Everything Tua Tagovailoa told reporters after his NFL debut with the Miami Dolphins
It was quite a stirring moment, watching Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa complete his first NFL pass on a naked bootleg out of the end zone. And then he completed his second professional pass for a first down.
Tagovailoa has never missed on an NFL pass!
Quite a start.
It was more moving to see Tagovailoa return to the Hard Rock Stadium field, to the 21-yard line, right about where the Dolphins (and his) final drive ended. He plopped himself down on the turf -- alone in a near-empty stadium -- so that he could call his parents.
In his first comments to reporters since Aug. 29, Tagovailoa later explained what he was thinking at the time. And he explained how he felt during his NFL debut.
This is everything Tagovailoa told reporters Sunday evening:
Question: We just saw you out there on the 15-yard line. Could you walk us through what that moment was like, what you meant to come back out here and take it all in?)
Tua: “I think it was a very special moment for me because my parents weren’t here, so I couldn’t really remember where we ended our drive at, so I tried to sit close to where we ended our drive at, and I ended up FaceTiming my parents because they couldn’t be here. That’s usually how it goes. I usually talk to my parents after the game, and my parents usually never miss my game. That’s what I did, I went out there, and I talked to them. But yeah, that’s what that moment was about.”
Question: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was giving you some flak for the first pass you threw. He said it was probably one of the easiest passes you could throw in the NFL. What did you think about that, and how did you feel out there from a health standpoint and finally having this moment to play?
Tua: “I feel healthy. I think it was a great play call by (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) to kind of get things going for me. It was an easy completion, and everyone can say that; I can roll out and throw it to someone who’s 2 yards down the field. But you’ve got to deal with pressure, and there’s just a lot going on in such a little play like that. But I think a lot of credit with that easy completion goes to Chan and then also goes to our o-line. Our o-line played their butts off today.”
Question: Two-part question for you: If there’s anything that you could possibly feel comfortable sharing with us over the conversation you had with your parents, it had to be a very warm conversation I would think, and also your feelings before you went in,. I saw you dancing with some of your teammates on the sideline. No butterflies at all before you went in?
Tua: “I think you play this game for a good some, 22 years of my life and I’d say you take five years off of that, that’s how long I’ve been playing this sport. It wasn’t more so butterflies, it was just excitement to just get out there and see what plays that (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) would give me to run with the offense. But it was really fun. I think the most important thing that came out of my conversation with my parents was just that they were happy to see me out there and playing again, especially with what happened last year prior to the injury and whatnot.”
Question: What was the feel for you as you jogged on? We saw QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on the sideline kind of pumping the crowd up. We heard the crowd chant your name. Could you hear all of that, and what was sort of your emotions when all that was happening?
Tua: “I definitely could hear it. There was nothing else playing in the stadium, so I could hear that, and that was awesome. But to just be out there with my teammates, being my first time, and getting the support and love from them, I think that was super awesome. You have a 16-year vet like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) who has no animosity towards it, as well, who’s just been supportive the entire time. Good drive, bad drive, he comes to the sideline and just talks through his process with why he did some things. I’m very fortunate to have a mentor like him who is just very encouraging on the field and then there’s guys like … He’s just very personable off the field, as well. I could say a lot about him but just won’t have enough time.”
Question: Is there a moment when you think back over the last 11 months, almost 12 months now that really sticks out in your head, part of the recovery, maybe some words of encouragement that you got? Has any of that flooded back for you in the last hour or so?
Tua: “Not really. I think the biggest thing that really stands out to me is just being able to make my parents proud. So whether that’s Tua as a football player, Tua as a person, Tua as a son, I think that’s what brings me the most joy is seeing how happy my parents get and then seeing how happy my family gets, as well, with who I am and then also what I do.”
Pretty cool, right?
Nice start, kid.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 12:01 AM.
