Even a badly pulled hamstring couldn’t keep Bobby Wagner from playing — and being an All-Pro again.
The Seattle Seahawks’ middle linebacker and undeniable franchise pillar, along with quarterback and 2012 draft classmate Russell Wilson, was named to The Associated Press’ All-Pro first team on Friday. It’s his second such honor in as many seasons, and his third first-team All-Pro selection in four years.
There are all kinds of All-Pro teams out there, and even the AP’s has a second team. But there is only one designation that counts for contract bonuses and NFL-recognized status as the best at each position: first-team AP All-Pro.
“When you get voted for these types of awards, it shows you all the work you do in the offseason, the grinding, all the things you push through,” Wagner told The Associated Press. “When you get this, when people say this is not AFC, NFC, this is the league, this is who we deem the best at their position in the league, that says a lot. And you see the guys before you, the things they were able to accomplish, you’ve seen those things and you want those things.
“It’s part of that mindset of wanting to be great and understanding what comes along with that, and wanting that kind of acknowledgment.”
Wagner, in his sixth season, got the second-most votes of all NFL linebackers, 40 out of a possible 50. That was one behind Arizona outside linebacker Chandler Jones, who led the league with 17 sacks in the regular season. Carolina’s Luke Kuechly was the other middle linebacker on the All-Pro team with 30 votes, his fourth career selection.
Wagner re-injured a hamstring that had kept him from practicing for more than a month early in the second half of Seattle’s loss at Jacksonville on Dec. 10. The Jaguars scored 27 of their 30 points after Wagner left the game. The following week Wagner played, though obviously slowed and limited by the injury, and the Los Angeles Rams smacked the Seahawks 42-7 in the de-facto NFC West championship game.
Earl Thomas missed being a first-team All-Pro at safety for the fourth time by one vote. Minnesota’s Harrison Smith (45 votes) and Tennessee’s Kevin Byard (12) were the first-team safeties.
Thomas settled for second-team honors to go with his sixth Pro Bowl selection of his eight-year career.
Tyler Lockett was second in voting at kickoff returner and named to the second team. He got six votes, to the 42 for the Rams’ Pharoh Cooper.
The other Seahawks to get All-Pro votes each got one: quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker K.J. Wright and wide receiver Doug Baldwin.
The AP’s All-Pro voting is done by 50 select media members from around the country.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
