Bobby Wagner has spent 14 seasons in the NFL preparing what should be an eventuality: The linebacker will be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. His gifts were numerous, including speed, power, and an elite ability to tackle.
But he might have done one thing better than anyone else in NFL history, and that is played with a straightforward determination in what needed to be done and how to accomplish it. Wagner wasn't just strong, but he was smart, too. That has carried him to success well past the time other players would have retired.
2025 hasn't been his best season in terms of coverage, however. He has given up a career-high three touchdowns and 12.4 yards per completion. This might imply he has lost a step. But he didn't play that way in Washington's brutal Week 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Washington didn't have a lot to be happy about, but Wagner was still a bright spot.
Commanders reporter says everything Seattle Seahawks fans will always believe about Bobby Wagner
Commanders reporter Dean Jones said as much postgame. One of his two winners for Washington in the game was Wagner, but for a reason Seahawks fans will be extremely familiar with: Bobby Wagner doesn't quit even when everything seems lost.
Jones wrote, "Even so, the performance of veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner was a shining light amid the gloom. Age might be catching up to the future first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he's not going down without a fight...If others had played even close to Wagner's level, the Commanders might have salvaged something from the contest."
Even during the relatively down years for the Seahawks in the late 2010s to 2021, Wagner was a stalwart on the defense and a fantastic leader in the locker room. He played with poised aggression, but did so with class. Rarely has he been one to speak in anger when he didn't have a real right to be angry.
The best days of Wagner are gone, though he hasn't failed to be named to the Associated Press first- or second-team All-Pro teams since 2013. His numbers overall are good again in 2025, some even matching the best of his career. But he has also been guilty by association with a terrible Washington defense.
While he is extremely unlikely to ever return to the Seattle Seahawks as a player, if he decides to retire after this season at age 35, maybe he could sign a one-day deal to go out the right way. That is as a member of the team that drafted him, he won a Super Bowl with, and where he spent the majority of his career.