Was Tua Wrong to Admit Contemplating Retirement?

Tua Tagovailoa admitted something Wednesday he should have kept to himself in the same place he hides his deepest, darkest secrets.

Praise him for his honesty and transparency when the quarterback revealed that he momentarily — even for the briefest instance — considered retirement in the aftermath of his second concussion, the one that shut down his 2022 season, and kept him from participating in the Miami Dolphins’ first playoff game in six years.

But that admission probably made his team of agents and marketers and, more importantly, the Miami Dolphins decision-makers, who have spent the past four seasons (I’m counting "Tank for Tua" in 2019) building this entire organization around his upside, cringe.

While the world might suspect Tagovailoa possibly considered hanging it up, walking away from the game fearing the long-term effects of CTE and head trauma, YOU DON’T ADMIT IT.

The fact that Tagovailoa would confess that shows just how different he is as a person, a human.

STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION TO TUA'S COMMENTS

But all it does is raise more red flags, making the naysayers question whether it is wise to build an NFL franchise around a fragile quarterback.

Former Dolphins executive Randy Mueller tweeted out that exact concern Thursday morning.

“Tua saying he considered retirement. Can the Fins extend him?” Mueller asked. “What happens if (he’s) concussed again? I love the honesty and transparency of who Tua is, but now it’s REALLY complicated.”

Well, it’s been complicated ever since the Dolphins drafted a small quarterback, who months earlier had just sustained a potentially career-threatening hip injury, fifth overall in the 2020 NFL draft.

It was complicated when they upset their entire team by replacing the popular starter (Ryan Fitzpatrick) with the unproven rookie quarterback.

It got more complicated when they pushed out a good coach (Brian Flores) mainly because he didn't have a healthy relationship with Tagovailoa, among others.

The Dolphins organization has more information and insight on the injury and the make-up of the player than all us outsiders, and they’ve consistently given Tagovailoa a vote of confidence, and backed that up with triggering his fifth-year option two months earlier than needed, guaranteeing Tagovailoa $23.2 million for the 2024 season.

General Manager Chris Grier also said the franchise is open to signing him to a long-term extension before the fifth-year option is needed.

DOLPHINS NEED TUA TO DELIVER

Miami clearly is all in on the quarterback. But to prove they're right, Tagovailoa needs to lead this franchise to greater heights than it's been in two decades, possibly taking Miami deep into the postseason.

That would require Tagovailoa to stay healthy.

Tagovailoa seemingly is doing his part.

Tagovailoa has taken jiu-jitsu classes, specifically to learn how to fall better.

He’s also focusing on strengthening his upper body, particularly his neck and shoulder area.

“I’ve been doing a lot more to try to help myself sustain the season,” Tagovailoa said, referring to his work with South Florida trainer and performance coach Nick Hicks, owner of Per4orm. “I want to get better at everything that I can do to help the team win games and I know the biggest one is my health, staying out on the field.”

Tagovailoa stressed that talking to medical experts convinced him that his worst fears, which likely are that head trauma suffered from playing football could impact his quality of life long term, are unsubstantiated with medical evidence.

Some suggest he should get a second, or third opinion.

“If this is what Tua Tagovailoa was told, he is being completely misled. QBs get #CTE too,” Chris Nowinski, the founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation wrote in a series of Twitter posts, challenging the theory that quarterbacks are at less risk of getting CTE.

“CTE has a dose-response relationship with head impacts, so even if QB risk is less, it’s not zero. Plus, let’s be frank. Tua and every other NFL player may already have CTE from youth, (high school) and college play. We need to be honest about this,” Nowinski continued.

“While it’s true that NFL QBs are more protected than ever and don’t take hits in practice, they still run the ball, get sacked, and get hit. I’d feel better if Tua had true informed consent as he returns, and wish him the best.”

Who said Tagovailoa doesn’t have informed consent and overlooked it because he isn’t willing to give up on a dream he’s worked his lifetime to achieve?

TUA ON THE VERGE OF STARDOM

There are only 32 starting quarterbacks for NFL franchises, and only a handful of them are viewed as elite, or franchise quarterbacks.

Tagovailoa, who led the NFL in passer rating and many other important passing statistics last season, is on the verge of proving he’s one.

And all he has to do is keep progressing, and stay healthy for 17-plus games to unlock that label, and the generational wealth that comes with it.

Would you throw away a lottery ticket that’s worth more than $100 million because cashing it in might possibly shorten your life by 10 years?

Would the fear of potentially experiencing pain, migraines, brain fog on a regular basis stop you from getting the money?

That’s the equivalent of what people are proposing Tagovailoa do by walking away from the NFL before he reaches his second contract.

Derek Carr got a four-year, $150 million deal from the New Orleans Saints this offseason, which guaranteed him $100 million. It’s pretty safe to assume a healthy and productive Tagovailoa will leapfrog that deal easily in 2024 if the Dolphins sign him to a multi-year extension, or 2025, or 2026, if he’s forced to play on the franchise tag after the fifth-year option.

So if you wouldn’t throw away your $100 million lottery ticket, why should Tagovailoa?

That’s what the 25-year-old should have also said in Wednesday’s moment of honesty.

Maybe then people would understand better why he’s still playing.