Miami Dolphins should tell Tua Tagavailoa ‘enough’ — Andscape

There are clichés that we use to justify our attraction to the violence and mayhem called NFL football.

We say that football is a 100% injury game.

We say that players know what they signed up for.

Now with the controversy surrounding Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa being cleared to play on Sunday, after he missed four games due to suffering the third diagnosed concussion of his career, a new rationalization has emerged. Should Tagovailoa continue to play? We should leave it to him.

This is where I draw the line. Tagovailoa can decide whether he wants to play, but he represents the Dolphins. Ultimately, what happens to Tagovailoa reflects on the organization.

The Dolphins, not Tagovailoa, should be the ultimate arbiter of whether he plays another game or season for the franchise. Just because Tagovailoa is willing to roll the dice with his health, doesn’t mean the Dolphins should.

On Monday, Tagovailoa spoke with the media for the first time since being diagnosed with the third diagnosed concussion of his NFL career. In what was as much an interrogation as it was a question-and-answer session, Tagovailoa offered his rationale for continuing to play despite his history of brain injury. When someone asked about all the advice he was getting, Tagovailoa said, “I appreciate your concern, I really do. I love this game, and I love it to the death of me. That’s it.”

I’m not sure what he meant by “the death of me,” but the Dolphins front office should be concerned that their quarterback is putting football ahead of his short- and long-term health.

The “the death of me,” indeed.

Tagovailoa had an outstanding 2023 season — a season where he hardly ever left the pocket to run. During the offseason, he was rewarded with a four-year, $212.4 million contract ($167 million guaranteed) including a $42 million signing bonus.

Apparently feeling unleashed and emboldened, Tagovailoa was injured in Week 2 after leaving the pocket, running and colliding with Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin. Instead of sliding, Tagovailoa lowered his shoulder, took the blow, and was concussed.

Without Tagovailoa, the Miami offense, which was so potent last season, slowed to a crawl. Coach Mike McDaniel, heralded as an offensive genius, suddenly looks pedestrian — an average coach with an average team.

McDaniel wants the best for Tagovailoa, but he also wants the best for himself. All he needed was the medical’s staff’s OK and he received it.

So, team and player roll the dice together.

I’ve always wondered what backlash the NFL might face if a player died on the field. I almost got an answer Jan. 2, 2023, when Hamlin collapsed on the field after he was hit in the chest by Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and was administered CPR. After what seemed like hours, Hamlin was revived on the field. He was then taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition.

The game was canceled and the good news is that Hamlin survived and made a full recovery. Hamlin was back on the field Aug. 12, 2023, when he played in his first NFL game since the cardiac arrest episode. In Week 3 of the current season, Hamlin recorded the first interception of his pro career.

Some argued that the outpouring of support for Hamlin offset football’s violent nature by bringing out the best in people. “I think those moments help us remember that we do care and that these are human beings and that they are engaged in a dangerous activity,” said Arizona State University professor Shawn Klein, who specializes in ethics, popular culture and the philosophy of sport. “It’s unfortunate that we have to wait for something tragic for us to remember that, but I think what we do remember and hold in our heads is that these are human beings engaged in a dangerous activity for our entertainment.”

The upshot is that the NFL survived the Hamlin scare. The player emerged as a hero and the NFL is more popular than ever. The Pro Football Writers of America gave Hamlin the 2023 George Halas Award, which acknowledges an NFL player, coach, or staff member who overcomes the most adversity.

Now the league and the team are rolling the dice with Tagovailoa. Unlike Hamlin, who did not have a history of cardiac arrest, Tagovailoa has had at least three diagnosed concussions. Although the medical experts have cleared him, I’m wondering how concerned the Dolphins hierarchy is about having whatever happens to Tagovailoa on its hands. The only way the Dolphins can protect themselves is to trade their franchise quarterback.

This of course will not happen. The reality is that the Dolphins have seen what their offense looks like without Tagovailoa and it’s an ugly picture.

Or Tagovailoa could follow the lead of other great players and simply walk away from the game while he can.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was 29 years old when he abruptly announced his retirement after seven NFL seasons. He said he was simply tired of the injuries, the rehabilitation and the pain.

Detroit Lions running back and Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders retired before Lions training camp in 1999. He was healthy but knew the time had come.

Legendary Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown, who had won his third MVP award in 1965, famously retired in 1966 in his prime at age 30.

In any event, there’s been no shortage of advice offered to Tagavailoa.

Bennet Omalu, the neuropathologist credited with discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a former football player, called for Tagovailoa to retire from the NFL. Omalu told TMZ Sports that he risked becoming permanently incapacitated if he suffered another brain injury.

“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 … Find something else to do,” Omalu told TMZ.

I get it. Tagavailoa is only 26 and hasn’t come close to the accomplishments of Brown, Luck and Sanders, although Luck and Sanders never won NFL championships. Tagavailoa has made it clear that he is not walking away from football. He is married, has two small children, three younger siblings and his parents.

During a news conference with reporters in 2023, Tagavailoa said that he had considered retiring after the 2022 season. “I considered for a time, having sat down with my wife, my family, and having those kinds of conversations,” he said. “But really it would be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son. I always dreamed of playing as long as I could to where my son knew exactly what he was watching his dad do.”

The risks are clear. If Tagavailoa takes a succession of hard hits from now until the end of the season, his career could be over. At what point will the Dolphins say “enough”? Clearly, Tagavailoa is not going to say “enough.”

As he told reporters earlier this week, “I love this game, and I love it to the death of me.”

If I’m the Dolphins, I don’t want to leave that decision to Tua.