Plenty of people retire to Florida.
Bobby Wagner's not one of them. He was in the Sunshine State being celebrated as one of the NFL's best yet again, even if naysayers have been predicting lost steps to come for a while now.
The Seattle Seahawks linebacker has continued to produce 100-tackle seasons with consistent amazement, right along with accolades, which is why he was in Orlando, Florida, this weekend after his ninth Pro Bowl selection.
It marked another year of blocking out critics and opponents struggling to block him.
"Younger and older you can't really listen to the outside noise because it's gonna be a roller coaster," Wagner told NFL.com on Friday. "A lot of people have an opinion, things of that nature, but it speaks for itself. You get voted here by your peers, you're still getting All-Pros and things of that nature."
Perhaps it was after Wagner was released by the Seahawks in the 2022 offseason that some began to opine that he was still good, but not great.
"We're at a space where I feel like people try to, a lot of people want to be right," Wagner said. "They want to be the first person to call out your rise and want to be the first person to call out your fall."
Wagner's statistical excellence provides evidence to the contrary of any fall.
He posted a career-high and NFL-best 183 tackles in 2023. The six-time All-Pro has eclipsed 100 tackles in each of his 12 seasons. He's a tackling machine that spits out production year in and year out, remaining as dependable as ever with his play and availability. Per Next Gen Stats, Wagner played the most defensive snaps of any NFL player (1,127) in 2023.
What's next for Wagner, who's been a second-team All-Pro three years in a row, is a mystery. The 33-year-old wants to keep playing, whether it's in Seattle or elsewhere. After his release in 2022, he joined the Los Angeles Rams for a campaign before rejoining the Seahawks this past season. He's happy to return to the Emerald City, but the seasoned pro will be weighing his options after another stellar year.
