Two-time Pro Bowler and four-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Wagner has died. He was 76 years old.
Team President Art Rooney II issued a statement after the news of Wagner’s death.
Born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1949, Wagner stayed local and played his college ball at Western Illinois. An 11th-round pick of the Steelers in the 1971 NFL Draft, he immediately slotted into the lineup as Chuck Noll revamped the roster with an infusion of new and young talent.
As a rookie, he started 12 games and tied for third on the team with a pair of interceptions. Breaking out as a sophomore in 1972, Wagner picked off six passes before leading the league with eight of them the following season. Since the merger, the only Steeler to have more interceptions was Mel Blount’s 11 in 1975.
A playmaker who intercepted passes, forced fumbles, and recovered them, Wagner started 116 games over his ten-year career – all in Pittsburgh. He made the 1975 and 1976 Pro Bowls, starting on defenses that finished No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, each season.
Making his mark in the postseason, Wagner came up larger in the game’s biggest moments. In Super Bowl IX against the Minnesota Vikings, the Steelers’ defense pitched a shutout, the Vikings’ only points coming on special teams. Picking off Fran Tarkenton over the middle, Wagner sealed the victory.
During the 1975 Super Bowl run, Wagner was brilliant. He intercepted Oakland Raiders’ QB Ken Stabler twice in the AFC Championship Game. Against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X, Wagner stepped in front of a Roger Staubauch throw to return it deep into Cowboys’ territory.
A cracked vertebra in his neck limited him to just three games in 1977, and chronic hip problems stemming from a high school injury hampered him late in his career. Healthy for his final season in 1980, the 31-year-old Wagner finished second on the team with six interceptions.
Despite a convincing argument from the Rooney family, Wagner decided retirement was the best course forward.
“I did miss football. Art Rooney, Sr., tried to talk me into coming out of retirement, which was nice to hear, but I just left it there,” Wagner told a Western Illinois magazine in 2022. “The Rooneys – Art, Sr., Dan, Art, Jr. and the other members of the Rooney family – treated their Steelers like family. They were so proud of us, and I knew I probably wouldn’t get that anywhere else.”
Wagner finished his career with 36 interceptions. Upon retirement, he ranked third in Steelers’ history in the category, trailing only Mel Blount and Jack Butler, and still ranks sixth today. Cincinnati Bengals QB Ken Anderson once called him one of the two best Steelers he faced, placing Wagner in the same camp as Hall of Famer Mel Blount.
He pursued coaching in his post-playing days, becoming the defensive backs coach and assistant at Pine-Richland High School, a Pittsburgh suburb. Later, earning his MBA from Pitt, he eventually became the VP for the Private Banking Group of First National Bank. In 2021, Wagner revealed a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The Steelers inducted him into their Hall of Honor in 2020. Though nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Mike Wagner never donned a gold jacket. But he played a key role in Pittsburgh’s dynasty as a steady and excellent defensive back.
