Bryan Jeffrey Wagner (born March 28, 1962 in

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

punter in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

Early years

Wagner attended Hilltop High School. He began his collegiate career at

California Lutheran University California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

. He later transferred to

, where he was the starter at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and punter.

Professional career

After the

1985 NFL Draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also hel ...

, Wagner was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He was also selected by the

Baltimore Stars The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant ...

in the 15th round (216th overall) of the

1985 USFL Draft The 1985 USFL Draft was the third Collegiate Draft of the United States Football League (USFL). It took place on January 3, 1985, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American mu ...

. He was waived by the Cowboys on August 27. In May 1986, he signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He was released on August 11. On August 20, 1986, he signed with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He was released before the start of the season, on August 26. In 1987, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. On August 25, he was traded to the

in exchange for guard

Stefan Humphries Stefan Govan Humphries (born January 20, 1962) is a former American football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan, principally as an offensive guard, from 1980 to 1983. He also played five seasons in the National Foo ...

. He replaced the Bears' punter

Maury Buford Maury Anthony Buford (born February 18, 1960) is a former American football punter in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers, the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. Buford attended Texas Tech and was selected by the Char ...

, until Tommy Barnhardt took the role from Wagner later in the season. On October 30, 1988, he had a 70-yard punt against the

. He played in the historic Fog Bowl against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

. In 1990, he set a

record with four punts blocked in a single season, including 2 in one game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. He averaged 38.9 yards per punt with a net average of 30.9 yards. In 1991, he played in 3 games with the

, until being released after a punt from his end zone hit teammate Eugene Lockhart's back and was recovered for a touchdown by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Ernie Mills Ernest Lee Mills, III (born October 28, 1968) is an American former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the Universit ...

. In 1992, he signed with the

and was released on August 24. On November 9, he was re-signed by the Packers. On May 6, 1994, he re-signed with the Packers but was released before the start of the season, on August 21. In 1994, he signed with the

. He set a Super Bowl record by averaging 48.8 yards per punt. He chose not to re-sign with the Chargers for the 1995 season and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player Darren Bennett took over the punting job. In 1995, he signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and was released on August 21, after not being able to pass Brian Hansen on the depth chart. In November, he signed with the

, taking over after Pat O'Neill was released. He was not re-signed after the season. In 1996, he signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and was released on July 3 to make room for punter

Rich Camarillo Richard Jon Camarillo (born November 29, 1959) is a former professional American football punter who played 16 seasons in the NFL for the New England Patriots (1981–1987), Los Angeles Rams (1988), Phoenix Cardinals (1989–1993), Houston Oi ...

Personal life

Wagner married Cleveland TV news anchor and personality

Robin Swoboda Robin Swoboda (born December 30, 1958) is an American television news anchor, talk show host, and actress in Cleveland, Ohio, best known for her career on various television and radio stations primarily in Cleveland, as well as hosting national tel ...

in 1991; they divorced in 2015. Wagner taught physical education and coached sports (football and basketball) at Willetts Middle School in

Brunswick, Ohio Brunswick ( or ) is the largest city in Medina County, Ohio, United States approximately 20 mi (32 km) SW of Cleveland. The population was 34,255 at the 2010 census and estimated at 34,880 as of 2019. It is part of the Cleveland Metro ...

. On April 27, 2005, he was hired as the football head coach at Chippewa High School and announced his resignation on November 20, 2006. In 2017, he was hired as the football head coach at Sweetwater High School in

National City, California National City is a city located in the South Bay (San Diego County), South Bay region of the San Diego metropolitan area, in southwestern San Diego County, California, San Diego County, California. The population was 58,582 at the 2010 United ...

. In 2020, he was hired as the head football coach at Hilltop High School in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Bryan 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Escondido, California Players of American football from California American football punters Cal State Northridge Matadors football players Cal Lutheran Kingsmen football players Chicago Bears players Cleveland Browns players New England Patriots players Green Bay Packers players San Diego Chargers players High school football coaches in Ohio High school football coaches in California