What Tua Tagovailoa should be thinking about during his injured reserve hiatus

We’re just two games into the NFL season, and already the issue of concussions and head trauma has interrupted our regularly scheduled programming. When Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ran into Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin Thursday night, we were transported back to 2022. A former Alabama standout, Tagovailoa suffered at least two concussions and likely a third in that season. He also suffered one in college. 

This year, just like in 2022, Tagovailoa’s injury was followed by a wave of speculation. Should he retire? A young man and the father of two children, were the risks worth it? On Tuesday, the Dolphins placed Tagovailoa on injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least the next four games. But the questions when he returns — assuming he does return — will not go away.

Indeed, in an era of heightened awareness of concussions and the after-effects associated with them, there may be no greater walking case study.

Tagovailoa came into the league with a lot of hype following a successful, yet injury-riddled tenure with the storied Crimson Tide. After some typical rookie growing pains under former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, Tagovailoa got a fresh start under current head coach Mike McDaniel, and looked poised to flourish.

But in Week 3 of 2022, Tagovailoa took a hard fall, again in a game against the Bills. He got up visibly wobbly, and team officials were worried he might be concussed. Nonetheless, Tagovailoa was allowed to return to the game after his injury was classified a back ailment. Just four days later, the quarterback suffered his first diagnosed concussion in a Thursday prime-time game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He would return in Week 7 and remain injury-free until Week 16, when he was concussed again in a game at home against the Green Bay Packers. This time, his season was over. But Tagovailoa played concussion-free for the entire 2023 season, and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross rewarded him with a $212 million contract; $167 million of that contract is guaranteed.

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After Dolphins QB sustains concussion, calls for him to consider retirement grow September 13, 2024 / 01:45

In his first four seasons in the NFL, Tua Tagovailoa made just over $30 million in compensation. (This doesn’t include any additional compensation from endorsements or personal appearances, etc.) Unless he’s made some truly awful decisions, Tagovailoa doesn’t need to play another down of NFL football. That’s the truth. But in this case, the truth is not simple.

Out of the roughly 8.2 billion people that inhabit the Earth, 1,696 men are on active rosters in the NFL. Tua Tagovailoa is one of those men. He is one of 32 NFL starting quarterbacks and the fifth highest paid quarterback in the league. The prospect of losing all of that, through no fault of your own, is heartbreaking. And, as former players like Ryan Clark have eloquently expressed, potentially unthinkable. 

Meanwhile, published reports from insiders I trust suggest that Tagovailoa has no intention of retiring.

But at what point does the NFL Players Association or the league itself need to protect Tua from Tua. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce has already voiced his concerns for Tagovailoa‘s safety. Now, doctors and team officials are at least worried enough to place him on injured reserve.

As much as the medical establishment knows about the everlasting effects of brain trauma and concussions, the process of gathering information continues. There is already enough data to determine that Tagovailoa is at greater risk of a whole list of problems later in life given his growing number of (diagnosed) concussions. These could include everything from headaches, confusion, dizziness, memory lapses and serious cognitive problems to depression and anxiety. What are the chances there isn’t a fifth or sixth in his future? We all know the answer to that. 

Tagovailoa will now be forced to take some time away from the game. Let’s hope he uses that time to think about what’s most important to him, and what he’s personally willing to risk. For his sake, I hope he comes up with an answer that gives him peace and just as importantly, health.