have far more than five stops against the Rams. He has the most games with at least 10 tackles in the NFL since 2012, 75. The next closest has 48, Tampa Bay’s Lavonte David. Since 1999, only Fletcher has had more double-digit tackle games (81) than Wagner.
Wagner’s 1,476 tackles for Seattle are 500 more than the second-most in Seahawks history, by Eugene Robinson from 1985-95. By unofficial stats compiled by teams, Wagner has the seventh-most stops in NFL history (1,616). He’s behind only Lewis, Fletcher, Junior Seau, Jesse Tuggle, Zach Thomas and Brooks.
He’s averaging 9 1/2 tackles per game this season. He averaged 8.2 stops per game last season for the Rams. In fact, Wagner has only three seasons in his career with a better average in tackles per game than he’s having this season.
Wagner has five games with at least 10 tackles this season. That includes 17 against the Giants last month. He also has 2 1/2 sacks on blitzes, a fumble recovery and three passes defensed.
“The way we play him and the demands of the position really suit him well. (It’s) the best we’ve ever done for him,” Carroll said. “We’re trying to maximize everything that he brings. He’s tackling well, really solid tackler, his pass coverage stuff and his own stuff has really been nice. He’s doing great. Not to even mention all of the other things that he brings; it’s the leadership, the direction, the toughness and all of that stuff.”
It’s not as if Wagner told Carroll and the Seahawks last spring he was playing all the snaps on defense or he wasn’t signing. Wagner’s play, his leadership and his savvy figuring out offenses have dictated the Seahawks can’t afford to take him off the field.
“I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out,” Carroll said.
“We needed to just see. We’re past halfway and he’s played almost every play so far, more power to him. We were behind two weeks ago, I was getting him out of the game and he’s fighting me. He wants to stay out there. That’s exactly what I would expect. And I have no problem with that.”
Wagner said playing every snap wasn’t necessarily his plan when he signed back with the Seahawks.
It’s just become the reality. Again.
“I just was kind of letting things play out how they were going to play out,” he said. “I was coming back to somewhat of a new situation (Carroll’s defensive scheme changed last year). I felt I just wanted to prove I could play at a high level, and that’s all I could control. I wasn’t coming back and making demands or anything like that.
“I just wanted to come back and be myself, be the best version of myself. And if that meant me playing every snap, that’s me playing every snap.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2023 at 3:48 PM.
