Barry Wagner (born November 24, 1967) is a retired

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 ...

player in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

for the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

, with whom he won his first ArenaBowl Championship, and the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

, with whom he won two championships. He also played in the

World Indoor Football League The World Indoor Football League was an indoor football league that was to begin in 1988 to compete with the Arena Football League, which was playing its second season in 1988. Some of the teams in the league ran into financial trouble before th ...

as a wide receiver/

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

with the

Daytona Beach Thunder The Daytona Beach ThunderBirds were an arena football team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. They were founded in 2005 as the Daytona Beach Hawgs playing in the National Indoor Football League. In 2006, they changed their name to the Daytona Thu ...

. Wagner is the all-time AFL all-purpose yardage leader. He is considered the best Arena Football player of all time. During the

2012 Arena Football League season The 2012 Arena Football League season was the 25th season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 9, 2012 with a game between the Pittsburgh Power and the Orlando Predators and ended on July 22, 2012 with a game between the ...

, Wagner was named the league's greatest player of all time.

Early life

Wagner attended Greensboro Public School in

Greensboro, Alabama Greensboro is a city in Hale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 2,497, down from 2,731 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Hale County, Alabama, which was not organized until 1867. It is part o ...

where he was a member of the football team. Wagner served as a wide receiver and the backup

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 ...

College career

While attending

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marsh ...

, Wagner starred in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and broke many school records held by former

Pittsburgh Steeler 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 ...

John Stallworth Johnny Lee Stallworth (born July 15, 1952) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is considered to be one of the best wide receivers in NFL history. He pl ...

. As a senior, he caught 112 passes for 1,817 yards (16.22 yards per rec. avg.), won

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and Football News Division II

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors, was the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black co ...

Player of the Year, and played in the 1989

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

. In one game against

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Found ...

, he caught 23 passes, setting two school single game records with 370 receiving yards and 5 receiving touchdowns.

Professional career

Arena Football

During his initial tenure with the Orlando Predators, Wagner was a key component in the famous "Miracle Minute", in which he scored two

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

, two

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

s, recovered an

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the ...

, and made a key defensive stop, all in the final minute of a 1992 game against the

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...

. He was a 7-time AFL Ironman of the Year award winner, 7 years in a row (1992–1997) He was traded to the

New Jersey Red Dogs The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

for

Alvin Ashley Alvin Ashley (born October 14, 1969) is a former American football wide receiver in the Arena Football League. He played college football at Southwest Minnesota State. Ashley played for the Milwaukee Mustangs, Miami Hooters, Albany Firebir ...

on September 23, 1999 after requesting a trade. However, soon after the trade, the league and its players agreed to a new

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

that resulted in several veteran players — including Wagner — gaining free agency. Wagner then signed with the

. Wagner played for the Sabercats from 2000 to 2006, and won the ArenaBowl with San Jose in 2002 and 2004. During the AFL's 20th season in 2006, the league named Wagner the league's second greatest player of all time behind Eddie Brown. On Wednesday, March 28, 2007 after being cut from the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

, he joined the

of the WIFL. However, after the Thunder ended their season at 4-10, he rejoined the Predators for the 2007 AFL playoffs. On June, Friday 13th, 2008 during halftime at the Week 16 game vs. New Orleans VooDoo, Barry Wagner officially retired from the AFL. Wagner finished his career with 991 receptions for 13,363 yards and 265 touchdowns. From 1993 to 1999, Wagner posted seven consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons. He had 855 rushing yards for 127 touchdowns. On special teams, Wagner posted 6,279 return yards and nine touchdowns, with four of them coming in 1999. Defensively, Wagner finished his career with 677 tackles, 28 forced fumbles, recovering 14, with 47 interceptions and five defensive scores. He is the AFL's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns with 127, until it was broken by

Derrick Ross ''For the National Football League running back, see Derek Ross'' Derrick Lewis Ross (born December 29, 1983) was an American football/arena football running back for the Jacksonville Sharks of the National Arena League (NAL). He played one sea ...

on June 6, 2014. As of the 2011 AFL season, he ranks third in league history in receptions, second in receiving yards behind

Damian Harrell Damian Deron Harrell (born September 1, 1975) is a former arena football wide receiver. He played college football at Florida State University. In his career, Harrell had also played for the New England Sea Wolves, Toronto Phantoms, and Colora ...

, fourth in receiving touchdowns. Wagner is tied for second in all-time tackles and fourth in interceptions.

NFL career

Wagner was originally signed by the New England Blitz of the

Professional Spring Football League The Professional Spring Football League (PSFL) was an outdoor american football minor league slated to begin in 1992. The league had a preview show on SportsChannel America in late 1991/early 1992, laying out the ten teams that would play. The ...

in 1992. He was signed as a free agent by 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 ...

in 1992 and spent the entire season on the active roster playing on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He earned a contract from the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

and was on the practice squad for the entire 1994 season.

Notes

External links

Profile at ArenaFan Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Barry 1967 births Living people People from Greensboro, Alabama American football wide receivers Alabama A&M Bulldogs football players Orlando Predators players Chicago Bears players San Jose SaberCats players Tampa Bay Storm players Indianapolis Colts players New Jersey Red Dogs players World Indoor Football League (2007)