In a newly formed rivalry in college football, two of the league’s most elite quarterbacks were having fun with the youth at the Steve Clarkson QB retreat in California on last week.
Ironically, it was the duo of signal callers that faced each other in January for the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Tua Tagovailoa of the University of Alabama and Trevor Lawrence of Clemson University are fierce competitors. Both were highly-touted prospects in their respective signing class and the two led their schools to conference titles.
Lawrence got the better of the native Hawaiian in the CFP title game; however, Tagovailoa has always been driven by a force much stronger than football. His faith and his upbringing have brought him through many obstacles.
He has never been shy about voicing his beliefs, especially around Nick Saban.
Tagovailoa’s personality, mannerisms and outlook on life affects Saban in such a way that even he has started using more emotion.
Despite his will to win and Clemson’s rise to being the favorite among media pundits, Tagovailoa found himself competing alongside Lawrence on the same Call of Duty team and the tandem pulled out a victory.
Upon being asked via Ed Aschoff of ESPN on how it felt to be on the same team with the quarterback that beat him four months ago, Tagovailoa’s faith took center stage.
“It’s all good fun. My brother in Christ. It was awesome,” Tagovailoa said in competing with Lawrence.
Prior to the moment with Lawrence, Tagovailoa displayed humility through a difficult situation last season – much of it stirred by the media – with Jalen Hurts. Before the 2018 campaign started, Hurts spoke to reporters during the first day of August camp and spoke on how no one was able to get his side of the story in terms of whether he would leave Alabama or not.
When it came to Tagovailoa, he showed concerned for his teammate and did not say anything that would generate a distraction. He valued Hurts, prayed with him, encouraged him and celebrated with him all season – particularly in moments where the native Texan excelled in games.
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For Tagovailoa, the purpose of his football gift is creating an opportunity to share the love of Christ on all platforms. He understands that life is bigger than himself and football and while he will push to win a national championship, he knows that a trophy does not define who he is.
As he prepares for his junior season, the former five-star will challenge himself to be a more effective leader.
He now settles with Steve Sarkisian as his offensive coordinator and regardless of he what he did as a sophomore, the best is yet to come for Tagovailoa.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
