“CTE Taking Over Like Venom”: NFL Fans Make Fun Of Tua Tagovailoa For His Response To His Head-First Tackle

Tua Tagovailoa seems to love playing with fire. After going on injured reserve earlier this season due to the latest of many concussions, the Miami Dolphins QB returned to the fold in Week 8. By Week 10, he’d already had another injury scare.

Tagovailoa’s return was certainly a jolt to the system for the floundering Fins, but it didn’t result in wins right away. They had to wait until Week 10 for that. On Monday night, the Dolphins won a hardscrabble matchup with a solid Los Angeles Rams squad, 23-15.

Now sitting at 3-6 and 2.5 games out of the Wild Card spot, it allowed them to hold onto their ever-so-slim playoff hopes. However, the victory almost came at a cost. And arguably, an unnecessary one at that.

Early in the second quarter, Tagovailoa threw a pass towards Jaylen Waddle that was intercepted by L.A.’s Christian Rozeboom. As the 240-pound linebacker began returning the pick, almost everyone must have been thinking, “Tua, get out of the way.”

Instead, the QB did the opposite. He put his head down to make the tackle. It was a good show of toughness, but the cost could have been dire. Tagovailoa’s head just missed Rozeboom’s oncoming knee, a collision which would have surely cost Tagovailoa more games, if not his NFL career.

However, the quarterback did not seem fazed by the situation. On Wednesday, Tagovailoa addressed the media, took questions about the play, and looked high-spirited.

“It didn’t feel as bad as probably what it looked like. When we watched it, our coach had said that he sort of kneed [me] in the head. Essentially you’re out there playing football. I wasn’t just gonna jump out of the way to just let him run down the sideline and potentially score. You gotta make decisions, and I should’ve never thrown the pick in the first place.”

When pressed on the issue, Tagovailoa said he wouldn’t change anything if he could do it all over again. You’ve got to respect the grit that the QB showed during the play, and in discussing it afterwards. But with his history, you could definitely wonder if it was all worth the risk.

While teammates surely appreciated the intent Tua Tagovailoa had on that play, fans took the opportunity to comment about the Dolphins signal caller sarcastically.

A couple of fans voiced their disbelief regarding the QB’s actions and his determination when it comes to the game.

One of the NFL enthusiasts did acknowledge the football professional’s commitment to the sport. However, he also noted that in the long run, it could prove to be fatal for Tua’s career.

As fans appear concerned about the Dolphins QB’s health and warn him to be cautious on the gridiron, he isn’t the only player to deal with concussion this season. Chris Olave also suffered a brutal hit and has a history of injury.

Tua Tagovailoa isn’t the only player dealing with concussion issues

Tagovailoa’s career has been seemingly in jeopardy on multiple occasions due to the hits he’s taken to the head. He missed several games in 2022 after suffering a couple of concussions, after which he exhibited scary fencing responses.

He got through the 2023 season scot-free, but the concussion issues returned in Week 2 this year. In that situation, one could argue that Tagovailoa again put himself at risk unnecessarily, as he lowered his head to try to run over a defender—Damar Hamlin, ironically—which resulted in the concussion that cost him four games.

Meanwhile, Chris Olave has also been dealing with similarly unfortunate circumstances this season. The New Orleans Saints wideout suffered his first NFL concussion in October 2022. That cost him one game, and he didn’t suffer another for an entire year.

However, he suffered one in November of last year and was hit with two more in the span of three weeks this season, each costing him one game apiece so far. Olave and Tagovailoa are still playing football, but no doubt they will have their own concussion histories in the back of their minds as they continue to navigate their NFL careers.