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Last Updated: Aug 15th, 2008 - 05:35:02
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REGINA, Sask. — Aaron Wagner has finally met his match.
For seven years of high school and collegiate football, the Lethbridge product who now plays for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League, didn’t take a back seat to anyone.
Until now.
Wagner, in his second year in the league and with the Argos, finds his name on the depth chart under Mike O’Shea, arguably one of the most decorated linebackers in CFL history. As a result, Wagner’s playing time as a pro has been limited.
“He’s a guy who’s been in the league for 15 years and knows the defence just as well as the coaches do,” Wagner said recently after a loss to the host Saskatchewan Roughriders. “It’s kind of tough sitting behind a guy like that. Every player wants to be on the field helping his team win. I guess I just have to wait a little longer.”
Wagner, listed at six-foot-two and 252 pounds, dressed for nine games in 2007 and recorded four tackles. This season, he’s dressed in every game but has been relegated to special teams duty and short yardage situations.
O’Shea, the Argos’ starting middle linebacker and five-time East Division all-star, has started every game this season and has been leaned on more than ever since fellow ’backer Kevin Eiben, a four-time East all-star, was felled by a knee injury earlier in the campaign.
“I know I can go out there and make plays and help this team,” Wagner insisted. “But when you’re a young guy in this league you have to wait your turn.”
Understandably frustrating, his time on the sidelines has been used productively. Wagner has become a student of the game, and has one of the best teachers in league history from which to learn. No doubt, Wagner has taken advantage of the situation.
“He’s a great mentor,” he said of O’Shea, the all-time leading tackler for Canadians in CFL history. “He points things out to me and analyzes the game so well. I’m learning a ton from him. . . stuff that I never thought of. For me, there’s no better guy to learn from.”
However, learning the game on the fly is the better option for Wagner.
“I need to start seeing some defensive reps and get in there and show these guys what I can do.”
Wagner has one year plus an option remaining on his contract.
EXTRAS — The Argos drafted Wagner in the second round, 14th overall, in the 2006 CFL Canadian Draft. . . Wagner played three high school seasons with the Cliff Walters-coached Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams before he signed an athletic scholarship with Washington State University in 2001. . . Upon returning from his Latter-Day Saints mission, Wagner transferred and played out the final four seasons of his NCAA eligibility with the Brigham Young University Cougars. . . In his senior season with the Cougars, Wagner was selected to play in the Texas versus The Nation All-Star game in El Paso. . . he was among the Cougars team leaders in tackles in his 2006 season, one year after returning from a season-ending knee injury in ’05.
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