William Wagner is from Alpharetta, Georgia, and he’s at the Reese’s Senior Bowl this week because of the skill he showed as a long snapper at Michigan. But he’s been hearing about Mobile’s all-star game his whole life.

“My mom, when she was growing up, she used to come to the Senior Bowl all the time,” Wagner said on Tuesday, “because it’s a big thing in Mobile. It’s that and Mardi Gras. She was telling me when I was coming down here: ‘It’s actually so big, because I used to go there almost every year.’ So it’s very big for me and my family.”

Wagner’s mother, Michelle Tobias Wagner, grew up in the Port City and is a graduate of McGill-Toolen. Her son has many happy memories of visiting Coastal Alabama in the summertime.

“Usually, every summer we’d come down here,” Wagner said. “We’d either come here or we’d go to the bay house (near Point Clear). And boys love fishing, so we’d always go fishing down there. We’d either go deep-sea or go off the wharf or even go on a boat, go for spotted trout.”

Wagner’s determination to play college football has brought him all the way to the Senior Bowl, where he’ll serve as the long snapper for the National team. West Virginia’s Austin Brinkman will handle that duty for the American squad.

While the Senior Bowl rosters feature seven quarterbacks, 10 tight ends, 11 linebackers, 12 running backs, 13 interior defensive linemen, 16 edge rushers, 16 wide receivers, 22 offensive linemen and 26 defensive backs, each team has only one player at the specialist positions.

“It feels great,” Wagner said. “It feels like I’m the best in the country. That’s pretty much the case now, I guess.”

Wagner’s brother, Michael Wagner, played linebacker at Mercer, and served as the inspiration for his younger brother to stay in football beyond high school.

“I played O-line and D-line, and a lot of the linebacker and special teams,” William Wagner said. “But I knew I wanted to play college ball. Center was my main position, but I really wanted to play college football. I saw my brother doing it at Mercer.”

Wagner identified long snapping as a path to do that when he was in the eighth grade.

“I was like, ‘I really want to play college ball,’” Wagner said. “So I just got really good at long snapper. And then I did camps where they rank you. … Michigan saw my film and offered me a spot.”

Wagner grew up an Alabama fan, but he was quickly sold on the Wolverines.

“I’ve always been a math brain, so numbers come easy to me,” Wagner said. “And I knew I wanted to do engineering because that was the easiest route for me. My brothers are accountants. My senior year, I only had Brown and Mercer as opportunities. And then Michigan called me and was like, ‘Hey, we got a spot for you if you want it.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, awesome.’ And me and my dad went up there. We saw the engineering department, the campus. And I just looked around. I was like, ‘This is where I’m going to go. ‘And my dad was just like, ‘Yeah, all right,’ so I committed there.”

Wagner played in 53 games at Michigan and earned All Big-Ten recognition for the 2024 season. Michigan won three Big Ten championships and captured the 2023 CFP national crown while Wagner was with the Wolverines.

“A lot of good memories, a lot of bling,” Wagner said. “Got a whole case full of that. …

“I grew up watching the national championship, going to some when Alabama was playing. It means a lot. You get a lot of things when you go to the national championship, but the biggest thing is when you win. It’s just that feeling, because after that going over to my parents — probably the best feeling in the world.”

Michigan also defeated Ohio State in each of the past four seasons.

“I love the Auburn-Alabama rivalry,” Wagner said, “but when I went up to Michigan, it’s a different story. It’s like state-versus-state, because there was a war — the Toledo War. It’s a whole big thing about how Ohio State and Michigan just never liked each other.”

Although the Buckeyes lost to Michigan 13-10 on Nov. 30, Ohio State went on to win the national championship in the CFP’s first 12-team field.

“I don’t like it that they won the national championship,” Wagner said, “but it was a really weird college football year. They just changed the playoffs. A no-pants natty is probably the funniest thing to happen.”

(Ohio State players receiver a necklace with a gold-pants charm when the Buckeyes beat Michigan.)

This season’s meeting concluded with a brawl when some Michigan players attempted to plant a school flag on the Ohio State logo at midfield. Afterward, the Ohio State University Police Department reported three of its officers used pepper spray during the melee.

“I got in there a little bit,” Wagner said. “I didn’t get pepper-sprayed, but I had residuals. You wash your hair at night, and you’re like, ‘What is that? My eyes are watering.’ And you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s pepper spray.’”

While most of the players at the Senior Bowl will be chosen in the NFL Draft on April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it’s less likely that the game’s long snappers will be. The past three drafts did not include any long snappers. The most recent players picked at the position were Alabama’s Thomas Fletcher and Michigan’s Camaron Cheeseman in 2021.

“What I’m looking forward to is the experience,” Wagner said. “Not many people get to even experience this process — going to a Senior Bowl, going to a combine or anything — so I’m excited just to go through it, hopefully gather some stories from it. …

“I feel like there’s always a chance we’ll get drafted. The last one to get drafted was actually Cheeseman from Michigan, so the guy who played there before me. Especially for specialists, you don’t really know. Unless you’re like (former Michigan kicker) Jake Moody, you know you’re going to get drafted — by the 49ers in the fourth round. But my punter, Brad (Robbins), two years ago, he didn’t know if he’d get drafted. But then he got the call when he was on a golf course and was about to hit a shot. And he got a call, so he picked up. ‘This is the Cincinnati Bengals, and we’re drafting you with the so-and-so pick.’ He was like, ‘What? That’s awesome.’ …

“With specialists, it just depends. Usually, a long snapper doesn’t get drafted until – I don’t know – like a seventh-round pick. What are you going to choose – a reliable long snapper, punter or kicker or are you going to choose a wide receiver no one really knows about?”

The Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile. NFL Network will televise the game.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.