Despite being almost 34-years-old, NFL veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner still has the “IT factor”. Wagner spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks before joining Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams on a five-year deal in 2022. He then returned back to the Seahawks just a year later and many questioned his ability to play football, but nobody ever questioned his ability to lead in the locker room.

Wagner is coming off an impressive 2023 season in which he registered a whopping 183 total tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, three pass deflections, and played in all 17 regular season games. Even though the veteran proved to many that he still can produce on the football field, his natural ability comes with teaching young players how to conduct themselves in a professional manner, which will do wonders for his new 2024 football team — the Washington Commanders.

The Commanders organization is in a transitional period, and some might say it is a full rebuild. There have been key pieces being removed and added over the last year and a half. The first addition was a new owner, getting away from controversial Daniel Snyder and replacing his presence with Josh Harris. The second addition was a new general manager and head coach combo in veteran Dan Quinn and Adam Peters. Both Quinn and Peters have years of experience and bring a new excitement to the organization that has lacked sustainable growth over the last two decades. The third and final key addition to the team was quarterback Jayden Daniels, who came from LSU and will hopefully be the franchise quarterback for the next ten plus years.

With all of these key additions, and other young athletes on the roster, head coach Dan Quinn decided to shore up his locker room by bringing in Wagner. The two have a strong relationship from their early days in Seattle when Quinn was Wagner’s defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl run in 2013.

While the Commanders look to veteran leader Wagner to guide this young team in 2024, just recently on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Wagner was caught in a teaching moment with Commanders athlete Jeremy Reaves.

What kind of leader is Bobby Wagner… Jeremy Reaves was messing with Wagner while he was talking with us, Wagner “time to grow up”…. Reaves walked away.#Commanders

— Chick Hernandez (@MrChickSports) May 22, 2024

In the middle of a press conference, Reaves was acting up and laughing and Wagner turned to him and said it is “time to grow up”. Leadership is being displayed all throughout the building and it is a big difference from a season ago where the team was in disarray. There is a new hope that Wagner and other veteran athletes on the roster can take hold of the locker room and the coaches can then focus on the fundamentals and schemes. This is exactly what is needed for the Commanders to take a giant step forward in 2024 with their new pieces.

Wagner is just one athlete who not only can still perform on the football field, but his presence alone can help turn an organization around due to his strong leadership skills. He is an asset and it will be interesting to see the team grow over the next several months as we head into training camp and the regular season.