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Dolphins QB advised to retire by ex-players

Vaseline September 13, 2024

The Miami Dolphins aren’t scheduled to play again until September 22. But that break won’t stop speculation about the football future of their injured quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, and may even fuel it.

The Pro Bowler suffered at least the third concussion of his five-year NFL career in Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, reacting with the same “fencing” response he showed when he was knocked out of a big game in Cincinnati two years ago.

Tagovailoa was sidelined almost immediately after leaving the game against Buffalo, his concussion diagnosis coming unusually quickly compared with the usual timeline for most players who sustain in-game head injuries. The circumstances surrounding his latest setback unsurprisingly led to almost immediate calls for Tagovailoa, 26, who is married with children, to seriously consider retirement.

“It’s so sad, the guy just got paid,” Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez said on Prime Video’s postgame show immediately following Miami’s loss.

“It was great being Tua, and it is “It’s great to be Tua. But when I look at these concussions,” Gonzalez continued, “if I were him, I’m seriously considering quitting football right now. If that was my son, I’d say, ‘It might be time.’ This is not what you want to be playing with.

“Tua’s future? I’m thinking about retirement here.”

After passing for a career-best 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2023, Tagovailoa, a 2020 first-round draft pick out of Alabama—where he suffered another concussion—signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension with $167 million guaranteed in July. But money, stats and wins took a back seat Thursday night.

“The last thing on my mind is, you know, ‘What’s the timeline?'” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said when asked whether Tagovailoa would likely end up on the injured list, meaning he would miss at least four games and be out until at least Oct. 27. (Miami has a bye in Week 6.)

“We just have to evaluate and worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys. We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”

Still, there’s little debate that Tagovailoa’s circumstances are far more serious than those of a player dealing with chronic knee or shoulder problems.

“There are so many injuries that we can do surgery on, there are so many things that we can fix,” said Prime Video analyst and veteran NFL offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth.

“But a head trauma and getting knocked out on the field? There’s really not much you can do about that. You can’t go to a doctor and say, ‘Hey, fix my brain and the damage I’ve done to it.'”

The risks were already mounting after the 2022 season, when Tagovailoa suffered two concussions and was questionably cleared for concussion protocol in another game. After that incident, the NFL changed its protocol, stating that if a player exhibits potential concussion symptoms, including balance or stability issues, he would be disqualified from playing that day.

“There’s something about that previous concussion that can make the brain more vulnerable, especially with multiple concussions,” Julie Stamm, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told USA TODAY Sports in 2023.

“The data suggests that there is an increased risk of concussion because he’s had these previous concussions. How much of an increase? We can’t really say. It may not be that much.”

Like many of his teammates, Dolphins backup quarterback Skylar Thompson was shocked to see his teammate lying on the turf again — and after what appeared to be a relatively routine and innocuous tackle by Bills safety Damar Hamlin, whose shoulder made contact with Tagovailoa’s helmet.

“I’ll tell you, it makes me sick,” an emotional Thompson said afterward.

“I have a lot of love for Tua, I have built a great relationship with him. And you care more about the person than the player – everyone in the organization would say the same thing.”

Buffalo superstar quarterback Josh Allen also expressed concern, while current and former players around the league responded on social media.

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“You can’t help but feel for him. He’s a great football player, but he’s an even better person,” Allen said of his AFC East rival and teammate. “He’s one of the best people on the planet. I have a lot of love for him, just praying for him and his family, and hoping everything works out.

“It’s tough, man, this game of football that we’re playing – it has its highs and its lows. And this is definitely one of the lows.”

And the inherent danger of the game will undoubtedly continue to fuel the sentiments already expressed by some after Tagovailoa’s previous head injuries: it’s not worth continuing his career.

“I hope he can do what he wants to do,” said former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, another current NFL analyst for Prime Video, who suggested that retirement might be the best option for the young quarterback.

“If I were him, I think you should go home.”

Contributions: Tom Schad

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Follow Nate Davis of USA TODAY Sports on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.