Neal: St. Thomas tight end Patrick Wagner melds music and football

On game days, Patrick Wagner has Machine Head and Black Sabbath teed up in his headphones. When he’s at home studying, he dials it down to jazz, like Yellowjackets.

“Something a little smoother,” he said. “Maybe a little country. I listen to every genre.”

Favorite guitarists? Wagner likes Eric Clapton and John Mayer. He also brought up Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix. So, yeah, Wagner does enjoy guitarists across the spectrum.

“I play a little bit of acoustic and electric guitar,” he said. “I have a Gibson SG right now.”

Wagner also plays a lot of tight end for St. Thomas, where he caught 24 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown last season. Enough for him to be named to the All-Pioneer League second team. He’s slated to expand his offensive tastes this season, as he’s being lined up in the backfield and as a wide receiver at times.

His love of music allows him to express himself when he’s not on the field. He learned to play during his sophomore year at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Md. By his senior year, he’d won an award as his school’s outstanding guitar player. At that point, he was playing multiple hours each day on his own and with friends from school.

“It’s something I really love,” he said. “I love music in general, and I’ve just been able to grow with it and have some sort of creativity in my background. And it kind of takes apart from just football and just being a student-athlete. I’m able to have this creative side and to grow through there.”

Wagner began his high school career as a tight end but was moved to outside linebacker for two seasons before returning to tight end his senior year. So he had one season of tape there for schools to evaluate.

He was fortunate to be on high school teams with some Power Four-level talent. That included defensive lineman Kellan Wyatt, who transferred from Maryland to Indiana; Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley; and Penn State offensive lineman Jim Fitzgerald. Colleges knew to stop by Archbishop Spalding.

“It was pretty late in my recruiting, senior year, and still weighing options after the season ended,“ Wagner said. “And, luckily, one of the [St. Thomas] coaches came out and introduced himself. I’d never heard of St Thomas before, but I think that was the beauty of it. I wanted a new change, something different, so came out on a visit and absolutely loved it. I mean, just the people in the community here.

“And it’s just a little bit cold, that’s the only thing.”

It was during the recruitment that Tommies coach Glenn Caruso discovered he was pursuing a musician as well as a tight end.

“And here’s a guy who, in front of his team in an evening meeting, can pull his guitar out and rip off a song to get the team going. He’s awesome at it. And he’s not the only one.”

Wagner won the team’s first Hard Worker of the Week award at practice recently. He gets to wear a construction hard hat for a week, a prize that fits the vibe on campus as the final touches are being put on the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena opening in the fall.

This comes as the team prepares to distance itself from the 6-6 record of last season, the first time a Caruso-led team failed to have a winning record. Their quest begins with an Aug. 28 home game against Lindenwood, the team that beat them 64-0 last season.

Music can be soothing, inspirational and motivational. It also can be used for bonding. Everything from rap to country is queued up in the Tommies locker room, where the seniors usually determine what’s on the menu pre- and post-practice.

And a few of Wagner’s teammates are musicians. Wagner, defensive back Matt Guggemos, linebacker Taran Blasy and wide receiver Stefano Giovannelli performed Rod Stewart’s “Stay With Me” at the Tommie Choice Awards last year.