Faith, Family and Football: The Tagovailoa Decision

With his decision to enter the NFL Draft announced Monday, Tagovailoa reiterated that faith and family were the deciding factors in his decision

Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be remembered as one of the legends in Tuscaloosa that represented the ideals that so many Southerners prioritize: faith, family and football.

It's ironic that those valued principles would be coming from a young man who had never even visited the southern United States prior to several years ago.

Over his past three seasons with the Crimson Tide, no one quite emphasized those ideals more than Tagovailoa. Throughout his time at Alabama, his consistent reiteration of the importance of faith and family in addition to his skills on the gridiron caused Tagovailoa to become a national sensation.

Both ideals factored heavily into his decision to leave the Crimson Tide program just as much as it had to do with joining it. Tagovailoa announced Monday that he would forgo his senior season at Alabama to enter the NFL Draft.

“Well, you know, these kind of things don’t really take the doctors,” Tagovailoa said in his press conference. “They don’t really take myself. It pretty much boils down to one thing and I think that’s faith. It boils down to that and coming from a family that has a lot of it, you know, I’m definitely willing to take that challenge.”

Suffering from injuries to both ankles and a final hip injury that would ultimately end his career at Alabama, Tagovailoa remained a beacon of positivity and a shining light to all of those around him.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban stated the importance that Tagovailoa had on the Crimson Tide program.

“Tua has probably had as much of an impact on our program here as any player that we’ve ever had and I’m not just talking about as a football player,” Saban said. “He’s got a great character, he’s a great leader, he’s done a wonderful job in the classroom. There’s a spirit about him that has impacted myself and everybody around him in a very very positive way.

“He’s had great accomplishments on the field but you probably don’t really fully understand the significance of the contributions that he’s made off the field with his teammates and the people who are around him every day. An unbelievable positive spirit.”

Mahalo, @Tuaamann 🤙#RollTide pic.twitter.com/VAGjbmX6Yx

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) January 6, 2020

In his press conference in a crowded press room Monday morning, Tagovailoa repeatedly credited his faith and his family for being his motivating factors behind his decision.

Leading off his speech by thanking Jesus for giving him the opportunity to have such a decision, Tagovailoa proceeded to thank Saban and the Alabama staff before proceeding to his family.

“To my parents: thank you for giving me everything,” Tagovailoa said. “Thank you for everything and thank you guys for instilling everything you had in me and thank you for continuing to love, support and especially prayers. I’d like to thank my family and everyone who’s been involved in the process.

“Like I’ve heard my parents say many times, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, so thank you all.”

After his opening statement, Tagovailoa then reverted back to crediting his faith. As the time passed on, it became more and more clear how much the young quarterback’s faith means to him and his family.

Tagovailoa credited several local and Hawaiian pastors with helping him reach his decision.

“You know we seek guidance from a good amount of pastors,” Tagovailoa said. “My dad is really good friends with pastor Chris [Hodges] from Church of the Highlands. I got to seek consult from, you know, from our pastors back home and then also pastor Perry Stone. They pretty much all had the same thing, you know. ‘Follow your heart’. And then they also had stories to kind of align with what they were trying to share with me, too.”

Just because Tagovailoa had so much love and support from his family and faith mentors does not mean that the decision was an easy one for him.

Throughout his press conference he reiterated the challenges he faced reaching his decision. Through thorough consideration and prayer, Tagovailoa struggled to reach his decision, weighing both the pros and cons of both sides.

“It was a really hard decision,” Tagovailoa said. “You know going through my rehab and you know with my parents talking to my parents about it it’s been tough. I have been going back and forth, you know, because some things make sense, some others don’t. I just had to factor in a lot of things, you know, as to why should either stay or why I should leave.”

Despite his early exit to pursue a career in the NFL, Tagovailoa and his family have left a lasting legacy in Tuscaloosa. His younger brother, freshman quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, will be remaining at Alabama for the foreseeable future, so even with Tua Tagovailoa departing, the Tagovailoa legacy will live on on the campus of the University of Alabama.

Tagovailoa is currently projected to be a first-round pick. His hip injury that he suffered back on Nov. 16 against Mississippi State will be a huge factor in his standing in the draft, though. Prior to his injury, Tagovailoa was an almost guarantee to be picked in the top 10 but has been slowly falling in the ranks over the past couple of months.

Tagovailoa is well aware of his injury, and will continue to go through rehab locally in the coming months. Despite all of the adversity he has faced in his career with his injuries, he still credits his faith as the deciding factor.

“I think you know what factors into this decision too is our faith. It’s a leap of faith.”