Les Snead suspected it was a scam.
The text message that pinged the Rams general manager’s phone in March aroused his interest. But was it genuine?
Bobby Wagner, the sender claimed. Wagner, a six-time All-Pro linebacker who was recently released by the Seattle Seahawks, told Snead that he was acting as his own agent in his quest for a new team. Here was Snead’s contact information if he was interested.
“I think he signed off as Bwagz,” he added, “and I’m like, ‘OK, is this real?'”
Snead wasn’t the only one. Wagner delivered the message to general managers and executives across the NFL.
“Everyone thought it was a hoax,” Wagner explained.
Snead and the Rams brass done their homework: it was Wagner.
And, while Wagner did not initially fit into their plans, either on the field or monetarily, the defending Super Bowl winners gladly made place for a Southland native who won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks and may be on his way to the Hall of Fame.
Wagner, 32, ingratiated himself with players and coaches en a quiet and deliberate manner. He was elected team captain.
“It says what we all probably know from just being around him,” said coach Sean McVay. “Even though it is his first year, he’s earned that respect throughout the course of his career.”
Wagner’s initial integration with the Rams is complete. Wagner is now determined to help the team become the first in nearly two decades to repeat as Super Bowl winner… while demonstrating that he still has plenty to offer.
“I’m hungry to prove that there’s still something out there for me to do,” he said, “and prove that I’m still the best of the best.
Wagner was raised in the Inland Empire and helped Ontario Colony High win two Southern Section championships, but he received little interest from major college schools.
Wagner remembers meeting Pete Carroll, then-coach of USC. He was attempting to recruit a teammate, defensive back Omar Bolden. The Trojans did not appear to require another linebacker.
“Pete didn’t say it to me, but he was like, ‘He’s too small,'” Wagner told me.
The only school that provided a scholarship was Utah State. Wagner pondered attending Mt. San Antonio College before accepting the Aggies’ offer.
When Bobby holds the mic, people want to listen. And when people want to listen, you get different results.”
— Raheem Morris, Rams defensive coordinator, on Bobby Wagner
“My mom gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten,” he said. “ ‘If you’re good at something, they’ll find you.’ ”
Wagner also got some sage advice from Donald Penn, a former Utah State player and veteran NFL offensive lineman. At a Utah State spring game, Wagner asked the visiting Penn what he could do to increase his NFL stock. Penn told him that while dominating Western Athletic Conference opponents was important, doing it against marquee programs was his ticket.
“I told him, ‘Have an extra weight on your shoulder when you play the big schools,’ ” Penn said. “Scouts want to see small-school kids going against big-name schools to make sure they can hold their own against these SECs, these great schools.”
Utah State opened Wagner’s senior season against Auburn. He had 10 tackles in a 42-38 defeat. “That’s when it really kind of blew up,” Wagner said. “That put me on the map.”
Wagner, however, contracted pneumonia while training for the NFL scouting combine. He watched the event on television from his hospital room. He missed Utah State’s pro day workout, so an individual workout was scheduled.
Snead was a rookie general manager in 2012, and the Rams had three second-round draft picks. After using the first two he traded down, believing that Wagner still would be available at No. 50. But the Seahawks drafted Wagner with the 47th pick.
Snead now abides by his so-called “Bobby Wagner Rule,” which ostensibly means if you’re going to lose sleep over not drafting a player, make sure you select him.
After the draft, when Wagner first spoke with Carroll, he let the coach know he remembered their initial meeting.
“I guess I’m not too small anymore,” Wagner said. “I guess I’m good enough now.’”
As a 10-year veteran and eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Wagner commanded instant respect when he joined the Rams. That was not the case when the Seahawks made him their defensive signal caller as a 22-year-old rookie.
“You test everybody,” said Brandon Mebane, a former Seahawks defensive lineman who played 13 NFL seasons. “Because there’s going to be times during a game when you want to see how they perform when it comes to a stressful point.”
The veterans tried to provoke Wagner after every play. They focused on Wagner’s neck, or the seeming lack of same.
“They’re just like, ‘Who is this guy?’ ” Wagner said. “I tried to call a play and they started talking about my neck. Like, ‘You don’t have no neck. There’s no way he can call the huddle — he doesn’t have no neck. We want a linebacker with a neck.’ ”
Wagner eventually took cornerback Richard Sherman’s advice. “Shut the hell up,” he told the linemen. “After that, it was ‘OK, he’s got what it takes,’ ” Wagner said.
Wagner went on to help anchor defenses of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” era that rank among the best and most intimidating units in NFL history. The group included Sherman and cornerbacks Brandon Browner, Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond and safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas.
Linebackers K.J. Wright, Bruce Irvin and Malcolm Smith and linemen such as Mebane, Chris Clemons, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Frank Clark were other standouts.
“Everybody wanted to be the best in the league at your position,” Wagner said. “If you didn’t want to be the best at your position you stood out and you didn’t fit in and you didn’t last.”
Wagner was in the middle of it.
“There were a lot of alpha males on that defense, but there are different kinds of alpha males,” Sherman, a three-time All-Pro who now works as an NFL pundit for Amazon Prime Video, said. “It takes a stronger person with humility to know who they are and to be comfortable saying, ‘I’m an elite player, but I don’t need to say anything… I don’t need people talking about me.'” [Wagner] is most likely the league’s quietest All-Pro.”
Wagner was surprised when the Seahawks released him in March, the same day the team traded quarterback Russell Wilson. Carroll and general manager John Schneider then publicly apologized for failing to warn such a revered athlete.
Wagner initially was upset. But he claims to not “hold any animosity” and said he appreciates all that Schneider, Carroll, former owner Paul Allen and current owner Jody Allen did for him.
Carroll declined an interview request for this story. He said he wished Wagner the best.
“I love Bobby Wagner,” Carroll wrote in a text. “We’ll always be connected.”
Wagner is not the only NFL player to serve as his own agent.
Sherman and former Seahawks offensive lineman Russell Okung did so before him. Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson are among others.
Wagner said he’ll never forget a presentation at an NFL rookie symposium that demonstrated the majority of players were broke two years after their careers ended. He read books and the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, interned at Microsoft and a venture capital firm, and interviewed business owners and executives about negotiating strategies.
Wagner was represented by agents during his first two contracts with the Seahawks, but he represented himself in 2019.
“I felt like I was ready and thought, ‘You know what, I’m going to take a chance,'” he told me. “The worst-case scenario is that I don’t do as well as I could.” The best case scenario is that I do a good job. Regardless, I am learning.”
Wagner negotiated a three-year, $54 million contract with over $40 million in guarantees.
“I want to go into business after football and I felt like I wanted to make sure I eliminated any reason why I wouldn’t be a fit for business,” he told reporters. “And so, doing a contract is one, especially doing an NFL contract because it’s so complex.”
Following Von Miller’s decision to take a big contract with the Buffalo Bills, the Rams signed receiver Allen Robinson. The Rams, like the rest of the NFL, had not expected Wagner to be available to add to a defense that already boasted future Hall of Famers defensive end Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
For Snead and Rams Vice President Tony Pastoors, it was the first time dealing directly with a player representing himself.
“I remember joking with Tony, ‘OK, Tony, there you go. Here’s Bobby Wagner. I’m going to leave now. Good luck to you. Hope you don’t piss him off,’ ” Snead said.
According to overthecap.com, the Rams and Wagner agreed on a five-year, $50-million deal that includes $20 million in guarantees and gives Wagner the right to void the final three years of the deal.
Wagner was knowledgeable and prepared, Pastoors said, not just for the negotiation but for a career on the business side of football after he is done playing.
“He’s pretty much ready to do that right now,” Pastoors said.
Donovan English, a senior receiver for the Colony High football team, and Jerry Guillen, a senior fullback and defensive end, are both aspiring businessmen, so they were thrilled to be chosen to participate in a tour of Silicon Valley companies, an event conceived by Wagner and funded by the NFL veteran.
He gave us an opportunity to learn and really just go out and take more things in to see it’s not just football,” English said. “There’s life after.”
Said Guillen: “He would just make side notes on how he got into that specific enterprise. … And he was learning along [with us].”
Wagner was influenced by his internships at Microsoft and other organizations.
“Where I grew up, we weren’t exposed to that,” he told me. “I had no idea about venture capital.” I have no idea about investing. I had no idea about any of this until I joined the league.
“I’m looking at where I’ve taken it.” Imagine being able to introduce these boys and girls to what I was introduced to later in life, earlier in life. See where they can take it, and then perhaps they can create more jobs and assist the world.”
Wagner was inspired by his experiences as an intern at Microsoft and other companies.
“Where I grew up, we weren’t exposed to that,” he said. “I didn’t know about venture capital. I didn’t know about investing. I didn’t know any of that till I got to the league.
“I’m seeing where I’ve taken it. Now imagine I can introduce these guys and girls to what I got introduced to later in life, earlier in life. See where they can take it and then just hopefully create more jobs and stuff and help the world.”
Wagner was inspired by his experiences as an intern at Microsoft and other companies.
“Where I grew up, we weren’t exposed to that,” he said. “I didn’t know about venture capital. I didn’t know about investing. I didn’t know any of that till I got to the league.
“I’m seeing where I’ve taken it. Now imagine I can introduce these guys and girls to what I got introduced to later in life, earlier in life. See where they can take it and then just hopefully create more jobs and stuff and help the world.”
The trip was one of many initiatives Wagner has launched in Seattle and Southern California that are not related to football.
Wagner created a foundation in June in honor of his late mother, Phenia Mae Wagner, who died of a stroke in 2009. The fund will benefit programs at Los Angeles and Inland Empire hospitals, as well as Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
“Bobby’s just a really, really genuine person,” Zavala said. “He’s not bigger than the game.
The Rams are attempting to become the first team since the 2004 New England Patriots to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
Wagner nearly won consecutive titles with the Seahawks.
The Rams are seeking to become the first club to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the 2004 New England Patriots.
Wagner almost won straight championships with the Seahawks.
Now Wagner is the only Rams player who knows what is required to play in the Super Bowl in consecutive seasons.
Wagner plays with no wasted motion. “I call it elegance,” linebacker Ernest Jones said. No one is questioning whether he can command a huddle.
“When Bobby holds the mic, people want to listen,” defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said. “And when people want to listen, you get different results. You get a different type of calmness.”
Wagner has won one Super Bowl. He, like his comrades, desires more.
“They’ve got a ring, I’ve got a ring,” he explained. “They want another one, I want another one.”
If everything goes as planned and the Rams make another playoff push, he could have the chance in February.
The Seahawks were defeated by the Patriots in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona.
“How fitting would it be,” Wagner went on to say, “to come back home and win a championship in a place where I lost it?”
