Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not a fan of recent comments from popular ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark and made it clear on Wednesday that if he keeps it up he is willing to get physical to let him know he needs to stop.
Tua Tagovailoa is used to being the focus of a lot of attention and having his exploits on the football under a microscope. He got a taste of it as a high school star in Hawaii and saw the power of the national media when he was the face of the Alabama Crimson Tide offense for three stellar scenes. However, even that pales in comparison to the spotlight NFL stars receive.
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Tons of websites and media outlets dedicate hundreds of hours a week to analyzing the league, and as a top-five selection from the 2020 NFL Draft, the 25-year-old has received his fair share of attention during his pro career. The brightness of the spotlight is only intensified by being a starting QB and for a beloved franchise like the Miami Dolphins. But it seems like Tagovailoa is getting tired of it.
- Tua Tagovailoa stats (2022): 3,548 yards, 25 TD, 8 INT, 105. 5 passer rating
Tua Tagovailoa has firey response for ESPN analyst Ryan Clark
On Wednesday, a Dolphins media member asked the signal caller about recent comments made by ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, as the former NFL star suggested Tua Tagovailoa did not do what was necessary in the offseason to bulk up and get in better condition for his fourth season in the league.
That opinion wasn’t well received and Tagovailoa responded by saying, “he probably knows more about me than I know about myself.”
He then added, “It’s a little weird when people are talking about other people, and they are not that person. I come from a Samoan family. Respect is everything. And it gets to a point where it’s like, ‘a little easy on that buddy.’ We are tough-minded people but if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy. Just saying.”
Tagovailoa claimed he, like his teammates, worked hard in the offseason to get better in many areas, but he had no intention of ever adding a bunch of muscle to his smaller-than-usual frame for a QB.
He then had one final warning for the former Pittsburgh Steelers star. “There’s a mixture of things that people don’t know about, that are talked about behind the scenes. I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out of your mouth.”