"It is unnatural in the most competitive environment to train your replacement, yet this is our culture, Steelers culture. These virtues I learned while playing for the Steelers, and they are what make the legacy of the black-and-gold timeless. They are passed down in the locker room from the Steel Curtain to anyone who valiantly wears the black-and-gold, creating a brotherhood that is deeper than money, business, and winning."
Troy Polamalu delivered that message during his acceptance speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he was inducted as part of the Class of 2020. He probably didn't know it at the time, but he was describing a man who wore the same uniform and played the same position, a man who during his 10-year NFL career always put the team before himself.
Mike Wagner won 4 Super Bowl championships with the Steelers, and he was a starting safety in 3 of those. He contributed 5 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery in the playoffs, and his interception of Roger Staubach in the second half of the victory over Dallas in Super Bowl X belongs on any list of the most timely postseason takeaways in franchise history.
Wagner died on Wednesday, Feb. 18, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 76.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mike Wagner, a tremendous player and an integral part of some of the most successful teams in Pittsburgh Steelers history," said President Art Rooney II. "Mike played a key role on our championship teams of the 1970s. As a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams, his toughness and consistency were paramount to our secondary. His contributions on the field were significant, but it was also his steady presence and team-first mentality that truly defined him.
"On behalf of the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Mike's family. He will always be remembered as a champion, a great teammate, and a proud member of the Steelers family."
Coming to the team as an 11th-round draft pick from Western Illinois in 1971, Mike Wagner started 116 of the 119 games in which he appeared, and he accounted for 48 takeaways (36 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries) as part of a defense that totaled 407 takeaways (241 interceptions and 166 fumble recoveries) in the 9 seasons from 1971-79. In just his third NFL season, Wagner's 8 interceptions tied him for No. 1 in the NFL with Miami's Dick Anderson, and his 2 pick-6s tied him for No. 1 with Atlanta's Tom Hayes in that category.
Those are all regular season numbers, yet Wagner's impact extended into the postseason, where he made some critical plays in the big games that launched the 1970s Steelers into dynasty status.
In Super Bowl IX, Wagner contributed 3 tackles to a run defense that held Vikings RBs Chuck Foreman and Dave Osborn to a combined 20 yards on 17 attempts, and then his interception with 3:20 remaining in the game helped ice the 16-6 victory that brought the first Lombardi Trophy to Pittsburgh.
The following postseason, Wagner intercepted Kenny Stabler twice in a 16-10 victory over Oakland in the AFC Championship Game, which sent the Steelers to Super Bowl X against Dallas in Miami. Then against the Cowboys, Wagner had 5 tackles, and his fourth quarter interception set up a short field goal that increased the Steelers lead at the time to 15-10 on the way to a 21-17 victory. That made the Steelers the third NFL franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
"No doubt his intelligence was one of his biggest strengths," said J.T. Thomas, who started at CB alongside Wagner at that time. "A lot of us, we would quiz Mike because we had a lot of calls, checks, and audibles in our defense. We would quiz Mike as if he didn't know them. We would quiz him to make sure we knew them. We depended on him. It was Mike who saw the big picture. Mel Blount always said people didn't realize how many times Mike saved our behinds. He covered for us."
Blount said the very same thing nearly 50 years later.
"Mike was our quarterback in the secondary," said Blount. "When you think about all the great players we had on that team who flew under the radar, Mike was one of those guys. I don't know if the fans or the general public really knew what an intricate part of that defense he was. He directed what we were doing back in the secondary, and at the same time made plays himself. He made some big plays for us. He did his job and made sure we were doing ours.
"More importantly with Mike, you're talking about a good human being. He was just a good person."
While still a starting SS, Wagner was helping a younger player take his job. At the end of the 1974 NFL Draft, the Steelers signed Donnie Shell as an undrafted rookie from South Carolina State. In the run-up to the 1977 season, the Steelers defensive coordinator approached Wagner about a move to FS because "we want to get Donnie into the lineup."
Despite his production on the field, Wagner did not put up any fuss. And so when he sustained a cracked vertebra in the third game that season, the Steelers had a prepared replacement at the ready. When Wagner returned in 1978 to start next to Shell, the Steelers' seamless transition at safety helped the team win back-to-back Super Bowls again – in 1978 and 1979 – to cement their status as the Team of the Decade.
"Mike was helping me before I even was a starter," said Shell. "Before they moved me to strong safety and him to (free) safety, he was always helping me, because I'm a very inquisitive guy and I want to know why. I probably bombarded him with questions, but he had an answer for any question I could ever ask him.
"Mike was a servant leader. He was motivated by love and humility, but he demonstrated by example."
Age and injuries led to Wagner's retirement after the 1980 season, and he remained in Pittsburgh pursuing his "life's work," which was to earn an MBA at Pitt and then become a Vice-President at First National Bank. In 2020, Wagner was inducted into the Steelers Hall of Honor, along with James Farrior, Greg Lloyd, Dwight White, and Troy Polamalu.
Again, back to Polamalu's speech in Canton: "What I truly appreciate about the Steelers way is that at its core it's a family, a culture based on the essential virtues any person respects and honors: Humility, passion, resilience, service, and legacy."
Mike Wagner was more than part of that legacy. He was part of the reason why there is a legacy in the first place.
"He was the type of man you would like to see a lot of young people model their lives after," said Blount. "I don't know how to say it other than he was a good person. Mike left a little part of himself with all of us. But a little part of us passed away as well when he left."
(Teresa Varley contributed to this story.)
