Miami Dolphins should tell Tua Tagavailoa ‘enough’

There are stereotypes we use to justify our attraction to the violence and chaos called NFL football.

We say that football is a 100% injury-based game.

We say that players know what they signed up for.

Now, amid controversy over Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa being cleared to play on Sunday after he missed 4 games with the third concussion of his profession, a brand new rationalization has emerged. Should Tagovailoa keep playing? We should leave it to him.

This is where I draw the road. Tagovailoa can determine if he desires to play, but he represents the Dolphins. Ultimately, what happens to Tagovailoa reflects on the organization.

The Dolphins, not Tagovailoa, should be the ultimate arbiter on whether he plays one other game or season for the franchise. Just because Tagovailoa is willing to roll the dice on his health doesn’t suggest the Dolphins should.

On Monday, Tagovailoa spoke to the media for the primary time since being diagnosed with the third concussion of his NFL profession. In what was each an interrogation and a question-and-answer session, Tagovailoa outlined his reasons for continuing to play despite his history of brain damage. When someone asked him about all the recommendation he was receiving, Tagovailoa replied, “I appreciate your concern, I actually do. I like this game and I like it to death. That’s all.”

I’m unsure what he meant by “my death,” however the Dolphins front office should be concerned that their quarterback is putting football ahead of his short- and long-term health.

Indeed, “my death.”

Tagovailoa had an excellent 2023 season – a season by which he almost never left the pocket to run. In the offseason, he was rewarded with a four-year contract price $212.4 million ($167 million guaranteed), including a signing bonus of $42 million.

Apparently feeling unleashed and emboldened, Tagovailoa was injured in Week 2 after getting out of the pocket, running and colliding with Buffalo Bills linebacker Damar Hamlin. Instead of sliding, Tagovailoa lowered his shoulder, took the punch and suffered a concussion.

Without Tagovailoa, Miami’s offense, which was so strong last season, dropped to a crawl. Coach Mike McDaniel, hailed as an offensive genius, suddenly looks like a mean coach with a mean team.

McDaniel wants one of the best for Tagovailoa, but he also wants one of the best for himself. All he needed was for the medical staff to be OK, and he got that.

So the team and the player roll the dice together.

I’ve all the time wondered what sort of response the NFL would get if a player died on the sector. I almost got my answer on January 2, 2023, when Hamlin collapsed on the sector after hitting Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins within the chest.

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After what gave the look of hours, Hamlin got here to life on the sector. He was then taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition.

The game was canceled and the excellent news is that Hamlin survived and made a full recovery. Hamlin returned to the sector on August 12, 2023, when he played in his first NFL game for the reason that cardiac arrest episode. In the third week of this season, Hamlin recorded the primary interception of his skilled profession.

Some argued that the outpouring of support for Hamlin offset the brutal nature of football, bringing out one of the best in people. “I think these moments help us remember that we really care and that these are human beings engaged in dangerous activity,” said Arizona State University professor Shawn Klein, who focuses on ethics, popular culture and the philosophy of sports. “It’s unfortunate that we have to wait for something tragic to happen to remember this, but I think what we remember and keep in our minds is that these are human beings engaged in dangerous activity for our entertainment.”

The result’s that the NFL survived the Hamlin scare. The player has emerged as a hero and the NFL is more popular than ever. The Pro Football Writers of America named Hamlin the 2023 George Halas Award, given to the NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes probably the most adversity.

Now the league and team are rolling the dice with Tagovailoa. Unlike Hamlin, who has no history of cardiac arrest, Tagovailoa has been diagnosed with at the very least three concussions. Even though health workers have cleared him, I’m wondering how concerned the Dolphins hierarchy is about what happens to Tagovailoa. The only way the Dolphins can protect themselves is to trade their franchise quarterback.

Of course this may not occur. The reality is that the Dolphins have seen what their offense looks like without Tagovailoa, and it’s an unpleasant picture.

Or Tagovailoa could follow the instance of other great players and easily step away from the sport while he can.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was 29 years old when he abruptly announced his retirement after seven NFL seasons. He said he was just uninterested in the injuries, the rehab and the pain.

Detroit Lions return to the sector and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Barry Sanders retired before Lions training camp in 1999. He was healthy, but he knew it was time.

Legendary Cleveland Browns linebacker Jim Brown, who won his third MVP award in 1965, retired on the age of 30 in 1966.

In any case, Tagavailoa had no shortage of recommendation.

Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist credited with discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a former football player, called on Tagovailoa to retire from the NFL. Almost he told TMZ Sports that he’s vulnerable to everlasting incapacity for work within the event of further brain damage.

“If I were his brother, his father, his uncle, his cousin, his nephew, if I was a member of his family. I would beg him to retire… Find something else to do,” Omalu told TMZ.

I see. Tagavailoa is just 26 years old and has not come near matching the achievements of Brown, Luck and Sanders, although Luck and Sanders have never won an NFL championship. Tagavailoa has made it clear that he shouldn’t be walking away from football. He is married, has two babies, three younger siblings and fogeys.

During a 2023 press conference with reporters, Tagavailoa said he had considered retiring after the 2022 season. “I’ve been thinking about sitting down with my wife, my family and having those kinds of conversations,” he said. “But it could be really hard for me to walk away from this game, considering my age and my son. I all the time dreamed of playing so long as possible, in a spot where my son knew exactly what he was watching his dad do.

The risks are clear. If Tagavailoa takes a string of massive hits from now until the tip of the season, his profession might be over. At what point will the Dolphins say enough is enough? Apparently Tagavailoa won’t say enough is enough.

As he told reporters earlier this week, “I love this game and I love it to death.”

If I’m the Dolphins, I don’t desire to depart that call to Tua.