Watch: Bobby Wagner gets huge ovation in Seahawks return

Sep 10, 2023, 2:08 PM

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 10: Bobby Wagner #54 of the Seattle Seahawks takes the field prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on September 10, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 10: Fans hold signs for Bobby Wagner (not pictured) of the Seattle Seahawks prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on September 10, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 10: Bobby Wagner #54 and Kenneth Walker III #9 of the Seattle Seahawks take the field prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on September 10, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Editor of SeattleSports.com

If you had to come up with a list of players who could be considered the best in Seattle Seahawks history, Bobby Wagner would undoubtedly be included.

The Hawks fans know that, as evidenced by how they reacted to his return at Lumen Field in the team’s blue and green uniforms.

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The introduction of Wagner before Sunday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams was met with a thunderous ovation by the capacity crowd (some of which held up signs that read “Welcome Home Bobby”), perhaps the loudest any player in Seahawks history has ever received during intros.

Watch here:

Introducing… Number 54 from Utah State…. BOBBY WAGNER! pic.twitter.com/vDtGTHlGr3

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 10, 2023

The 12s welcome Bobby Wagner back to Seattle.

📺: #LARvsSEA on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/CB7mrFXhii

— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023

The 33-year-old Wagner is an eight-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro linebacker, receiving all of those accolades with the Seahawks. A second-round NFL Draft pick by Seattle in 2012 out of Utah State, he played the first 10 seasons of his career with the Hawks. The two sides parted ways after the 2021 season, however, and there was concern that they weren’t on the best terms due to the nature in which Wagner, who serves as his own agent, received the news that the Seahawks were letting him go.

Wagner went on to have a successful season playing for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, and the good news is he and the Seahawks patched things up and reunited this offseason in free agency.

The return of Wagner figures to be a big help for a Seahawks defense that struggled to stop the run and had some communication issues in his one year away. And in an interesting turn of events, Wagner makes his re-debut for Seattle against his old team, somewhat similarly to how the Hawks opened the 2022 campaign against former franchise quarterback Russell Wilson in his Denver Broncos debut.

The Seahawks’ opener against the Rams, like all Hawks games, can be heard on Seattle Sports 710 AM and KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM, the flagship stations of the Seahawks Radio Network. You can also stream the radio broadcast on the Seattle Sports app and KIRO Newsradio app if you are located within 90 miles of Seattle. For more details, click here.