Nick Saban on Tua Tagovailoa's potential retirement after repeated brain injuries: 'I hate it'
Tua Tagovailoa's former college coach, Nick Saban, offered insight into his discussions with the quarterback over his NFL future after his third concussion.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's NFL future remains uncertain after he sustained his third concussion in three years in Week 2. Tagovailoa was placed on injured reserve Sept. 17 after he did not clear the NFL's concussion protocols.
Pro athlete peers and media pundits have called on Tagovailoa to retire for the sake of his health and life.
Now, his college coach has given insight into his discussions with the quarterback over his NFL future. Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban spoke about Tagovailoa's recovery and future during an interview with Pat McAfee Friday.
"I talked to Tua. He seemed to be (good)," Saban said. "I talked to him right afterwards. You know, he’s good. He’s always positive and, you know, very enthusiastic. Terry (Saban's wife) talks to his mom a lot. You know, they want prayers from everybody out there to try to help him, you know, get well. He really wants to play. Whether he can ever play or get the opportunity to again, I guess that’s a medical decision somebody has to make."
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Saban revealed Tagovailoa's situation and concerns for his brain health and career have had an emotional effect on the former coach.
"But, you know, Tua is the best. I mean, and I hate it, I hate it for him, because he’s such a good person who does everything the right way. He’s the only player that I’ve ever had that if you ask him, ‘How are you doing today?’ He says, ‘Great, Coach. Thanks for asking.’ I mean, every time. The guy is just phenomenal. You love to see people like that, you know, have success and not have this kind of adversity, but hopefully he’ll be able to overcome it."
On Sept. 12, Tagovailoa was hit by Bills safety Damar Hamlin during a game against the Buffalo Bills, collapsed to the turf in pain and showed signs of a traumatic brain injury, according to multiple experts. Tagovailoa's history of brain injuries includes two in the span of one month in the 2022 season.
Tagovailoa's arms froze in what neurologists refer to as the "fencing response," a sign of head trauma.
His third concussion prompted cries from former NFL players to retire, including former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, Super Bowl champion kicker Lawrence Tynes of the New York Giants and Broncos Hall of Famer and current ESPN host Shannon Sharpe.
It is possible the team's trainers and doctors will eventually clear Tagovailoa to return to the field. If this happens, he would need to make the decision whether to keep playing. There is also a possibility doctors won't clear him to return.
If Tagovailoa is not able to pass concussion protocols for a third time in his NFL career, he could be forced to retire. If he retires, the Dolphins would have to pay out a huge chunk of his $212.4 million contract.
The contract, signed in July by Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, includes $167 million in guarantees. Tagovailoa has already made $43 million of that salary, and if he's medically forced into retirement, he has a right to collect the remaining $124 million.
However, if he's cleared to return and chooses to retire anyway, he would forfeit that guaranteed money. He and the team would have to come to a settlement in that case.
The contract was signed well after his three previous concussions and even after he admitted he considered retirement the prior offseason. But Grier said during a team press conference Feb. 28 he wasn't concerned about the quarterback's concussion history. Grier cited offseason jiujitsu training as the remedy for the quarterback's concussion concerns.
"The one thing Tua did was he attacked the offseason wanting to prove that he could stay healthy. Spending the time learning to fall, with the jiujitsu and stuff, it paid off for him," he said.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said he and the team were also "comfortable" with jiujitsu being the solution to preventing their quarterback's concussions.
"It's something that we had various ideas, some of which I won't repeat because they weren't as good as that one. We were willing to go to any length," McDaniel said during a team press conference Feb. 28.
McDaniel told reporters this week the quarterback will meet with brain health experts during the team's bye week because he still hasn't cleared concussion protocol. When asked if the team has been advised to hold Tagovailoa out longer even after he's been cleared to return, McDaniel said he has received "nothing negative" from experts.
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