Tua Tagovailoa is no stranger to attracting a heavy amount of attention. But last Sunday, during his NFL debut with the Miami Dolphins in the final minutes of its win over the New York Jets, the whole football world seemed to stop and rush over the see what the fifth overall pick could do.
Despite the obvious mop-up role and only being called upon to throw two passes for a total of nine yards, Tagovailoa received an earth-shattering ovation from the Miami faithful even with a reduced crowd.
“We were wondering because just a week ago they had an opportunity to put Tua in there in garbage time and they didn’t. But then you know what? Here he is trotting on the field and that was the loudest I heard the stadium all season for sure,” The Athletic’s Josh Tolentino said during an appearance on In My Own Words. “And I think that’s just a telling sign of not just the fans who were there, but even in the TV ratings. I think there were 200 thousand homes that switched their channels to CBS, which was airing the game, and those final minutes just to see Tua’s debut.
Even though there were less than 13 thousand fans in the stadium the importance of this moment truly showed with the eruption of screams and cheers for Tagovailoa. The box office vibe around the young quarterback will bring a spark of new energy into a franchise that has been looking for a solution at that spot for some time now.
Even the lefty showed a bit of emotion following the game as he was seen sitting on the field face timing his parents and talking about the long journey he has been on with his hip injury at Alabama and now ending up playing in the NFL.
His hard work has paid off to this point and the coaching staff has noticed which is one of the reasons he was named the full-time starter following the game.
Tagovailoa’s first official start will come in two weeks when the Dolphins take on the Los Angeles Rams.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
