Bobby Wagner wins Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award at NFL Honors

Add another accolade to No. 54’s decorated career.

The Seattle Seahawks didn’t have a lot of involvement at Thursday’s NFL Honors, but they didn’t come away empty-handed.

Legendary linebacker Bobby Wagner, won the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, as voted on by fellow NFL players. The award is given to the player who best “demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition.”

“It means a lot,” Wagner said (via Seahawks.com). “Anytime you get voted for anything by your fellow players, I think that speaks volumes. It’s another cool thing to know that your peers view you a certain way.”

“Watching Kobe, Jordan, LeBron, Ray Lewis, Ken Norton Jr., you watch them, they’re fierce competitors, but they also play the game the right way,” Wagner said. “It was just watching those guys and wanting to be like them.”

This is a relatively recent award introduced back in 2014, when Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was the inaugural winner. Almost every recipient except Teddy Bridgewater and Matthew Slater is either in the Hall of Fame or most likely headed for Canton at some point when they hang up the clears.

Wagner was also a finalist for Walter Payton Man of the Year, which went to Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.

Congratulations to Bobby on another achievement in a career filled with them. He’s a beloved figure not just in Seahawks history, but in Seattle sports. The voting results exemplify how much his peers around the NFL respect him.