Alabama’s Nick Saban throws a little more salt in Miami Dolphins fans’ Drew Brees wound
Nick Saban just found a way to torment Miami Dolphins fans, once again.
Perhaps the greatest college football coach of all time was also a failed NFL coach. Or more bluntly, a failed Dolphins coach.
And why did he fail? Because the Dolphins picked an injured Daunte Culpepper over an injured Drew Brees in 2006.
Fourteen years later, there’s a chance the Dolphins make a similar mistake. Tua Tagovailoa — who played for Saban at Alabama the last three seasons — might be the most talented quarterback in the draft and the Dolphins should have a chance to take him at 5 Thursday night. He’s also an injury risk.
But Saban believes if the Dolphins pass on Tua, they will regret it.
“We failed Drew Brees on the physical,” Saban told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s why he’s not Miami’s quarterback.”
Brees, of course, is a Super Bowl champion and a surefire Hall of Famer, one of the most prolific passers in NFL history.
Culpepper was a major bust for the Dolphins.
They listened to doctors. Doctors were wrong.
Will they get it right this time around? Tagovailoa’s health concerns are very real: At least three surgeries in the last two seasons including one to a dislocated and fractured hip.
He should be fine to play in 2020, but what about 2030? Or even 2023?
No one knows for sure, particularly since team doctors have been unable to examine him due to the NFL’s coronavirus restrictions.
So whomever takes Tua will be assuming real risk. But the reward could be a Super Bowl.
“The sky’s the limit,” Saban told the Journal. “I don’t think any of the questions with Tua have to do with his ability to throw the ball and be effective.”
