Bobby Wagner spent his entire 10-year career with the Seattle Seahawks before being cut by the team this offseason. He knew the city and the organization well, but he now welcomes a new challenge with the Rams, who play in another city he’s very familiar with.
Wagner is from Los Angeles, going to Colony High School in Ontario, Calif. He then left for Utah State, so it’s been a while since he was living back in L.A.
One thing he doesn’t miss: traffic.
He told reporters on Wednesday that he’s still getting used to the constant traffic in Los Angeles, taking two hours just to go 10 miles. His commute is about 45 minutes on a good day, which is still a pretty long drive without much traffic – especially compared to his 2-3 minute commute in Seattle.
"The biggest thing is just getting used to the traffic again, because my commute (in Seattle) was 2-3 minutes tops. Out here, I'm maybe 45 minutes on a good day. I put the destination into the Apple and it says 10 miles, but 2 hours. I don't get that at all." –Bobby Wagner pic.twitter.com/52mQOWx3gd
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) May 18, 2022
Wagner has been taking part in every phase of the Rams’ offseason program, getting acclimated to his new team and teammates. What has him excited is the speed he can play with in the Rams defense.
Having a front that features Aaron Donald, Greg Gaines, Leonard Floyd and A’Shawn Robinson frees him up to fly around the field.
“When you’re playing with a front that we’re playing with and the guys on the back end, it makes it really, really fun to be a part of,” he said, via Nick Hamilton. It’ll be more fun when we’re going against offenses and making those checks and coming up with game plans and things like that, but this defense definitely allows you to play really, really fast, and looking forward to doing that.”