No matter the sport or league, anytime a player joins a new team and returns to the city of their former one – especially if they spent several years with that former team – there's always interest in what the reception will be.
As Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner prepares for facing the Seahawks, with whom he played his first 10 NFL seasons, in Seattle for the first time, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll expects fans will do right by the former franchise pillar.
"They're going to be great," Carroll told Seattle reporters Wednesday. "They love him. I think they're going to welcome him back, I just think that's what will happen. And then if he makes a tackle or something, maybe they don't give him as much love, I don't know (laughs). He's going to make some hits in this game. He's playing good ball and doing good stuff. They'll do the right thing."
Wagner this season has been producing at a level Seahawks fans were accustomed to seeing during that decade in Seattle, amassing 133 total tackles, six sacks and two interceptions while starting in every game this season.
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, Wagner had his best game of the season with seven total tackles, two sacks and an interception, albeit in a 27-23 Rams loss.
Carroll has seen that tangible impact on the field in different ways.
"I don't know, 120-something tackles again, here he goes again," Carroll said. "I'm not sure the exact number. A couple picks. He's got six sacks, I don't ever remember him get that many sacks. He has rushed a lot in their system. Where it's been a challenge, going there and following last year, I think he's probably been a real steady voice for them and factor for them. I can't imagine him being anything but that."
