Commanders stars Bobby Wagner to graduate from Howard University

Bobby Wagner, Washington Commanders standout linebacker was completed successfully 18-month Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Howard Universitybalancing his demanding NFL career with rigorous academic work. Wagner completed all course requirements in December and is scheduled to officially graduate in May, a significant milestone for the veteran defensive leader as he prepares for life after football.

Wagner enrolled in the Howard University program in January 2024accelerating your path to graduation by taking several courses over the summer instead of the traditional spring schedule. While most of his coursework was completed online, he also had the opportunity to take in-person classes on campus during the summer.

In addition to being a dominant force on the football field, Wagner has established himself as a shrewd businessman. This summer, he became a minority investor in the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. His decision to pursue a degree further underscores his commitment to expanding his business acumen and preparing for life beyond football.

“Sometimes when you come from football and go into the business world,” he said, “a lot of people feel that the reason you can get into those spaces is because of the people you know, and they feel like we’re skipping steps, or they feel like we haven’t done the work.

“I’ve done work through challenging times that most people wouldn’t.”

Graduating with an MBA isn’t the only milestone Wagner has to celebrate. He is just 25 carries away from joining Ray Lewis and London Fletcher as just the third player in NFL history to record 2,000 career tackles. Wagner recently spoke with Fletcher about the significance of the moment.

As reported by ESPN’s John Keim, Wagner said he earned his B.A is ultimately about making the players he started his career with proud. He said they were the ones who encouraged him early on to pursue a college degree, a decision he now sees as a significant part of his legacy off the field.

“I was just like, ‘Man, I just got here.’ “I have 10-plus years in my mind,” Wagner said. “But I had really good mentors who really pushed me to realize that this game can be taken away from you at any moment.”

Wagner also hopes to dispel the common misconception that footballers who pursue interests outside the game cannot succeed on the pitch. His career achievements tell a different story. Wagner was selected to 11 All-Pro teams, including six First Team honors, and earned 10 Pro Bowl selections.

With credentials like these, many consider him an entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“From the outside world, if you’re doing something else, they feel like you’re not focused,” Wagner said. “And then when you retire and nothing happens, they’re like, ‘Why didn’t you do something else?’ And so you can’t really listen to what people are saying because they’re not you at the end of your career trying to figure things out. I’m trying to dispel that concept.

“You can master the field you’re in and also learn and study other things.”

Touching on his “Mamba mentality,” Wagner said the late Kobe Bryant was an additional source of inspiration for his pursuit of higher education.

“He was a guy that I felt like everybody, looking inside, everybody was like, ‘All he does is play basketball and nothing else,'” Wagner said, “And then he retired, (and you) realized how much he wrote in his spare time. You realized how much he wrote poetry and learned piano, learned things, how to learn all these things, and then he can learn to play piano. Anyone could do it.”

While addressing the media wearing a sweatshirt of his future alma mater, Wagner says earning an advanced degree would be something his “younger self would be surprised” to see.