Should Tua Tagovailoa walk away from the NFL? | The Herd
The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins on 'Thursday Night Football' and Tua Tagovailoa suffered another concussion during the loss. Colin Cowherd discusses the ramifications of this injury and whether Tua should retire.
Tua Tagovailoa's future in the NFL is the subject of much debate after he suffered his third concussion in 24 months and fourth overall on Thursday night.
Tagovailoa collapsed to the turf in pain and showed signs of a traumatic brain injury, according to several experts, after being hit by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa's history of brain injuries includes two in the span of a month in the 2022 season.
Tagovailoa later admitted that he consulted with his family about whether he should continue playing football after that, but he came back for more.
His latest injury has prompted calls for him to quit the sport from fellow professional athletes, former NFL players, media pundits and concerned fans and observers.
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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa gets assisted on the field during the second half of a game against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Tagovailoa will undergo NFL concussion protocols in the coming days. It's possible that trainers and team doctors will eventually clear him to return to the field. If that happens, he would have to make the decision to continue playing. There's also a chance that doctors won't clear him to return.
If Tagovailoa fails to clear concussion protocols for the third time in his NFL career, he could be forced to retire. If he does, the Dolphins would have to pay out a large portion of his $212.4 million contract.
The contract, signed in July by Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, includes $167 million guaranteed. Tagovailoa has already collected $43 million of that salary and, if he is forced to retire for medical reasons, is entitled to collect the remaining $124 million.
However, if he is cleared to return and decides to retire anyway, he would lose that guaranteed money. In that case, he and the team would have to come to an agreement.
The contract was signed well after his three previous concussions and even after he admitted he considered retiring last offseason. But Grier said during a team news conference on Feb. 28 that he wasn't concerned about the quarterback's concussion history.
While discussing Tagovailoa's contract extension months before it was signed, Grier was asked if the quarterback's past concussions influenced how the team evaluated his offer.
DOLPHINS' TUA TAGOVAILOA FACES CALLS TO RETIRE FROM NFL AFTER LATEST CONCUSSION: 'IT'S NOT WORTH IT'
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) suffers an apparent concussion after hitting his head on the ground while being tackled by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on September 12, 2024. (Jasen Vinlove/Imagn Images)
“No,” Grier said. “I think for us, every player has to deal with certain things. Even as you've seen this year, if you look at all the quarterback injuries around the league, there are other really good quarterbacks and players who have had multiple season-ending injuries as well.”
Grier cited off-season jiu-jitsu training as the remedy for the quarterback's concussion concerns.
“All Tua did was use the offseason to prove that he could stay healthy. Spending time learning how to fall, with jiu-jitsu and stuff, paid off,” he said.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said he and the team were also “comfortable” that jiu-jitsu was the solution to preventing his quarterback from getting concussed.
“It's something we had a number of ideas about, some of which I won't go into because they weren't as good as that. We were willing to go as far as it would take,” McDaniel said during a team news conference that also took place on Feb. 28.
“But now that he's gotten involved in it and we've talked to him a lot and we've heard that Coach is committed to him and he's really gotten involved and gotten good results, we feel very comfortable in terms of this is what best prepares him for things that he hasn't been able to prepare for otherwise. It's kind of a follow-through pitching motion, it's something we're trying to coach, and he's 100% committed, attacking it with vigor and exuberance.”
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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) leaves the field after a loss against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on January 7, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Tagovailoa trained with jiujitsu expert Ricardo Liborio beginning in the 2023 offseason. The goal was to train him to control his body and monitor his movements during falls to the ground to prevent his head from hitting the turf with too much force.
Jiu-jitsu is a martial art that focuses on self-defense tactics against opponents. However, the form originated in Brazil and began as a variation of Japanese judoka. It's not a given that a bunch of NFL players will take you down.
In Tagovailoa's case, jiu-jitsu training was not a factor during a solo tackle by the 200-pound Hamlin. Tagovailoa's injury occurred when he was lunging forward to gain yardage and his head collided with Hamlin's body.
Tagovailoa's arms froze in what neurologists call the “fencing response,” a sign of head trauma.
Tagovailoa now has 10 days to clear the league's concussion protocol.
If Tagovailoa doesn't clear the protocol in the next 10 days, the team could be forced to place him on injured reserve, which would keep him out for at least four games. This could prompt management to start preparing for a future without their star quarterback and potentially without that $124 million.
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