Bobby Wagner was voted a defensive co-captain by his teammates prior to the start of the season, he was named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster earlier this month, and this week the Seahawks linebacker received another significant honor, being named the Seahawks' 2017 Steve Largent Award Winner.
The Largent Award, which is voted on by Seahawks players, is given to the player who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication and integrity of the Seahawks. The award was first handed out in 1989 to its Hall of Fame namesake, and the list of winners includes five other current Seahawks, Russell Wilson (2012), Earl Thomas (2013), Kam Chancellor (2014 and 2016) and Richard Sherman (2015). Wagner will be presented with the Steve Largent Award prior to Sunday's regular season finale against the Arizona Cardinals.
"It means a lot," Wagner said. "It's definitely a blessing. That's an award that I wanted to win, just because of everything that it represents. It just shows the dedication to the craft, things like that. It's definitely a blessing, I'm extremely honored. I was looking forward to hopefully getting this award someday."
The fact that the Largent Award is voted upon by his teammates only makes the honor that much more meaningful to Wagner.
"It's the people you grind with every day, the people you play with and play for every single day that voted for you, so that makes it even more special," he said. "I'm definitely going to put that somewhere special."
Despite battling a hamstring injury for most of the second half of the season, Wagner leads the NFL with 96 solo tackles, a career-best, and his 130 total tackles ranks fourth. He also has two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, a 1.5 sacks and 12 tackles for a loss, tied for the most in the league by a non-defensive lineman or pass-rushing outside linebacker. Wagner has been named to the Pro Bowl each of the past four seasons, and is a two-time first-team All-Pro, earning the honor in 2014 and 2016 (2017 All-Pro teams have not yet been announced).
Last month, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll described Wagner's 2017 season as being, "as good as a defensive player can have. He's on top of everything. He's great at the running game, he's great at the pass game, he's a fantastic rusher. He's as good as you can hope for. He's having a great season."
Seattle Seahawks Steve Largent Award Winners
1989 WR Steve Largent
1990 DE Jacob Green
1991 LB Rufus Porter
1992 DE Jeff Bryant & DT Joe Nash
1993 FS Eugene Robinson
1994 WR Brian Blades
1995 LB Terry Wooden
1996 DT Cortez Kennedy
1997 LB Winston Moss
1998 DE Michael Sinclair
1999 LB Chad Brown
2000 RB Ricky Watters
2001 FB Mack Strong
2002 FB Mack Strong
2003 QB Trent Dilfer
2004 FB Mack Strong
2005 FB Mack Strong
2006 FB Mack Strong
2007 WR Bobby Engram
2008 Head Coach Mike Holmgren
2009 QB Matt Hasselbeck
2010 CB Roy Lewis
2011 DT Red Bryant
2012 QB Russell Wilson
2013 S Earl Thomas
2014 S Kam Chancellor
2015 CB Richard Sherman
2016 S Kam Chancellor
2017 LB Bobby Wagner
Team photographer Rod Mar shares exclusive behind-the-scenes images from the Seahawks' 21-12 win over the Dallas Cowboys during Week 16 at AT&T Stadium.