Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa considered retiring after concussions
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was diagnosed with multiple concussions during the 2022 season, briefly considered retiring, he admitted Wednesday.
"I considered it for a time," the 25-year-old said, noting that he spoke with his wife and family about the possibility.
"But, really, it would be hard for me to walk away from this game," he continued. "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."
Tagovailoa said that he spoke with neurologists about continuing to play. He said the experts told him that chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease known as CTE that has been found in multiple former NFL players after their deaths, was not a major worry because he doesn't get hit as often as other players. Tagovailoa said he barely gets hit throughout practices, the offseason and during training camp.
"It's my health, it's my body and you know, I feel like this is what's best for me and my family," he said. "I love the game of football. If I didn't, I would have quit a long time ago."
Tagovailoa missed several games last season while he was in the NFL's concussion protocol. During a September game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa was slammed down to the turf and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. That hit came just a few days after the quarterback suffered another hard hit against the Buffalo Bills. Tagovailoa got up after that first hit, but was visibly wobbly. A teammate had to catch him as he appeared to start falling at one point. The team later said he suffered a back injury during the game against the Bills.
Both of those incidents led the league to revamp how it handles in-game concussions. The players union also fired an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was involved in Tagovailoa's concussion check during the game against the Bills.
Tagovailoa also entered the league's concussion protocol in late December following a game against the Green Bay Packers. He was never taken out of that game.
Tagovailoa said Wednesday that he has made efforts to make the game safer for himself, including learning jiu-jitsu during the offseason.
"I've been falling a lot this offseason. I think just like anything else, you continue to train it, you continue to work at that, you know, it becomes second nature," he said. "And when a situation like that does happen, it's not something new that's presented to you."
Dolphins assistant general manager Marvin Allen affirmed the team's commitment to Tagovailoa.
"We have all the faith in the world in him. He's our quarterback and we think moving forward he's going to be the quarterback to get us to where we want to go."