Leave it to Bobby Wagner to once again do something no other NFL player has done.
Wagner made NFL history by becoming the first active player to buy an ownership interest in a WNBA team on July 23 when the Seattle Storm announced the former Seattle Seahawks and current Washington Commanders star linebacker had purchased a minority ownership interest in the franchise.
“We’re proud to announce that Bobby Wagner is joining the Seattle Storm ownership group!” the Storm posted on its official X account. “A Super Bowl champion and All-Pro linebacker, (Wagner) will become the first active NFL player to have equity in a WNBA team.”
Wagner, an 11-time NFL All-Pro and 10-time Pro Bowler, is headed into his 14th NFL season in 2025 and will have approximately $118 5 million in career earnings at the end of his current campaign.
Wagner said he was inspired by NBA legend Kobe Bryant’s deep ties to women’s basketball and the WNBA to purchase a franchise. Wagner, a Los Angeles native, grew up cheering for Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers and was able to meet him face to face once before Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash in 2020.
“I watched what Kobe was doing for women’s basketball and the WNBA and what he was trying to do,” Wagner told ESPN’s John Keim. “This was something that was important to me because it’s almost like trying to pick up where he left off. Obviously I’m not him whatsoever, but I could do my part. I think women’s sports is amazing. I have daughters. I have sisters.”
Examining Wagner’s Deep Ties to Seattle
Whenever he decides to finally retire, Wagner will almost certainly be a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer and the majority o f his best season came while playing for the Seahawks, where he won a Super Bowl following the 2013 season.
Wagner was drafted by the Seahawks in the second round (No. 47 overall) out of Utah State in 2012. Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon picked out the 25 greatest picks from the last 25 years — excluding Top 10 picks — and put Wagner almost at the top of the list.
“An integral part of the Seahawks throughout the Russell Wilson/Pete Carroll era, Wagner is a six-time first-team All-Pro with longevity to boot,” Gagnon wrote. “Yet he was only the second-best pick in one of the greatest team draft classes in NFL history.”
Wagner Has Become NFL’s Ageless Wonder
Wagner turned 35 years old in June and is coming off another NFL All-Pro season in his first year with the Commanders, where he re-teamed with Washington head coach Dan Quinn after Quinn coached Wagner as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and 2014.
In 2024, Wagner played on a 1-year, $7 million contract and led the Commanders with 132 tackles as they made the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991. He re-upped with Washington on a 1-year, $9 million contract on March 6.
Storm One of WNBA’s All-Time Great Franchises
The Storm’s 4 WNBA championships are tied with the Minnesota Lynx and the now defunct Houston Comets for the most titles in league history.
The Storm last won the WNBA Finals in 2020 but haven’t advanced past the first round of the WNBA playoffs the last 2 seasons.
Commanders $118 Million All-Pro Makes History With WNBA Purchase