Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at least admitted he contemplated retirement.
After a string of concussions suffered last season, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at least debated hanging the spikes up for good this past winter.
Tagovailoa had to sit out the latter part of his third NFL season out of Alabama because of concussions. At times, he played like an MVP candidate for Mike McDaniel. On other occasions, he continued to look small out there and paid a price for it physically with one vicious hit after another. Frankly, he could be one bad concussion from having no choice but to call it a career at this point.
While everybody and their brother is concerned about Tagovailoa’s health now and in the future, he is not yet ready to retire, citing he is young enough to keep playing and wants to play long enough for his son to have memories of him playing in the NFL. That is great and wonderful, but you can’t mess with head trauma. It’s okay to walk away from the game you love for your health.
Concussions played a part in NFL legends like Troy Aikman and Luke Kuechly retiring very early.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa discussed retirement this offseason
As much as it may have been a good idea to get out ahead of this thing, Tagovailoa was never going to. Instead, he is practicing jiu-jitsu to learn how to fall better. In theory, that sounds like a splendid idea, but 300-pound defensive linemen have a job to do. Prior to even entering the NFL, Tagovailoa had two major injuries while he was the quarterback for Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide.
The first was a high-ankle sprain, which required tightrope surgery. This occurred around the time Alabama was taking on division rival LSU, who was quarterbacked by Joe Burrow. The Bayou Bengals were too dominating for a hobbled Tagovailoa and the Crimson Tide to contain. The other injury of note ended his college career. He suffered a nasty hip injury on a hit vs. Mississippi State.
So it is not just concussions Tagovailoa has had to navigate since being thrust into the national spotlight since second-and-26. Football is a game of injury, but Tagovailoa plays the one position where the league does its absolute best to protect its marquee stars. Unfortunately, Tagovailoa may be a little more carefree with his body than any franchise would ever like to see out of him.
Sadly, I think we all know how this ends. People and professional athletes don’t stop becoming injury-prone. Once you have a bad back, you will always have a bad back. Your knees start to hurt, and there goes your last little bit of athletic prowess. NFL players accept the risk that comes from playing this game, but head injuries are a different animal. You don’t want to mess with your brain.
Miami may have given him the fifth-year option, but Tagovailoa will never make top dollar now.
