In his first public comments since signing a four-year, $212.4 contract extension with the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa expressed gratitude towards the journey that led him towards the historic moment.
The quarterback from Ewa Beach, who first got on the national radar as a prep star at Saint Louis, signed the biggest contract from a professional athlete in Hawaii history, far surpassing DeForest Buckner's four-year, $84 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020.
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Tagovailoa's journey to the NFL began early on in his childhood, a painstaking process cultivated by his father, Galu.
“I'm actually very grateful for the setup that my dad had given me. There’s been a number of times that after school, I'd have to try to do my homework as fast as I can because
once my father was home, it wasn't about school," Tagovailoa recalled on Sunday. "Like your mind better be ready to go to go and practice. And when you practice, you had to practice a certain way. And if it wasn't to his standard, then it, it was like, OK, I know, I'm going to have to do extra work. Or if I didn't have to do extra work, we were going to have a talk, that's for sure.
"So I just can remember after football games if I didn't have a good game, my dad would send me to a throwing camp. And I'd go straight from my football game to throwing camp in my pads. And I wouldn't be with the kids the same age as me, I'd be with the kids older than me. So I was kind of nervous. I'm nervous to go with the older guys because if I throw and I don't throw it right, the older guys are going to say something and my mind is like, OK, I want to fit in with these older guys. But then at the same time, I'm like, I don't know if I want to go through all that stress. Maybe I should just stick with the younger guys. And so one thing I didn't want my dad to do, was my dad to come down and force me to go and throw with those guys or tell whatever coach who was there, like, ‘No, my son's going to go throw with these older guys.’ And so I was just more afraid of the standard that that was set for me by my dad, but it's helped me become who I am today with how I see the game and I'm grateful for that part that my dad has helped me with.”
Although he didn't get into the specifics of what went into the negotiations that made Tagovailoa the NFL's third-highest quarterback as of Friday afternoon, which was since surpassed by Jordan Love's new deal with the Green Bay Packers, Tagovailoa expressed appreciation for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel, the man who resurrected his career upon his arrival in 2022.
Anointed since birth, Tagovailoa says he wouldn't change anything about his journey.
“You know, I think I would tell that 16-year-old Tua to continue to do life the exact way you're doing life," he said. "The lessons that I learned from 16 until now, I wouldn't change any of
that. I wouldn't deviate from any of the things that I've made mistakes with and where I found
success. So, I would tell him just continue to do what you're doing. You're going find it and when you find it, you’ll know you found it.”
Due to injuries and concussions, Tagovailoa played in 13 games in both 2021 and 2022. In 2023, he led the league in passing with 4,624 yards while playing all 17 games, proving his ability to withstand the rigors of a full NFL season and ultimately giving the Dolphins enough confidence to give him a multi-year deal.
As negotiations progressed into training camp, Tagovailoa sat parts of practice without a new deal.
With a newly minted contract and questions concerning that behind him, Tagovailoa is focused on guiding the Dolphins to their first playoff win since 2000.
"We haven’t won the games that we’ve wanted to win. Deep into the playoffs, get deep into the playoffs," Tagovailoa said of his goals. "Win the games that matter, that’s what I would say. All of that is cool, but I could’ve been the worst, had the worst passer rating, I could’ve threw for a thousand yards; but if we were in the those games and we were winning those big-time games and we got to go and win the championship, I’d trade all of that. I’d trade all of that for that.”
As for what he's going to do with his new windfall of funds, which includes a $42 million signing bonus, Tagovailoa hasn't thought much about materialistic purchases.
"I haven’t thought about purchasing anything big," he said. "Everyone is talking to me about collecting watches and what not, I’m just not a watch guy. And then clothes, I’m just not a clothes guy, too much.
"To be able to do the things that we need to survive, we don’t need that much money, but to have that much money to be able to take care of my family and then my kids’ kids, and their kids’ kids, having that is very, very cool and it’s very, very special. I think anyone here that would be in this position would say the same exact thing and would be extremely grateful.”