BREAKING NEWS: Tua Tagovailoa’s Full Retirement Statement After Dispute on Head Injuries .giang

Tua Tagovailoa has made headlines recently by insisting he’s not ready to retire from American football despite suffering three concussions in the same amount of seasons.

The 26-year-old has made waves since signing for the Miami Dolphins back in 2020 after impressing at collegiate level with the Alabama Crimson Tide. The quarterback was named as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2018, as well as the Consensus All-American the very same year, so it’s little-to-no surprise that fans of the franchise were raving about the Dolphins’ acquisition when he signed the dotted line.

However, Tagovailoa’s NFL career to date has been far from plain sailing, plagued by injuries since turning pro – from a dislocated hip and fractured ribs to a plethora of concussions as a result of being sacked. And despite being in his footballing prime, many fans of the game have called for him to consider retiring early to look out for his own health and wellbeing.

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But is Tagovailoa’s injury sheet as big a deal as Dolphins fans and fellow NFL pros make it out to be? Here, Mirror US Sport breaks down Tagovailoa’s injury history in the world of professional football, as well as what’s next for the promising young quarterback…

Tagovailoa signs with Dolphins

While Tagovailoa was projected to be taken as the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, a season-ending injury with Alabama against Mississippi State – in which the quarterback suffered a dislocated hip, an acetabulum posterior wall fracture, a broken nose and a concussion – saw him selected fifth by the Dolphins.

He signed a four-year rookie contract worth $30million, and was initially named as playing second-string to Ryan Fitzpatrick. His debut came in the sixth week of the NFL season against the New York Jets, throwing two passes for nine yards after replacing Fitzpatrick as relief. Barring jamming his thumb prior to week 12’s follow-up with the Jets, Tagovailoa’s first season in the NFL was free of injuries.

Fractured ribs

In his second season with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa led the side to a Week One win over the Patriots, but he suffered a rib injury early in the second week’s game with the Buffalo Bills, removed from the field of play on a motorized stretcher. It was later revealed that Tagovailoa had fractured several ribs during the game, and was subsequently placed on injury reserve until the September.

After returning in Week Six, Tagovailoa finished the season with a respectable 2,653 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, and ten interceptions. He also secured 42 carries for 128 rushing yards, as well as three rushing touchdowns in 13 games.

Five games missed from concussions in 2022

The 2022 NFL season was where it all started to go wrong for Tagovailoa in terms of concussions. During his Week Three game with the Bills, the QB left the field briefly for what was claimed to be a back injury – returning to the game soon after. However, the NFLPA suspected that the Dolphins may have actually broken concussion protocols by allowing Tagovailoa back onto the field – with an investigation subsequently being launched.

Said investigation also resulted in the NFL and NFLPA revising its concussion protocol policy, although no foul play was found to have occurred. Tagovailoa was cleared to start against the Cincinnati Bengals the following week. However, things went from bad to worse for the star when he was sacked by Josh Tupou in the second quarter. The QB hit the ground hard before being transported to hospital with head and neck injuries.

As a result, he was placed on concussion protocol. He returned in Week Seven against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, Tagovailoa entered concussion protocol once more after the Dolphins’ Christmas Day fixture with the Green Bay Packers – in which he experienced symptoms of a concussion during the game.

Three days later, he was confirmed to have suffered another concussion, and was ruled out for the season finale against the Jets. At the end of the season, head coach Mike McDaniel confirmed that he had not been cleared to return to practice since he entered his second protocol.

Clean season, which didn’t last long

Thankfully for Tagovailoa, the 2023 season was injury free. He started every game during the campaign without suffering any ailments whatsoever in a career first. However, the 2024 season has witnessed a completely different state of affairs for the 26-year-old. During an instalment of Thursday Night Football on September 12, the QB suffered another concussion against the Bills when his helmet collided with Damar Hamilin in a scramble.

Speaking on the incident, Tagovailoa said: “I would say from the second it happened, obviously not a good feeling being out on the field, knowing the situation. Trying to do all I can to get a first down, not knowing, can I slide in this situation? It was forth down. Can I slide? Do I have to go for it?

“If you look at that play again, I looked to the right before I scrambled to see where the marker is before I go for it and dive for it. So I’m sort of re-tweaking everything.”

The Dolphins placed him on injured reserve as he was required to miss a minimum of four games, forced to meet independent neurologists and pass the NFL’s concussion protocol.

‘I’d tell him to retire’, says rival coach

After his third concussion in the space of three years, Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said that his advice to Tagovailoa would be to retire from football for good. When asked for his reaction to the injury, Pierce explained: “I’ll be honest, I’d tell him to retire. It’s not worth it.

“Playing the game, I haven’t witnessed anything like what’s happened to him three times. Scary – you could see right away; the players’ faces on the field. You could see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua help. I just think at some point – he’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football. Take care of your family.”

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson, meanwhile, shared the sentiment of Pierce, explaining that a player’s health must be prioritized. He shared: “If it was one of our guys, you have to be very careful and do the right thing for the player. I think that’s the most important thing.

“It’s part of the game that obviously we’re trying to remove; I just don’t know if we can fully remove it because of the nature of these hits. I think you just have to continue to think about the player and the health and safety of the player and making sure they’re 1,000 percent healthy.

“Those are just decisions that I think, personally, as a player you have to consider as you think about your career. Everybody wants to play, and they love this game so much and they give so much to it that, when things like this happen, reality kind of hits a little bit, and it shows the human side of our sport.”

Meanwhile, Dr Bennet Omalu – the first doctor to discover findings on CTE in American Football players – warned Tagovailoa that he should retire after his concussions. He explained: “If I were his brother, his father, his uncle, cousin, nephew, if I were a member of his family, I would beg him to retire.” He added: “Find something else to do.”

Retiring not on the cards, insists Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa has insisted that quitting the NFL isn’t on the cards any time soon, despite the worrying amount of head injuries that he has sustained throughout his career. Plagued by concussions over his four-year professional stint with the Dolphins, many fans have been concerned that the young talent may be considering calling it a day for the sake of his wellbeing.

However, ahead of his game with the LA Rams, Tagovailoa told ESPN: “It never stuck in my mind that I was ever thinking of retiring. Whether the doctors told me that or not, it would have just been information for me.”

He added: “With what I was doing working out week-to-week, I’m in here everyday. It’s like a no-brainer, what am I working hard for then?”

As for what he wants his legacy to look like when he finally does retire, the star added: “I can tell you what I don’t want to be known for: the poster boy for concussions.”

No doctor has said to retire, says McDaniel

Tagovailoa has since progressed through the NFL’s concussion protocol, and made his return to the NFL in Week Eight against the Arizona Cardinals. And while many fans of the game have suggested that the quarterback should step away from football, coach McDaniel has claimed that no medical expert has shared the sentiment.

He explained: “The most important thing is that, you know, for anybody that’s concerned enough to ask, he met with a litany, a laundry list, a long list of medical experts, and zero of them recommended that he shouldn’t play football. So that means 100 percent of them were supporting the continued journey.”

When asked about what steps had been taken to ensure player safety, McDaniel added: “There’s been no stone unturned, from a ‘how you do everything’ perspective. From all the way to the most minimal thing, which is with, like, hydration. I know in the locker room, he is my foremost expert on the brain. He knows a ton because no one in this process has trivialized any of this.”