Tua Tagovailoa admits he almost retired from the NFL after THREE concussions last season after talks with his family and wife about his health
Tua Tagovailoa admitted he was considering retiring from the NFL after suffering three concussions last season while playing for the Miami Dolphins.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the 25-year-old said: “I’ve been thinking about (retiring) for a while about sitting down with my family, sitting down with my wife and having those kinds of conversations.
“But it would have been really hard for me to walk away from the game, given how old I am. With my son I always dream of playing as long as possible where my son can watch what his father is doing.
“It’s my health, it’s my body, I feel like this is what’s best for me and my family.” I like football, otherwise I would have stopped long ago.’
Tagovailoa was officially diagnosed with a concussion twice last season, but before those two incidents, there was a moment in a game against the Buffalo Bills where he appeared shaky on his feet after a heavy tackle.
Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa suffered three concussions last season — including a scary incident against the Cincinnati Bengals in late September
His arms went into fencing position after hitting the ground with a heavy tackle
He was assessed at the time and allowed to play. But in the next game, he was hit hard by the Bengals’ 6-foot, 340-pound Josh Tupou and went down with his hands in the fencing position.
He left that game on a stretcher in worrying scenes and was taken straight to the hospital. He suffered another concussion on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers – he was intercepted three times in that game, but did not show symptoms until the next day when he watched videos back.
Tagovailoa said Wednesday that doctors have told him there is no evidence that he is at greater risk of another concussion or developing CTE because of what happened to him last season.
In January, Stephen A. Smith spoke passionately about his concerns about the quarterback’s long-term health and career.
“I think his career is in jeopardy,” he said. “We don’t want to point the finger of blame. No one had malicious intent. But there’s no way that when he was in that game against Buffalo and he got knocked down, got back up and fell again, he could have continued to play.
“Four days later, four, he shouldn’t have played against Cincinnati. It’s not just about what the tests show, it’s about what the eyes see.
“It is the judgment of someone other than the athlete whether the athlete should be allowed on the field. Usually it takes about six days and they had a game in four — that’s three days to prepare for that game in four.
He went onto that field in Cincinnati and we all know what happened. He was taken away in an ambulance. We saw. It sucked.
The Tua incident against the Bills was just four days before he suffered a concussion against the Bengals
“Then he comes back weeks later. We are constantly taught that when it comes to a concussion, it is so unpredictable. Let’s consider the latter, he completed a game, Dolphins won (Dolphins actually lost 26-20) and the Monday they noticed the concussion.
“It was after the game was over, he took off his uniform, went home, came back the next day, and then they noticed concussion.”
In the meantime, the NFL has approved the use of a quarterback-specific helmet that is believed to help prevent concussions.
The helmet, manufactured by Vicis, reduces the severity of helmet-to-ground impacts, which are responsible for about half of quarterback concussions, according to league data
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